European stocks pull back from record highs on profit-taking

European stocks fell on Monday, on track for the first daily loss in 11 days, while pulling back from their all-time highs, due to profit-taking and investors' risk aversion, amid concerns about the Chinese economy, and mounting geopolitical tensions in the Far East after the Afghan government collapsed.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index fell more than 0.5% as of 11:40 GMT, after it closed higher by 0.2% on Friday, and its all-time high at 476.16 points.

The pan European index gained 1.25% last week, the fourth straight weekly gain, thanks to upbeat Q2 earnings results.

The mining sector saw the largest loss in Europe today, with a drop of over 2%, due to concerns about economic growth in China.

Data showed today slowdowns in the Chinese factory production growth and retail sales during July, due to the new Covid-19 outbreak in addition to the floods that disrupted business activity.

Geopolitical tensions in the Far East are mounting after the collapse of the Afghan government and the Taliban took control of the country following the fall of Kabul.

S&P 500 futures fell 0.3% today ahead of Wall Street's opening, after the index closed higher by 0.2% on Friday and posted a new record at 4,468.37 points.

Back to Europe, the Euro Stoxx 50 index fell 0.6%, France's CAC 40 fell 0.9%, Germany's DAX index fell 0.5%, and the UK's FTSE 100 fell more than 0.1.2%.