European stocks fall on concerns over Chinese economy

European stocks fell on Wednesday, on track for the first loss in 3 session, due to investors' risk aversion amid fears over the Chinese economy after the release of disappointing data.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index fell more than 0.3% as of 10:55 GMT, after closing flat yesterday, while it closed higher by 0.3% on Monday, within recovery from its 3-week low of 463.82 points.

The retail sector saw the largest loss in Europe today, with a drop of over 2%, due to concern about the third quarter sales.

Data showed that Chinese retail sales fell to the lowest level in a year in August, rising by 2.5%, lower than forecasts of 6.9%, from a rise by 8.5% in July.

The data sparked concerns about the world's second largest economy, especially as the retail sales index is a key gauge of consumer spending, which accounts for more than 70% of GDP.

S&P 500 futures fell less than 0.1% today ahead of Wall Street's opening, after the index closed lower by 0.6% yesterday, and hit its 4-week low at 4,435.46 points.

Back to Europe, the Euro Stoxx 50 index fell 0.4%, France's CAC 40 fell 0.6%, Germany's DAX index fell 0.2%, and the UK's FTSE 100 fell less than 0.1%.