LONDON, Oct 13 (Reuters) - European shares fell on Thursday as underwhelming Chinese trade data knocked down mining stocks while Standard Life SL.L and Aegon AEGN.AS slid on broker downgrades.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX fell more than 1 percent, with the index down by around 8 percent so far in 2016. All major sub-sectors were lower on Thursday.
Standard Life SL.L fell 4.5 percent after Barclay's cut the stock to "underweight" while insurer Aegon AEGN.AS fell more than 5 percent after Societe Generale (PA:SOGN) cut it to a "hold" on worries over variable annuities in the U.S.
Dutch navigation firm TomTom TOM2.AS fell 6.6 percent after the Dutch company said sales of its personal navigation devices had been weaker than expected in the third quarter. stocks such as BHP Billiton BLT.L and Rio Tinto RIO.L took a hit after gloomy trade data from China, which is the world's biggest consumer of metals, and following a downgrade at Citi. in Unilever ULVR.L and Tesco TSCO.L also fell, with the two companies locked in a row over pricing sparked by a plunge in sterling caused by Britain's shock vote in June to quit the European Union.