European shares dip early

European shares fell in early trading on Tuesday, adding to the previous session's losses as data showing a slowdown in Chinese economic growth kept investors on edge, offsetting better-than-expected quarterly sales from Apple. Shares in oil giant Total fell 1.2 per cent after its chief executive Christophe de Margerie was killed when a business jet collided with a snow plough during takeoff at Moscow's Vnukovo International Airport. At 0703 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was down 0.2 per cent at 1,270.57 points, after losing 0.6 per cent on Monday. China's economic growth slowed in the third quarter to its weakest since the 2008/09 global financial crisis, as a slumping property market dragged on manufacturing and investment, fuelling worries over flagging global growth, according to reuters.com