The pan-European Stoxx 600 slipped 0.6%, technology stocks tumbling 2.3% while only healthcare and telecoms traded in positive territory.

Investors are staying across the latest earnings season, with a slew of companies reporting their results this week.

· Asian shares edged lower on Thursday as Wall Street stocks dropped on early signs that the U.S.-China trade war could hurt corporate earnings, which helped underpin solid demand for safe-haven U.S. Treasuries.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan eased 0.2%, while Japan’s benchmark Nikkei shed 1.7% and Australian shares fell 0.3%.

Chinese shares followed the suit, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite and the blue-chip CSI 300 down 0.7% and 0.6%, respectively, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng retreated 0.5%.

On Wall Street, all three major indexes fell on Wednesday as weak results from trade-related CSX Corp stoked concerns that the protracted trade standoff between the United States and China could hurt U.S. corporate earnings.

Treasury yields slid as concerns about the U.S.-China trade war boosted demand for safe haven debt and after data showed weakness in the U.S. housing market.

Yields on benchmark 10-year and 30-year bonds climbed more than seven basis points each, to 2.06% and 2.57%, respectively.

· Japanese shares recorded their biggest one-day fall in nearly four months on Thursday as dismal export data and weak U.S. corporate earnings raised fresh worries about fallout from the Sino-U.S. trade war.

The Nikkei share average fell 1.97% to 21,046.24 points, hitting a one-month low and marking its second biggest slide so far this year only after a 3% plunge on March 25.

The broader Topix fell 2.11% to a one-month closing low of 1,534.27.

“The earnings of global manufacturers will be soft for now. Investors are on the sidelines and waiting to buy on dips only if the Nikkei falls below 21,000,” said Takashi Hiroki, chief strategist at Monex Securities.

As the U.S. earnings season kicked off, weak results from railway transport company CSX Corp stoked concerns that the protracted trade standoff between the United States and China could hurt the profits of U.S. companies.

· China stocks fell on Thursday as investors prepared for tepid results from the ongoing earnings season, as weak corporate earnings trends in the U.S. underscored the impact of the trade standoff between Beijing and Washington.

The blue-chip CSI300 index fell 1.0%, to 3,768.40, while the Shanghai Composite Index also dropped 1% to 2,901.18.

Reference: CNBC, Reuters