BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European stocks closed broadly lower on Wednesday as the continued surge in coronavirus cases, the uncertainty surrounding the U.S. election result, and concerns about Brexit deal outweighed positive economic data out of China.
Germany has imposed new lockdown measures in a bid to contain the spread of the virus over autumn and winter. In France, health authorities reported an increase of over 8,000 new Covid-19 infections over 24 hours, up from Monday's 4,070.
In the U.K., coronavirus cases increased by over 7,100 cses on Tuesday, the highest single day rise todate.
After spending much of the day's session till around mid afternoon in the red, stocks staged a rally of sorts in the final hour but faltered towards the end.
The pan European Stoxx 600 edged down 0.11%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 ended lower by 0.53%, Germany's DAX slid 0.51% and France's CAC 40 declined 0.59%. Switzerland's SMI closed 0.41% down.
Among other markets in Europe, Denmark, Finland, Netherlands, Poland, Russia and Sweden ended weak.
Austria, Czech Republic, Greece, Norway, Portugal and Turkey closed higher, while Belgium, Iceland, Ireland and Spain ended flat.
In the UK market, Rolls-Royce Holdings tumbled nearly 7%. Ocado Group shed about 5%, while Prudential lost 2.3%.
Compass Group shares ended nearly 3% down after the company said its fourth quarter organic revenue declined approximately 36%.
Royal Dutch Shell closed sharply lower after revealing plans to cut up to 9,000 jobs by the end of 2022.
BP, CRH, Melrose, Rio Tinto and Tesco were among the other notable losers.
Among the gainers, TUI moved up more than 5%. Carnival, IAG, ITV, EasyJet, 3i Group and Land Securities gained 2 to 4%. Standard Chartered, Standard Life, WPP, BT Group and Persimmon also ended notably higher.
In France, WorldLine, LVMH, Schneider Electric, Air Liquide, Vinci and Dassault Systemes declined 1 to 2.5%.
Technip, Total and STMicroElectronics gained 4 to 4.5%. Societe Generale moved up 2.65%, Peugeot, Accor, Publicis Groupe and Bouygues gained 1.8 to 2%, while Credit Agricole ended higher by about 1.5%.
In the German market, Covestro slid more than 6%. Adidas, Deutsche Post, Wirecard and DAP also closed weak, albeit with less pronounced losses.
Among the gainers, Deutsche Bank moved up more than 2.5%. Daimler and Lufthansa also gained more than 2%. BMW, MTU Aero, Vonovia, Deutsche Telekom and Fresenius posted modest gains.
In economic releases, German unemployment declined for a third month in September while retail sales rose much more than expected in August, separate reports showed.
Germany's retail sales advanced by real 3.1% month-on-month in August, reversing a 0.2% fall in July, data from Destatis showed.
Data from the Federal Labor Agency showed the jobless rate in Germany fell marginally to a seasonally adjusted 6.3% in August. Economists had expected the jobless rate to remain unchanged at 6.4%.
The U.K. economy contracted at a record pace in the second quarter though the decline was less severe than previously estimated, revised data from the Office for National Statistics showed.
Due to the coronavirus containment measures, gross domestic product fell 19.8% sequentially. The rate was revised from a 20.4% fall estimated initially.
UK house price inflation rose to a four-year high in September driven by pent-up demand and stamp duty holiday, data from the Nationwide Building Society showed Wednesday.
House prices grew 5% year-on-year in September, which was the highest since September 2016. Inflation was forecast to rise moderately to 4.5% from 3.7%.
Month-on-month, house price inflation slowed to 0.9% from 2% in August.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX