European shares slide as virus fears persist, banks drop

  • Reuters
  • Stock Market News
European shares slide as virus fears persist, banks drop
Credit: © Reuters.

(For a live blog on European stocks, type LIVE/ in an Eikon news window)

May 13 (Reuters) - European shares fell on Wednesday, as investors feared a surge in COVID-19 cases after several hard-hit countries started to ease lockdowns, while rising U.S.-China tensions also dented sentiment.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX fell 1.1% by 0710 GMT, with banks proving a drag after a slew of negative updates.

Shares in Germany's Commerzbank CBKG.DE slid 3.2% and Dutch bank ABN Amro ABNd.AS dropped 5.3% after swinging to a loss in the first quarter as the COVID-19 pandemic drove up loan loss provisions. Bank DBKGn.DE dropped 4.4% on news that top managers will waive one month of fixed pay in an effort to cut costs. also witnessed the biggest deal involving a European buyer collapse due to the market dislocation caused by the pandemic.

Shares in Exor EXOR.MI , the holding firm of Italy's Agnelli family, fell 4.3% as French insurer Covea walked away from its planned $9 billion purchase of PartnerRe, the Bermuda-based reinsurer owned by Exor.

Add Chart to Comment

Comment Guidelines

We encourage you to use comments to engage with users, share your perspective and ask questions of authors and each other. However, in order to maintain the high level of discourse we’ve all come to value and expect, please keep the following criteria in mind: 

  • Enrich the conversation
  • Stay focused and on track. Only post material that’s relevant to the topic being discussed.
  • Be respectful. Even negative opinions can be framed positively and diplomatically.
  •  Use standard writing style. Include punctuation and upper and lower cases.
  • NOTE: Spam and/or promotional messages and links within a comment will be removed
  • Avoid profanity, slander or personal attacks directed at an author or another user.
  • Don’t Monopolize the Conversation. We appreciate passion and conviction, but we also believe strongly in giving everyone a chance to air their thoughts. Therefore, in addition to civil interaction, we expect commenters to offer their opinions succinctly and thoughtfully, but not so repeatedly that others are annoyed or offended. If we receive complaints about individuals who take over a thread or forum, we reserve the right to ban them from the site, without recourse.
  • Only English comments will be allowed.

Perpetrators of spam or abuse will be deleted from the site and prohibited from future registration at Investing.com’s discretion.

Drop an image here or Supported formats: *.jpg, *.png, *.gif up to 5mb

Error: File type not supported

Drop an image here or

100
Please try another search