Barclays plans cost cuts, bumper buybacks
Air Liquide tops profit forecast, shares rise
Bayer slashes dividend to tackle debt burden
Q4 wage deals data due at 1000 GMT

Feb 20 Reuters European shares slipped on Tuesday as metal and mining stocks fell after a cut in China39;s mortgage rate failed to impress markets, while investors assessed key eurozone wage data.

The panEuropean STOXX 600 dipped 0.2, led by a 1.5 loss in the basic resources index as copper prices dropped and a deeperthanexpected mortgage rate cut out of China piled onto uncertainty about the topconsumer39;s ailing property sector.

Chinaexposed luxury stocks also dipped 0.1. The technology sector, which has been one of the top gainers this year, also declined more than 1 by 0941 GMT.

This sharperthanexpected cut hasn39;t shored up confidence. Instead, it39;s concentrated concerns about the economy, said Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets, Hargreaves Lansdown.

It39;s a concern because … a large chunk of Europeanlisted companies are highly attuned to what happens in China.

Closer to home, the muchawaited data on eurozone fourthquarter 2023 negotiated wages showed an reading of 4.46, down from a record high of 4.69 in the third quarter. The data is seen as an important variable in determining the timing of the ECB39;s European Central Bank interest rate cuts.

The main STOXX index closed at a twoyear high in the previous session and is nearing an alltime high, supported by upbeat earnings…