European shares halt five-day rally

European shares closed firmly in the red on Wednesday, ending a five-day rally as the first batch of earnings reports underlined the business damage from the coronavirus pandemic, while energy stocks sank on worries of a plunge in oil demand.

Declines for Total SA, Royal Dutch Shell Plc and BP Plc sent the European energy index to its lowest point this month as oil prices were hit by forecasts of global demand crumbling to its worst levels in a quarter of a century.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index slipped 3.3%, after having risen almost 8% since April 6 on early signs the health crisis was ebbing and on hopes that sweeping lockdown measures would soon be lifted.

The benchmark index has recovered about 22% since hitting an eight-year low in March, but is still down almost 26% from a record high hit in mid-February, and analysts warned an uptick in coronavirus cases could spark another sell-off.

ASML Holding NV, a key European supplier to chipmakers such as Samsung and Intel, fell 3.2% after reporting worse-than-expected earnings on Wednesday.

Dutch navigation and digital mapping company TomTom shed 4.9% after saying it expected negative free cash flow this year and lower revenue from its automotive and consumer businesses.

French shares fell 3.8% as France became the fourth country to report more than 15,000 deaths due to the coronavirus after Italy, Spain and the United States.

Britain's domestically focused mid-cap index slumped another 4.6% on signs the country was heading for a longer lockdown and forecasts the economy could be facing its deepest recession in 300 years.

Overall, analysts expect earnings for STOXX 600 firms to slide 22% in the first quarter and 34.2% in the second, deepening a corporate recession even as some economies consider lifting strict stay-at-home orders.