(MENAFN- AFP) Europe's main stock markets diverged on Monday, with London dragged down by losses to heavyweight mining shares and a fresh profit warning from supermarket group Tesco, Britain's biggest retailer.
On the upside, shares in Merck KGaA jumped 7.0 percent to 74.45 euros after the German pharmaceutical maker said it was buying US speciality chemicals firm Sigma-Aldrich for 13.1 billion euros ($17 billion).
Merck said in a brief statement that it aimed to establish "one of the leading players in the $130 billion global life science industry" through the purchase.
That helped to lifted Frankfurt's DAX 30 index, which was up 0.10 percent to 9,809.05 points in early afternoon deals.
London's benchmark FTSE 100 index dropped 0.67 percent to 6,792.05 points and in Paris the CAC 40 edged up 0.03 percent to 4,460.40 compared with Friday's close.
In foreign exchange activity, the European single currency rose against the dollar.
Tony Cross, market analyst at traders Trustnet Direct, said falls on the FTSE 100 "mirrored losses suffered overnight on Asian markets, which were spooked by concerns of a slowdown in China, the world's second-biggest economy".
He added: "Traders were taking profits, particularly among the UK-listed miners such as Rio Tinto, which are heavily exposed to demand in the region ahead of Chinese manufacturing data due out on Tuesday."
In London deals, Rio Tinto shed 2.94 percent to 3,085.5 pence and Anglo American lost 2.68 percent to 1,432.5 pence.
However, the biggest faller was Tesco, which slumped almost 12 percent at one point on Monday. Around midday, it had recovered but was still showing a hefty loss of 7.34 percent at 212.75 pence.
"Considering all the problems that Tesco is tackling at the moment, with its market share being eaten into, profit margins being squeezed and its competitors starting a price war, poor internal accounting issues was the last of its needs," noted Alastair McCaig, analyst at IG trading group.
Tesco on Monday said it had launched an investigation after revealing that it had overstated its half-year profit forecast by £250 million ($409 million, 318 million euros).
The news dragged down the supermarket sector, with British rivals Sainsbury and Morrison each down 2.0 percent to 278 and 178 pence respectively.
In foreign exchange, the euro climbed to $1.2847 from $1.2829 late in New York on Friday.
The euro fell to 78.63 pence from 78.76 pence Friday, while the British pound jumped to $1.6337 from $1.6288.
The pound has recovered strongly against its main rivals since the end of last week, when it was revealed that Scotland had voted to remain part of Britain in a referendum on independence.
On the London Bullion Market, the price of gold fell to a fresh low for 2014, reaching $1,208.40 an ounce in Asian deals. It later recovered to $1,214.75 an ounce, still down from $1,219.75 on Friday.
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