Investors took profits Monday, particularly in the mining and auto sectors, pushing European indexes off recent highs, while Dutch bank ABN Amro and publisher Pearson traded lower after updates, AP reported. In the auto sector, Volkswagen shares dropped 1.7 percent, BMW shares slipped 1.2 percent and shares of Peugeot declined 1.5 percent, sending Germany's DAX Xetra 30 index down 0.07 percent to 6,258.19 and the French CAC-40 index 0.63 percent lower at 5,362.23. Mining shares, which rose 12 percent in October, also weakened on Monday, weighing on the FTSE 100 index, which traded down 0.55 percent at 6,126.80. Xstrata shares lost 1.9 percent, BHP Billiton declined 2.1 percent and Vedanta Resources dipped 2.2 percent. U.S. stocks got off to a poor start as retail giant Wal-Mart Stores reported its weakest monthly same-store sales growth in years. That added to fears about economic growth, after the U.S. government said Friday that third-quarter gross domestic product grew at a slower-than-expected annual rate of 1.6 percent. Shares of Dutch bank ABN Amro declined 0.2 percent after it reported third-quarter net income fell 5.6 percent as rising bad debt hit the company's bottom line. Switzerland's Credit Suisse shares weakened 0.2 percent, while UBS shares dipped 0.5 percent. They report earnings later in the week. Also, The Wall Street Journal reported that the U.S. Securities and Exchance group, is considering making a 7 billion pound (US$13 billion) takeover offer. Axa shares slipped 1.1 percent in Paris.
