(Reuters) – European stocks fell on Tuesday as the double whammy from a crash in U.S. crude to minus $40 per barrel and dismal first-quarter earnings reports spooked investors about the lasting damage to the global economy from the coronavirus pandemic.
BP Plc (BP.L), Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSa.L) and Total SA (TOTF.PA) fell between 3% and 4.0%, knocking 1.1% off the pan-European STOXX 600 index at 0702 GMT. Miners .SXPP also tracked a decline in commodity prices. [MET/L]
All major European country indexes slipped a day after U.S. crude CLc1 plummeted to below zero for the first time in history with a wipeout in storage capacity causing traders to flee contracts that would deliver oil barrels to them in May. [O/R]
The benchmark STOXX 600 had recovered about 25% from a March trough on a return in risk appetite with unprecedented global stimulus, but remained about 22% away from record highs as companies scrapped dividends and withdrew financial forecasts to deal with the fallout of the pandemic.
Primark owner Associated British Foods (ABF.L) fell 2% after saying it would not pay an interim dividend and could not provide a full-year earnings forecast for the fashion retailer.
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