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UPDATE 2-U.S.-China trade gloom casts heavy shadow on European stocks

Published 05/18/2019, 12:22 AM
UPDATE 2-U.S.-China trade gloom casts heavy shadow on European stocks

* STOXX 600 down 0.4% on the day, ends week up 1.2%
* Food delivery firms hit, Amazon funds unlisted Deliveroo
* Auto stocks post fourth straight weekly decline
* Travel and leisure stocks rise, supported by EasyJet

(Updates to close)
By Medha Singh and Aaron Saldanha
May 17 (Reuters) - European stocks snapped a three-day
winning streak on Friday amid global trade jitters after Beijing
ratcheted up its war of words with Washington, while the end of
Brexit talks between British political parties put a lid on risk
sentiment.
The Chinese Communist Party's People's Daily used a front
page commentary to say the trade war would never bring China
down, while talks on Brexit between Britain's opposition Labour
Party and the governing Conservatives ended without agreement.
MKTS/GLOB
The pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX fell 0.4%, sliding
from Thursday's 10-day closing peak. The benchmark posted a
1.2% weekly gain, however, its best performance since early
April.
Ben Lofthouse, head of global equity income at Janus
Henderson, said investors "have moved from being slightly
risk-on to risk off".
"Markets don't deal well with circumstances that are not
well rehearsed. For global equities, trade is on people's mind
more than Brexit."
Germany's exporter-heavy DAX .GDAXI declined 0.6%, with
BMW BMWG.DE shedding 5.2% as its shares traded ex-dividend.
Milan-traded shares .FTMIB fell 0.2%, while peers in Paris
.FCHI and London .FTSE edged 0.2% and 0.1% lower,
respectively.
The process of the United Kingdom's complex divorce from the
European Union was jolted by the opposition Labour Party
pronouncing the death of last-ditch talks due to deepening
fractures in Prime Minister Theresa May's government.
.L
The news knocked sterling GBP= but supported the shares of
exporters on the FTSE 100, as a softer pound broadly boosts the
value of their overseas earnings. .L GBP/
Real estate stocks .SX86P shed 1.2%, with Hammerson PLC
HMSO.L down 2.2% following a price target cut on the stock by
RBC. Banks .SX7P dropped 1.1% with the stocks of most lenders
on the sector index ending lower. Italy's Banco BPM BAMI.MI
fell 3.2%.
Stocks of auto-makers and their suppliers .SXAP ended a
fourth straight week lower as they dropped 1.1% on the day. The
sector is especially sensitive to worsening U.S.-China trade
tensions.
Paris-listed Valeo VLOF.PA fell 1.7%, while Faurecia
EPED.PA dropped 1.3%.
Food delivery companies tumbled after Britain's Deliveroo,
which is unlisted, secured funding from Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O .
Just Eat JE.L sank 8.2%, while Amsterdam-listed
Takeaway.com TKWY.AS and Frankfurt-listed Delivery Hero
DHER.DE shed 4.6% and 2.3% percent, respectively. In a bright spot, EasyJet EZJ.L flew 5.3% higher after the
budget carrier said it would meet 2019 expectations despite a
weaker trading environment. The stock boosted the travel and leisure index .SXTP ,
which gained 0.8%.

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