European Shares Extend Losses After US Megacap Stock Sell-off

(RTTNews) - European stocks fell sharply on Thursday after U.S. stock markets suffered their worst losses since 2022 overnight, led by declines in major tech shares.

Concerns over Chinese demand and weak German business sentiment data also weighed on markets.

The Ifo institute's business climate index sank to 87.0 in July from 88.6 in June amid increasing pessimism about the performance of Europe's largest economy.

The pan European STOXX 600 tumbled 1.4 percent to 505.31 after falling 0.6 percent on Wednesday.

The German DAX dipped 1.2 percent, France's CAC 40 shed 1.6 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was down 1 percent.

Nestle tumbled 4.2 percent. The Swiss food and drink company downgraded its sales outlook for the year after sales fell 3 percent during the first half of fiscal 2024.

Franco-Italian chipmaker STMicroelectronics lost nearly 12 percent after cutting its full-year outlook for the second time this year.

British drug maker Indivior soared 16 percent after a promising half-year report.

Gold miner Centamin slumped 6.2 percent after reporting weak net earnings in its first half.

Centrica plummeted 7.2 percent. The integrated energy company announced that Scott Wheway would step down as Chair of the Company and would not seek re-election as a director.

British American Tobacco climbed 3 percent after delivering its first-half performance for 2024 in line with its expectations.

Telecoms giant BT Group fell 2.4 percent on reporting a decline in Q1 revenue.

Consumer goods giant Unilever surged 5.6 percent after beating first-half expectations.

Lender Lloyds Banking dropped 1.4 percent as it reported a 14 percent fall in first half pretax profit.

Gucci-owner Kering plunged 6.7 percent in Paris after issuing another profit warning.

Renault plummeted 8.3 percent after partner Nissan Motor Co. and French peer Stellantis NV reported disappointing results.

Retailer Carrefour lost 5.4 percent after upholding its end-year profit and cashflow targets.

Airline Air France-KLM jumped almost 4 percent despite posting Q2 results below expectations.

Ipsen slumped 5.7 percent despite delivering strong results in the first half of the year.

German semiconductor parts maker Aixtron AG fell 2.8 percent after revising down the annual revenue outlook for the third quarter.

Agriculture group BayWa rallied 13 percent on reports that Swiss energy investor Energy Infrastructure Partners (EIP) is seeking to increase its stake in the company's renewable energy unit.

Vossloh, an international technology group focused on rail products including switches, signals and crossings, rose 3 percent after reporting a rise in first-half net income.

Wind turbine maker Nordex added 1.7 percent after narrowing its half-year net loss and lifting its FY24 EBITDA margin view.