BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European stocks fell on Thursday as coronavirus infections continued to rise around the world and the latest batch of earnings disappointed.
Investor sentiment was further dampened over a warning from the Fed that the U.S. economic outlook is darkening.
On the data front, German GDP slumped by the most since 1970 in the second quarter, while the new official unemployment rate hit 7.1 percent across the EU and 7.8 percent in the euro zone in June, new figures showed today.
The pan European Stoxx 600 dropped 1.2 percent to 363.14 after closing down 0.1 percent on Wednesday.
The German DAX tumbled 2.2 percent, France's CAC 40 index fell over 1 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was down 1.7 percent.
Lloyds Banking Group plunged 7.5 percent after it swung to a pretax loss in the first half of 2020.
Royal Dutch Shell dropped 1.7 percent as it booked a US$18.1bn quarterly loss after a record writedown on the value of its oil and gas assets.
Standard Chartered tumbled 4.2 percent after reporting a 33 percent fall in its first-half profit.
RSA Insurance Group lost 3 percent after its statutory profit before tax fell 7 percent in the first half.
Anglo American declined 3.6 percent. The diversified miners slashed dividend after first-half profits fell 39 percent.
Drug maker AstraZeneca rallied 3.2 percent after its second-quarter sales and profit topped forecasts.
Italian oil and gas company Eni SpA declined 3.7 percent. The company said that its second-quarter net loss attributable to shareholders was 4.41 billion euros, compared to last year's profit of 424 million euros.
Insurance company Generali lost 3.7 percent after its first-half net profit more than halved.
Anheuser-Busch InBev surged 5 percent after delivering better-than-expected second-quarter earnings.
Swiss food and beverage giant Nestlé rose half a percent after reporting an increase in first-half profit.
French oil & gas company Total SA advanced 1.6 percent after maintaining its dividend.
Retailer Casino plunged 15.7 percent after its consolidated net loss for the first half of 2020 widened to 445 million euros from 226 million euros in the prior-year period.
Food company Danone plummeted 6.5 percent after its first-half net profit and revenue fell.
Orange lost 4.1 percent. The telecoms group cut its core operating profit guidance and failed to ease analysts' concerns on the dividend.
Carmaker Renault declined 5.6 percent after it swung to a record first-half loss.
Safran climbed 3.8 percent. The aerospace-and-defense company set new guidance for the year, assuming a gradual recovery in air traffic and despite considerable uncertainties.
Plane maker Airbus rallied 3 percent. The company said it would not make any forecasts for next year due to 'limited visibility.'
German automaker Volkswagen slumped 6 percent after it unveiled a first-half operating loss and cut dividend.
Packaging and bottom machine manufacturer Krones plunged 12 percent after it ended the second quarter of 2020 with a loss.
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