European Markets Flat With Brexit Standoff In Focus

European markets were mixed this morning as investors monitored tense negotiations between the U.K. and the European Union.

[ROLL CLIP] The pan-European Stoxx 600 hovered around the flatine by late morning trade, with banks falling 1.3% while household goods added 0.7%. The EU on Thursday urged the U.K. to abandon its plan to renege on the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement and threatened legal action, but U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government has vowed to press ahead with its Internal Market Bill, despite acknowledgment that the move violates international law. On the data front, the U.K. economy grew 6.6% in July on a monthly basis, according to initial estimates published Friday, as the economy seeks to recover from the sharp downturn caused by coronavirus-induced lockdown measures. At the other end of the European blue-chip index, German braking system manufacturer Knorr-Bremse fell 8% after majority shareholder Heinz Hermann Thiele sold 10 million shares in the company.