European stock markets opened slightly lower on Monday as investors digested results from the German election over the weekend.
While the vote showed a resounding victory for Chancellor Angela Merkel, her Christian Democratic Union party fell just short of an absolute majority in the Bundestag, and she will now have to convince leftist rivals to form a grand coalition.
Germany’s DAX 30 index traded 0.2% lower at 8,655.10, while the Stoxx Europe 600 index dropped 0.2% to 313.64. Elsewhere, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 index gave up 0.3% to 6,576.89 and France’s CAC 40 index slipped 0.2% to 4,195.79. Among notable movers, shares of National Grid PLC fell 1.6% after UBS cut the firm to neutral from buy.
Source : Marketwatch