Europe close: Stocks little changed as investors monitor risks of second pandemic wave
By Alexander Bueso
Date: Tuesday 28 Jul 2020
(Sharecast News) - Stocks in Europe were little changed overall on Tuesday although they did give back early gains despite reports that US lawmakers were preparing a further $1.0trn round of fiscal stimulus.
Weighing on investor sentiment were concerns around a possible second wave of the the Covid-19 pandemic, as Spain's Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, labelled the UK's new quarantine requirements for travellers from his country "disproportionate".
Sanchez's comments came as German health officials advised against travel to three Spanish regions, Aragon, Catalonia and Navarre, and fresh unemployment figures revealed the mounting toll on employment from the pandemic.
Commenting on the mood in markets, IG's Chris Beauchamp said: "Indices have struggled to establish a definite direction in recent sessions, indecision ruling the roost as investors watch economic data begin to weaken while at the same time dealing with a mixed earnings season."
Against that backdrop, by the end of trading, the benchmark Stoxx 600 was ahead 0.42% to 367.68, alongside a 0.03% dip on the German Dax to 12,835.27, although the Spanish Ibex 35 managed to rebound by 1.06% to 7,246.40.
Elsewhere on the pandemic front, the head of of Germany's health regulator, the Robert Koch institute, Lothar Wieler, also sounded a wary note on rising case numbers in Germany, which had hit 3,600 over the preceding week.
Meanwhile, in Italy, Premier Giuseppe Conte told his country's Senate that he wanted to maintain the current state of emergency in place until October.
Earlier, Spain's national statistics office, INE, reported that the rate of unemployment in the country jumped from 14.41% in the first quarter to 15.33% in the second (consensus: 16.5%), as the number of employed fell by 6,73% quarter-on-quarter or by a further 1.074m.
Also on Tuesday, the European Central Bank called on lenders within the single currency bloc not to pay dividends or buy back shares until January 2021 at the earliest.
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