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Market Update

European Shares Slip in Early Trade

Stocks in Europe opened lower early Tuesday, ahead of a vote by Slovakia today to decide on whether to expand the European bailout fund.

At the time of writing, Britain's FTSE, France's CAC and Germany's DAX were trading between 0.5% and 0.7% lower.

Slovakia, the last country to vote in the 17-nation Eurozone bloc, is set to vote on a deal to expand the European Financial Stability Facility, the bailout fund put together to combat the debt crisis.

Individual movers remained in focus early with broker recommendations impacting several stocks: Swedish retailer Hennes & Mauritz AB rose 1.6% while U.K. department-store chain Debenhams Plc gained 2.7% following broker upgrades while Spanish utility major Iberdrola SA and German supermarket operator Metro AG were off 1.7% and 2.1% after broker downgrades.

Shares in Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation fell 1.4% after the decided to buy outstanding shares in Kazakhstan's thermal-coal producer Shubarkol.

In sectors, banks were broadly higher with Barclays, BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole and Societe Generale adding 1% to 2.1% while in miners Xstrata, Kazakhmys and Fresnillo were down between 0.5% and 1.8%.

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