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Red color covers European indices after losses in the mining sector
European stock markets closed lower on Wednesday, with the STOXX 600 index ending trading down more than 1%, with all major sectors and markets in the red. While mining stocks led the losses, down 2.12%.
Mining giant Anglo American shares lost 3.89% after BHP Group announced that it does not intend to submit a firm takeover bid before 5 p.m. Deadline for talks.
The shares of International Distribution Services, which owns the British Royal Mail, rose 4.36% after accepting a takeover offer worth 3.57 billion pounds, about 4.56 billion dollars, from Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky.
The Stoxx index fell 0.6% on Tuesday, its biggest loss since April 30, as investors focus on interest rate expectations and watch global bond yields rise.
A strong crop of first-quarter and full-year earnings has put the index on track for monthly gains.
“The earnings season was generally better than expected,” Marcus Morris Eaton, portfolio manager for Europe and global growth at AllianceBernstein, told CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe" on Tuesday.
“51% of companies beat expectations, but in reality two-thirds of companies beat or met expectations, and when you dig beneath the surface what was particularly interesting was the margin strength across European companies during the quarter,” said Maurice Eaton.
