European shares slip as Covid surge in China weighs

After a brief jump this week, global markets are nervous about Beijing's move to further relax COVID curbs

China-exposed luxury firms weighed on the European index in early trading.

European shares slipped on Thursday as the market neared the end of a rough year, struggling with geopolitical tensions and growing fears of economic slowdown due to aggressive rate hikes by central banks.

The region-wide STOXX 600 fell 0.4%. For the year so far, it is down 12.8%.