European shares opened lower

European stocks opened slightly lower on Wednesday, November 16th, with Mercedes-Benz Group leading the decliners in the auto sector, while an explosion in Poland kept sentiment weak and pushed defense stocks higher.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index lost 0.2%.

Mercedes-Benz shares fell 3.5% after a report said that the German automaker cut the prices of its electric cars in China by as much as $33,000 due to poor sales.

US President Joe Biden said a missile that killed two people in Poland was likely not fired from Russia, after calling an emergency meeting of NATO leaders to discuss the attack.

The shares of the aviation, space and defense industries sector rose 1.8%.