European Shares Extend Losses For Fifth Day

(RTTNews) - European stocks fell for a fifth consecutive session on Tuesday as investors fretted about the impact of higher interest rates on corporate profits.

The U.S. efforts to hobble China's semiconductor industry, an escalating conflict in Ukraine and China's COVID woes also added to worries over a possible global recession.

The leaders of the G7 group of nations will hold a virtual meeting today to discuss offering further support to Ukraine after Moscow launched retaliatory missile strikes that killed 19 people.

German government bond yields held near 11-year highs after reports Chancellor Olaf Scholz was prepared to back European Union-wide joint debt issuance to help the bloc's members tackle the energy crisis.

Meanwhile, to restore orderly market conditions, the Bank of England today expanded its emergency bond purchase program to include inflation-linked debt.

The pan European Stoxx 600 was down 0.9 percent at 386.63 after declining 0.4 percent on Monday.

The German DAX dropped 0.8 percent, France's CAC 40 index shed 0.7 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was down 1.3 percent.

Miners Anglo American, Antofagasta and Glencore lost 3-4 percent in London as commodity prices fell on demand worries due to a flare-up in China COVID-19 cases. Oil & gas firm BP Plc declined 3 percent and Shell gave up 2.1 percent.

Greencore shed 1.6 percent despite the convenience food manufacturer posting improved annual revenue and profits.

Ferrexpo, an iron ore pellet producer with operations in central Ukraine, plunged 10 percent.

The company said that production has been temporarily suspended at its operations due to damages to power supply caused by the Russian missile strikes across Ukraine on Monday.

Sanofi shares rose about 1 percent in Paris. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. and the French drug maker have presented late-breaking positive results from a Phase 3 trial evaluating the investigational use of Dupixent (dupilumab) in children aged 1 to 11 years with active eosinophilic esophagitis.

Givaudan AG, a Swiss maker of flavors, fragrances, and cosmetic ingredients, plummeted 7.4 percent after sales growth slowed in the third quarter.

On the data front, the U.K. jobless rate fell to 3.5 percent in three months to August from 3.6 percent in three months to July, the Office for National Statistics reported.

This was the lowest since December to February 1974. The unemployment rate was forecast to remain unchanged at 3.6 percent.