European stocks pull back further off 4-year peak on profit taking

European equities fell on Friday, to head for the second straight daily loss, and move further away from the 4-year high, on continued profit-taking and after the escalating political tensions between the US and China over Hong Kong's crisis spooked investors.

Stoxx Europe 600 fell by 0.25% as of 08:40 GMT, as it closed lower by 0.1% yesterday, and posted the first daily loss in 5 days, after it hit the highest level since July 2015 in the previous session.

The index opened today's session lower, to head for the the second straight daily loss on profit-taking, with most of the major European exchanges and sectors in the negative territory today.

The Mining and basic resources sector saw the largest losses in Europe today, falling by more than 0.9%, as the sector is very sensitive to global trade news. 

President Trump signed two bills on Wednesday supporting Hong Kong protesters in the city under China's rule, leading to a political clash with China, which has opposed the laws.

The Chinese ministry of foreign affairs stated that it firmly denounce the US bills, and threatened to take firm countermeasures against the US "evil intentions" and interference in its internal affairs which are destined to fail.

S&P 500 futures fell by 0.2% today, as the US stocks will resume trading today after closing yesterday in observance of the thanksgiving holiday, while it closed higher by 0.4% on Wednesday, to mark its fourth straight daily gain and hit a fresh record high of 3,154.26 points.

Back to Europe, the Euro Stoxx 50 index fell by 0.3%, the German DAX fell by 0.4%, and France's CAC 40 lost 0.2%, and in London, the FTSE 100 lost 0.3%.