BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European stocks fell sharply on Wednesday as concerns mounted over a second wave of coronavirus infections as well as the return of trade tensions between the U.S. and China.
Weak regional data also weighed on markets ahead of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's speech on the economy later in the day.
The pan European Stoxx 600 dropped 1.4 percent to 335.79 after rising 0.3 percent on Tuesday.
The German DAX lost 1.6 percent, France's CAC 40 index tumbled 1.9 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was down 1.1 percent.
Shares of ABN Amro Bank NV plunged 8 percent. The Dutch bank swung to a net loss after making 1.1 billion euros ($1.2 billion) of provisions to account for loans going bad.
Exor, the holding firm of Italy's Agnelli family, declined 5.2 percent. French insurer Covéa walked away from its planned $9 billion purchase of PartnerRe, the Bermuda-based reinsurer owned by Exor.
Shares of Commerzbank slumped 5.1 percent after the banking major reported a loss in its first quarter, compared to prior year's profit, hurt mainly by impacts from coronavirus pandemic.
Deutsche Bank tumbled 3.1 percent on news that top managers will waive one month of fixed pay in an effort to cut costs.
United Internet jumped 5 percent after making a good start in its fiscal year 2020 and confirming full-year guidance.
L'Oréal shares were down 1.4 percent. The cosmetics and beauty products giant suspended a planned dividend increase and said it would also renounce any share buyback program in 2020.
Travel and tourism-related stocks were coming under selling pressure after U.K. Health Secretary Matt Hancock warned Tuesday that summer holidays are likely to be cancelled this year.
Carnival and InterContinental Hotels Group lost over 7 percent while easyJet tumbled 4.4 percent.
TUI gave up 3.6 percent after the travel group reported widening losses and warned of 8.000 job losses, as it strives to cut costs by 30 percent in a major restructuring.
Software group Sage rallied 3.8 percent after it reported a 39 percent rise in first half profits.
Offshore wind jackets fabricator Lamprell plunged 12 percent after reporting a wider net loss last year and withdrawing its 2020 revenue guidance.
On the data front, Eurozone industrial production suffered its steepest monthly fall on record in March as several countries went into lockdown to slow the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, preliminary data from Eurostat showed today.
Industrial production in the single currency area fell 11.3 percent month-on-month, marking the sharpest decline since records started in 1991.
U.K. GDP fell 2 percent sequentially in the first quarter, which was the largest decline since the fourth quarter of 2008, official data showed. Economists had forecast a fall of 2.5 percent.
Separately, data published the British Retail Consortium revealed that U.K. retail sales plunged 19.1 percent year-on-year in April compared to a 2.4 percent rise in April 2019. This was the worst decline recorded since the BRC started monitoring in January 1995.
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