A deep inversion in the U.S. Treasury yield curve once again rattled investors still worried about economic growth in the face of a U.S.-China trade war that is now in its second year and is weighing on the global economy.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index slipped 0.47% by 0715 GMT, with Germany's trade-sensitive DAX underperforming with a 0.54% drop.

The biggest fallers on the DAX were software provider SAP SE , chipmaker Infineon Technologies AG and payments company Wirecard AG. They were down between 0.9% and 1.2%.

Shares of British oil major BP Plc rose 1.1% and gave the biggest boost to the main index, after the company agreed to sell all its Alaskan properties for $5.6 billion to privately held Hilcorp Energy Co.