European shares slipped to a one-week low on Tuesday, with a drop in industrial metals prices following poor trade data from China, the world's top metals consumer, putting pressure on the mining sector.
China's February trade performance was far worse than economists had expected, with exports tumbling the most in more than six years, days after Beijing leaders sought to reassure investors that the outlook for the world's second-largest economy remains solid.
The STOXX Europe 600 Basic Resources index fell 4.1 per cent, the top sectoral decliner, dragged down by a 4.4 to 7.7 per cent fall in shares of BHP Billiton, Anglo American , Rio Tinto and Glencore.
"Much weaker Chinese exports clearly point to additional trouble for the Chinese economy in the months ahead, with the global growth slowdown continuing to take a toll," Markus Huber, trader at City of London Markets, said.
"Furthermore putting early pressure on stocks is the notion that any ECB action being taken on Thursday is already priced in, leading to profit-taking ahead of the ECB meeting."
According to a Reuters poll of traders published on Monday, the European Central Bank will expand the size of its monthly asset purchases on Thursday. Traders also expect another cut to the already negative deposit rate.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index, which reached one-month highs on Friday after three straight weeks of gains, fell 1.3 per cent to its lowest level in a week.
Across Europe, Britain's FTSE and France's CAC fell 1.1 per cent and 1.6 per cent respectively, while Germany's DAX dropped 1.5 per cent despite solid data.
German industrial output rose in January at its fastest pace in more than six years, showing that the engine room of Europe's largest economy began 2016 well despite the financial market turmoil that has hurt business sentiment.
Saipem shares fell nearly 8 per cent after two of the banks that guaranteed a recent stock issue at the Italian oil services group sold a 6 percent stake at a discount on Monday.
Shares in French supermarket retailer Casino also fell by around 1 percent after U.S. research firm Muddy Waters launched a new attack on the company. Casino had no immediate comment in response to Muddy Waters' report.
However, luxury goods group Burberry rose 4 per cent after the Financial Times reported that Burberry was seeking help to fight off a takeover bid.