[MARKET ANALYSIS] European bourses trade lower on light volume as US traders take a holiday

European bourses start the first trading session of the week with broad losses, with the SMI the underperformer, given losses in Novartis (see more below). Volumes are expected to be light given the US being away for Labour Day. European politics will be in focus over the coming year, with Germany the latest to provide an update. The AfD won 44% of the votes in the Saxony-Anhalt state election, while the CDU gained 17.5% of votes, according to preliminary results. The result leaves the AfD 3 seats short of a majority; however, party co-leader Weidel says they will reach out to potential partners to assemble a government. Sectors have a slight negative bias. Energy tops the sector pile, with Utilities and Industrial rounding out the sector gainers. At the bottom lies Health Care, with Real Estate and Media completing the sector laggards. Key movers include: Novartis (-3.5%), phase 3 CVD trial misses primary endpoints; AstraZeneca (+0.4%), Camizestrant plus CDK 4/6 inhibitor gains approval in the US for breast cancer; Ferrexpo (+44.5%), restarts production using one pellet line in Ukraine; E.ON (+1.6%), upgraded to buy at UBS. Elsewhere, over in Asia, Chinese banks underperformed after China announced it will pump CNY 360bln into financials to boost the sector's declining margins and create a buffer to boost economic growth.