Trade rhetoric weighs on European shares

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May 17 (Reuters) - European shares dropped on Friday after
three days of gains, as Beijing ratcheted up its war of words
with Washington over trade, weighing on risk appetite.
The pan-European STOXX 600 .STOXX index was down 0.7% by
0720 GMT, though it was still looking at its best weekly
performance since in 1-1/2 months.
The Communist Party's People's Daily used a front page
commentary to say the trade war would never bring China down,
after telecoms equipment giant Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
HWT.UL was put on a U.S. blacklist. The escalating trade war, which threatens to hamper global
growth, has knocked as much as 4.6% off the pan-regional index
in the last two weeks. Traders point to a drop in volumes as a
sign investors aren't convinced by this week's rally.
Among country indexes, Germany's exporter-heavy DAX .GDAXI
fell the most. Auto stocks .SXAP lost 1.6%, with BMW BMWG.DE
shedding 5.7% as its shares traded ex-dividend.
Delivery food companies tumbled after Britain's Deliveroo,
which is unlisted, secured funding from Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O .
Just Eat JE.L tanked 7.8%, making it theis biggest faller
on the FTSE 100, while Takeaway.com TKWY.AS and Delivery Hero
DHER.DE lost 4.8% and 3.7% percent respectively.
European share advances on Thursday were supported by
better-than-expected U.S. economic data and upbeat earnings from
Walmart WMT.N and Cisco CSCO.O .
Investors will on Friday turn to euro zone CPI data for
April, due at 0900 GMT, for further clues to the health of the
region's economy after powerhouse Germany returned to growth in
the first quarter of 2019.
Swiss luxury goods maker Richemont CFR.S reported 10% rise
in quarterly sales of its watches and jewellery, but traders
said its operating profit and margin fell short of expectations,
sending its shares down 1.5%. Britain's EasyJet EZJ.L rose 3.8% after the budget carrier
said it would meet expectations in 2019 despite a worse trading
environment.