(MENAFN- AFP) Europe's main stock markets fell 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.
London's benchmark FTSE 100 index dropped 0.75 percent to 6,786.90 points and in Paris the CAC 40 slid 0.06 percent to 4,457.63 compared with Friday's close.
Frankfurt's DAX 30 index had initially been lifted by the announcement that Merck KGaA is to buy US speciality chemicals firm Sigma-Aldrich for 13.1 billion euros ($17 billion), but by late afternoon it was trading down 0.18 percent at 9,782.11 points.
Shares in Merck jumped 5.65 percent to 73.53 euros after the German pharmaceutical maker said it aimed to establish "one of the leading players in the $130 billion global life science industry" through the purchase.
Sigma-Aldrich shares bolted 34 percent higher.
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 2.77 percent to 3,091.00 pence and Anglo American lost 2.17 percent to 1,440.00 pence.
However, the biggest faller was Tesco, which slumped almost 12 percent at one point on Monday. Late afternoon, it had recovered but was still showing a hefty loss of 8.54 percent at 210.00 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 down 1.93 percent at 278.80 and Morrison falling 2.25 percent to 177.90 pence.
- Wall Street opens lower -
In foreign exchange, the euro climbed to $1.2852 from $1.2829 late in New York on Friday.
The euro fell against the British pound to 78.69 pence from 78.76 pence Friday, while sterling jumped to $1.6332 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 $1,214.00 an ounce, still down from $1,219.75 on Friday.
US stocks opened lower Monday, retreating from last week's heights despite a pair of significant corporate acquisition deals.
Five minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.11 percent to 17,260.66 points, coming off a third straight record high notched up on Friday.
The broad-based S&P 500 fell 0.26 percent to 2,005.16, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index declined 0.38 percent to 4,562.42.
Germany's Siemens announced it will buy US oilfield equipment maker Dresser-Rand Industries for $7.6 billion, pushing shares of Dresser-Rand up by 2.6 percent.
Shares in Siemens, which also announced it was selling its stake in its household appliance joint venture with Bosch, were down 0.48 percent to 96.26 euros.
Asian markets mostly slipped Monday on profit-taking after the big gains at the end of last week, while the dollar eased from more than six-year highs against the yen.
Tokyo, which on Friday ended at an almost seven-year high, slipped 0.71 percent, while Sydney shed 1.29 percent, and Seoul lost 0.71 percent.
Shanghai fell 1.70 percent and Hong Kong sank 1.44 percent as investors awaited the release Tuesday of preliminary manufacturing data out of China.
The dollar slid to 108.95 yen from 109.04 late on Friday.
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