European stocks continue to drop on concerns over US-China tensions

European stocks fell on Friday, to deepen losses for the third straight session, as investors sentiment crumbled, due to the ongoing geopolitical tensions between the US and China, which also overshadowed strong economic data in the Eurozone.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index fell 1.3% as of 11:13 GMT, after it fell 0.2% yesterday, posting the second straight daily loss on weak data.

The pan European index opened lower today, to deepen its losses for the third straight session, with most of the major European markets and sectors seeing red today.

The tech sector saw the largest losses in Europe today, dropping 4.5%, due to fears over the trade relations between the US and China.

The Chinese government announced today that it has revoked the license of the US Consulate General in the southwestern city of Chengdu, and ordered the consulate to close.

This came after the US ordered China to close its consulate in Houston, claiming its a spying center and used for US intellectual property theft.

The escalation of tensions between Washington and Beijing foreshadows a deterioration in trade relations between the two countries, which have improved after signing the Phase-One trade deal in January.

Data showed today that the manufacturing sector in most parts of Europe grew in July at the best pace in two years, especially in the largest European economy, Germany.

These data show that the Eurozone economy is recovering at a faster rate than expected pace from the coronavirus damages, which is the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

S&P 500 futures fell 0.75%, after the index closed lower by 1.2% yesterday at Wall Street, posting its first daily loss in 5 days on profit-taking.

Back to Europe, the Euro Stoxx 50 index fell 1.3%, France's CAC 40 fell 1.2%, Germany's DAX lost 1.4%, and the UK's FTSE 100 dipped 1.1%.