European stocks fall as trade deal doubts loom

The European stocks indices fell in morning sessions today, to deepen losses for the second straight day, on profit-taking from a 21-month high, amid rising doubts about the US-China trade talks and the possibility of finalizing a trade deal between them next month in Chile.

Stoxx Europe 600 fell by 0.2% as of 10:45 GMT, as it closed lower by 0.2% yesterday, the first daily loss in the last 7 days, and leave the 21-month high on profit-taking it hit in the previous day. 

The index opened today's session lower, on the verge of its second straight daily loss as profit-taking continued, with most of the major European exchanges and sectors seeing red.

The retail sector saw the largest losses in Europe, with a drop by 0.5% as most of its stocks fell.

While the automotive sector jumped, in contrast to other main European sectors, after the Italian carmaker Fiat Chrysler confirmed merger talks with its French rival PSA.

Reuters quoted a US official familiar with the trade talks yesterday saying that President Trump insisted that China buy up to $50 billion worth of US farm products, which is turning to be a major hurdle in the talks between the two countries.

The agency also quoted the US official saying that the agreement might not get signed in Chile in November. 

S&P 500 futures fell by 0.1%, Wall Street, after it closed lower by 0.1% yesterday on Wall Street, marking its first daily loss in 5 days, after posting its all-time record high of 3,047.87 earlier.

To the major European stocks indices, the Euro Stoxx 50 index fell by 0.2%, and in Germany, the DAX index fell by 0.2%, while France's CAC 40 rose by 0.3% opposite to the downtrend in Europe.