BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European stocks recovered after a weak start Thursday morning, but faltered again before recovering some lost ground in the final hour.
However, it was still a finish in the red for most of the markets in Europe, as worries about growth, news about rising coronavirus infections and geopolitical tensions weighed on sentiment.
Investors also reacted to the Bank of England's decision to expand its quantitative easing program in a bid to shore up the U.K. economy.
The pan European Stoxx 600 declined 0.71%. Among the major indices in Europe, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 ended down 0.47%, Germany's DAX shed 0.81%, France's CAC 40 ended down 0.75%, while Switzerland's SMI edged down by 0.15%.
Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Spain and Sweden ended weak, while Ireland, Poland and Turkey closed higher.
In the U.K. market, Taylor Wimpey ended nearly 5% down. TUI, Kingfisher, Aveva Group, Evraz, AstraZeneca, Burberry Group, Vodafone, Rio Tinto and BHP Group declined 1.4 to 3.2%.
On the other hand, Flutter Entertainment, Prudential, Whitbread, EasyJet, Standard Life, M&G and Scottish Mortgage gained 1 to 4%.
In German market, Wirecard shares plummeted more than 60% after the firm said the auditor EY has informed the company that an audit certificate for financial statements for fiscal 2019 requires additional audits.
Lufthansa declined by about 4.1%, while Henkel, Thyssenkrupp and Deutsche Bank lost 2 to 3%. Volkswagen ended lower by 1.2%.
Among the gainers in the DAX index, BASF, Vonovia and Covestro moved up 1.6 to 1.9%.
Among other gainers in Germany, shares of online fashion retailer Zalando moved up sharply after the company said it is expecting a bigger increase in sales and operating profit in the second quarter than analysts are forecasting.
In France, ArcelorMittal declined by about 5.8%. Unibail Rodamco, Michelin, Airbus, Carrefour and Orange lost 2 to 3.3%, while Technip ended nearly 2% down. STMicroElectronics shares gained more than 1.5%.
The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee, led by Governor Andrew Bailey, today announced additional quantitative easing and left its interest rate unchanged at a record low to combat the sharp recession triggered by the coronavirus pandemic.
The MPC raised the size of the asset purchase programme by GBP 100 billion to GBP 745 billion and said they are ready to take further action as required to support the economy and ensure a sustained return of inflation to the 2% target.
Switzerland's central bank kept its expansionary monetary policy stance as it expects the economy to contract the most in over five decades and inflation to remain more negative than forecast earlier, this year due to the impact of the coronavirus, or Covid-19, and the lockdown restrictions imposed to slow the pandemic.
The Swiss National Bank left the key interest rate unchanged at -0.75%, in line with economists' expectations, and said it remains willing to intervene more strongly in the foreign exchange market due to the high valuation for the Swiss franc.
'The SNB's expansionary monetary policy remains necessary to ensure appropriate monetary conditions in Switzerland,' the central bank said in a statement.
The central bank has provided banks with around CHF 10 billion in liquidity at the policy rate since the launch of the Covid-19 refinancing facility.
Data from the Federal Customs Administration showed Switzerland's exports declined for the fourth straight month, though at a softer pace in May. Exports decreased by a real 0.2% month-on-month in May, following a 9.9% fall in April. Imports grew 13% monthly in May, after a 17.5% fall in the previous month.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX