(Reuters) – European stocks mostly fell on Wednesday, failing to join a recovery in global equities following a selloff on doubts over U.S. stimulus, with blue-chip shares weighing the most.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index <.STOXX> edged 0.1% lower to break a four-session winning run. Blue-chip stocks <.STOXX50> fell 0.3%.
The healthcare sector <.SXDP> was the biggest drag, with telecom <.SXKP>, media <.SXMP> and real estate <.SX86P> stocks also falling.
Asian markets and Wall Street stocks rebounded strongly from overnight losses triggered by U.S. President Donald Trump calling off talks over a coronavirus relief package until after the election.
Later on, however, Trump urged Congress to provide $1,200 stimulus checks for Americans and other support for airlines and small businesses.
“You can look at this as partly a negotiating tactic,” said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda in London. “You call off talks now in the hopes that the Democrats will cede a little bit of ground. But I’m sceptical we’ll get one before the election.”
The benchmark STOXX 600 hit a two-week high earlier this week on reports of improvements in Trump’s health after he tested positive for COVID-19, although trading has been choppy amid uncertainties about the November election.
Positive earnings reports and upbeat brokerage recommendations helped limit the losses in Europe.
German logistics group Deutsche Post AG <DPWGn.DE> jumped 3.9% as it said it expected “exceptionally strong” business up to Christmas as ecommerce keeps booming during the pandemic.
Dialog Semiconductor <DLGS.DE> rose 3.2% after it forecast better-than-expected revenue in its third quarter.
Miners <.SXPP> rose after JP Morgan took an “extreme overweight” position, citing a boost to the sector from China’s recovery and potential U.S. stimulus.
BHP <BHPB.L>, Anglo American <AAL.L> and Rio Tinto <RIO.L> gained more than 2%, boosting UK’s commodity-heavy FTSE 100 <.FTSE>.
Beverages companies AB InBev <ABI.BR>, Heineken <HEIN.AS>, and Pernod Ricard <PERP.PA> rose between 1.3% and 3.5% after Jefferies upgraded the stocks to “buy”, while double upgrading Diageo <DGE.L>.
Britain’s biggest supermarket chain Tesco <TSCO.L> slipped 0.7%, giving back gains after it reported a jump in sales.
Nexi <NEXII.MI> slid 5.7% after top shareholder Mercury UK Holdco said it was selling 13.4% of its stake in the Italian payments group, a day after Nexi announced a merger with rival SIA.
(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar; Editing by Arun Koyyur, Kirsten Donovan)
