Mubasher: European shares traded mostly lower in early Thursday trade, as European leaders look to ink a Brexit deal between London and Brussels during a two-day crunch summit, according to CNBC.

By 7:57 am GMT, the pan-European benchmark STOXX 600 index ticked down by 0.07% to 393.18, led by basic resources shares which fell by 1%, with most sectors in red, whereas utilities climbed by 0.4%.

European leaders were scrambling to hammer out a last-gasp deal over the UK’s exit from the European Union (EU) which will mostly feature the two-day meeting in Brussels.

As the Brexit deal requires the parliamentary ratification in the UK and the EU, the former’s approval remained a challenge to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who is not having a majority and struggling to win over opposition members of parliament since taking the helm of the Conservative Party last July.

The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), a major ally of Johnson’s cabinet, said it could not agree to the customs and consent arrangements relating to Northern Ireland in the Brexit deal proposal by Number 10.

Furthermore, the European Central Bank (ECB) is rolling out a full substantial stimulus package, despite differences within its governing council over announcing the decision, French central bank president Francois Villeroy de Galhau was cited by CNBC, adding that the ECB remained open to broader review of its policy framework.

In the UK, retail sales figures are due to be released shortly.   

On the trade front, US and Chinese officials were working on “phase one” of a trade pact to be presented to US President Donald Trump and Xi Jinping, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

Looking at individual shares, Sweden’s Ericsson and Tele2 and Finnish telecom giant Elisa surged by over 5% in early trade, after reporting solid third quarter earnings.

Meanwhile, Swiss software firm Temenos dropped by 13.1% after missing expectations, with UK price comparison website Moneysupermarket fell by 9.6%.