European stocks slide on profit-taking, despite Asia rally

• London stocks lost 0.6 percent on official data showing a record surge in UK jobless claims during April, with workers laid off by businesses ravaged by fallout from the deadly COVID-19 outbreak.

LONDON: Europe's major stock markets retreated Tuesday from the previous session's rally, as traders banked profits, digested grim data and mulled coronavirus vaccine hopes.

London stocks lost 0.6 percent on official data showing a record surge in UK jobless claims during April, with workers laid off by businesses ravaged by fallout from the deadly COVID-19 outbreak.

In the eurozone, Frankfurt fell 0.5 percent and Paris shed 0.9 percent on news that European auto sales had collapsed by a record 76.3 percent year-on-year in April.

Asian bourses however rallied Tuesday, tracking an overnight surge on Wall Street, as investors welcomed a further easing of lockdown measures around the world.

European markets nonetheless eased "amid profit-taking and as market participants awaited fresh direction from Wall Street", said ThinkMarkets analyst Fawad Razaqzada.

"Monday saw global stock indices soar higher in a broad-based rally as investors looked through the current economic troubles and concentrated on a number of market-friendly developments."

Shares across Europe had gotten a shot in the arm from news of a 500 billion euro ($542 billion) French-German fund to help the European Union economy combat COVID-19 fallout.

New York stocks then soared after US biotech firm Moderna reported "positive interim" results in early testing of a vaccine candidate, with some analysts suggesting that if all goes well it could be in use by the end of the year.

"It's early days but markets are prepared to see the glass half full at this stage," said Markets.com analyst Neil Wilson.

"A vaccine -- not treatment -- is key of course to resuming life as normal. It's the holy grail right now and markets are prepared to take a leap of faith."

Yet other analysts expressed more caution over the development.

"Moderna's vaccine may well be yielding positive results... but it still remains well short of a viable large-scale solution, and as such any setbacks on the vaccine front could see recent stock market gains start to unravel," noted CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson.

While the number of COVID-19 infected people is fast approaching five million and more than 300,000 have died, the rates are slowing enough to allow governments to begin opening up their economies after months of economically devastating shutdowns.

Investors are eyeing a gradual return to some semblance of normal in key markets, with major tourist attractions in Italy and Greece reopening, top-tier football back in Germany and the "Big Three" Detroit automakers resuming manufacturing.

Investors shrugged off US President Donald Trump's surprise announcement that he is taking hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malaria drug that his own government experts say is not suitable for fighting the novel coronavirus.

"Investors seem to take any Trump headline of a personal nature in their stride," said Scope Markets analyst James Hughes.

- Key figures around 1230 GMT -

London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.6 percent at 6,012.51 points

Frankfurt - DAX 30: DOWN 0.5 percent at 11,005.23

Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 0.9 percent at 4,458.60

Milan - FTSE MIB: DOWN 1.8 percent at 17,096.76

Madrid - IBEX 35: DOWN 2.6 percent at 6,605.20

EURO STOXX 50: DOWN 0.9 percent at 2,884.04

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 1.5 percent at 20,433.45 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng: UP 1.9 percent at 24,388.13 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.8 percent at 2,898.58 (close)

New York - Dow: UP 3.9 percent at 24,597.37 (close)

Brent North Sea crude: DOWN 0.5 percent at $34.63 per barrel

West Texas Intermediate: UP 1.4 percent at $32.25 per barrel

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0942 from $1.0913 at 2100 GMT bcp

Dollar/yen: UP at 107.50 yen from 107.34

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2235 from $1.2194

Euro/pound: DOWN at 89.41 pence from 89.50 pence