European stocks back off 6-week high on profit-taking

European stocks fell on Thursday, pulling back from 6-week highs, on profit-taking and investors' risk aversion due to renewed concerns about the Chinese company Evergrande.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index fell more than 0.5% as of 10:55 GMT, after it closed higher by 0.3% yesterday, and hit the highest since September 8 at 470.43 points.

The mining sector saw the largest loss in Europe today, with a drop of over 1.5%, due to renewed concerns about the Chinese economy, the world's largest consumer of metals and commodities.

Evergrande shares fell over 12% today, after the resumption of trading on the stock following more than two weeks of suspension.

The debt-laden Chinese company announced on Wednesday that a deal to sell a 50.1% stake in its property services arm to Hobson had fallen through.

S&P 500 futures fell 0.2% today ahead of Wall Street's opening, after the index closed higher by 0.4% yesterday and posted a 7-week high of 4,540.87 points.

Back to Europe, the Euro Stoxx 50 index fell 0.4%, France's CAC 40 fell 0.5%, Germany's DAX index fell 0.3%, and the UK's FTSE 100 fell 0.6%.