European markets ended mostly lower on Monday amid renewed uncertainty about a trade deal between the U.S. and China.
Uncertainty about Brexit and weak economic data out of China too weighed on stocks.
Although the U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Friday that the U.S. and China have reached a "very substantial phase one deal," reports on Monday that China wants another round of talks before signing the agreement raised some uncertainty about the deal and rendered the mood cautious.
According to a report in Bloomberg News, China may send a delegation led by Vice Premier Liu He to finalize a written deal that could be signed at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit next month in Chile.
Another source reportedly told Bloomberg that China wants a planned tariff hike in December to be scrapped in addition to the hike scheduled for this week.
Trump claimed in a tweet on Sunday that China has agreed to immediately start buying large quantities of U.S. agricultural products, but the Chinese have not followed through on similar pledges in the past.
With several stocks from across various sectors edging lower and most of the markets exhibiting weakness, the pan European Stoxx 600 ended down 0.49%.
Among the major indices in Europe, German's DAX ended down 0.2%, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 declined 0.46%, France's CAC 40 shed 0.4% and Switzerland's SMI ended lower by 0.53%.
Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Iceland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia and Spain ended with sharp to moderate losses. Turkey declined sharply
Sweden, Greece and Ireland ended flat, while Czech Republic and Denmark closed modestly higher.
In the British market, NMC Health, Hargreaves Lansdown, Auto Trader Group, Glencore, Prudential, BHP Group, United Utilities, Anglo American, Micro Focus, Rio Tinto and Lloyds Banking lost 2 to 4%.
Sophos Group jumped more than 30% after Private equity firm Thoma Bravo announced it would take the British cybersecurity company private in a deal valuing the company at about $3.8 billion.
On the other hand, Next, Kingfisher, Marks & Spencer and Rolls-Royce Holdings gained 1 to 2%, while WPP rallied 2.75%.
In the German market, Wirecard, Infineon and Allianz lost 1 to 1.4%, while Beiersdorf, RWE, Deutsche Bank and Bayer gained 0.6 to 1.1%.
In France, ArcelorMittal, Atos, Sodexo, Capgemini, Total and Vinci lost 1 to 2.5%, while Publicis Groupe and Michelin gained 2.5% and 1.7%, respectively.
In economic news from Europe, data from Eurostat showed Eurozone industrial production expanded in August after easing for two straight months. Output grew 0.4% month-on-month, offsetting a 0.4% fall in July. Production was forecast to climbe 0.3%.
Turkey industrial production declined 3.6% year-on-year in August, after a 1.1% drop in July, data from the Turkish Statistical Institute showed. In June, production had showed a similar decline of 3.6%. Manufacturing output fell 3.3% annually in August.
In news from China, a report from the General Administration of Customs showed China's exports declined more than expected in September reflecting weak global growth and trade disputes with the US administration. In dollar terms, exports fell 3.2% year-on-year in September, bigger than the expected 3% decrease and prior month's 1% fall.
On the Brexit front, Britain and the European Union said over the weekend that a lot more work would be needed to secure a Brexit agreement.
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