(Bloomberg) -- European stocks closed down after mixed U.S. economic reports did little to reassure investors worried about the recovery slowing without further stimulus.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 1% in London, deepening losses after Wall Street trading began. The S&P 500 entered a correction earlier following disappointing jobless claims data, but erased intraday losses after new home sales figures unexpectedly advanced. Most European sectors fell, including banks, which had rallied after receiving fresh targeted loans from the European Central Bank.
The Stoxx 600 is on track for its worst week since June, hurt by fresh virus-related restrictions in Europe and pessimism about the prospect of further U.S. fiscal stimulus.
“More fire-sale atmosphere across risk assets, which, at the end of the day and quite crucially pertains a lot more to pragmatic profit-taking than to a real inflection of fundamentals,” Stephane Barbier de la Serre, macro strategist at Makor Capital Markets, said by email.
In stock specific news, Cineworld Group Plc plunged after warning lending covenants could be breached at the end of the year. German military supplier Hensoldt AG raised 400 million euros ($466 million) in an initial public offering that priced at the bottom of the range.
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