European shares fall sharply as weak China data hits markets

Published 04-01-2016, 01:42 pm
Updated 04-01-2016, 01:50 pm
© Reuters.  European shares fall sharply as weak China data hits markets
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LONDON, Jan 4 (Reuters) - European shares fell sharply on Monday, the first day of trading for 2016, as weak Chinese economic data weighed on world stock markets.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index .FTEU3 fell 2.3 percent, while the euro zone's blue-chip Euro STOXX 50 index .STOXX50E declined by 2.6 percent.

China's factory activity contracted for the 10th straight month in December and at a sharper pace than in November, a private survey showed, dampening hopes that the world's second-largest economy will enter 2016 on a more stable footing.

The weak data caused Chinese and Asian shares to slump, with China's benchmark CSI300 share index .CSI300 tumbling 7 percent on Monday, prompting the stock exchange to halt trading for the rest of the day.

Shares in carmaker Fiat Chrysler FCHA.MI fell after the spin-off of its Ferrari (N:RACE) division, but French conglomerate Bouygues BOUY.PA outperformed to rise 1.3 percent after a media report that Orange ORAN.PA was moving closer to buying Bouygues' telecoms arm for 10 billion euros ($10.86 billion).

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