Europe close: Investors take profits after sharp three-day rally
European shares slipped on Thursday as nervous investors took profits after three days of solid gains.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was down 0.88% to 385.16 with all all continental markets lower on renewed Covid-19 fears.
Germany's Dax fell 1.24% to 13,052.95, alongside a 1.52% drop to 5,362.57 for the Cac-40 while the FTSE Mibtel was off by 0.83% to 20,817.73.
"Stock markets in Europe are in the red after three days of impressive gains. The buying mania that was experienced earlier this week has now faded as traders are starting to realise that any potential Covid-19 vaccine would take a while to be widely distributed, so therefore the pandemic won’t be under control for potentially months," said David Madden, market analyst at CMC Markets UK.
"A mixture of profit taking and concerns about the health crisis are weighing on stocks."
In the UK, latest GDP figures from the Office for National Statistics showed the UK economy grew by a record 15.5% in the third quarter as lockdown measures were eased, but slowed in September.
The economy is still 9.7% below where it was at the end of last year. Analysts had been expecting growth of 15.8% in Q3. On the month, GDP growth slowed to just 1.1% in September from a revised 2.2% in August, missing consensus expectations of 1.5% growth.
In equity markets, Burberry shares were higher as the fashion and accessories label posted a 75% drop in first-half profit driven by the Covid-19 crisis but said it had seen an improvement in sales in the second quarter and that revenue would be affected by fewer markdowns.
Qinetiq and Hill & Smith were also on the front foot after well-received updates. House builder Vistry also rose as the company lifted 2021 profit forecasts and said it would resume dividend payments.
Legal & General lost ground after saying it planned an unchanged dividend for 2020 and for the payout to increase more slowly than earnings and cash generation over five years. The insurer and asset manager said its "ambition" remained for annual operating profit to be broadly in line with 2019's result of £2.3bn.
B&M European Value Retail dipped as it announced a special dividend and reported a jump in first-half profit and revenue, having been able to remain open during the first and second lockdowns.
In other company news, German engineering group Siemens fell even as it reported better-than-expected profit at its industrial business.
Zurich Insurance Group was also down, even after as it said its new life insurance business picked up in the third quarter, while Italian peer Generali lost 0.8% after saying it would not pay the second tranche of the dividend on 2019 results this year.