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July 30 (Reuters) - European shares opened lower on Thursday
as a clutch of dismal earnings reports took the shine off the
U.S. Federal Reserve's vow to keep stimulus taps open to shore
up a coronavirus-ravaged economy.
The pan-European STOXX 600 .STOXX fell 0.4% by 0713 GMT,
dragged by 1.5% declines in banking stocks .SX7P and carmakers
.SXAP .
Britain's Lloyds Banking Group LLOY.L swung to a rare
pretax loss in the first half of 2020, while Volkswagen
VOWG_p.DE unveiled a first-half operating loss and slashed its
dividend. Anheuser-Busch InBev ABI.BR jumped 9.4%, providing the
biggest boost to the STOXX 600 after saying it was encouraged by
a global beer sales recovery in June. Weak oil prices weighed on the energy sector .SXEP even as
Royal Dutch Shell RDSa.L avoided its first quarterly loss in
recent history after bumper earnings in its trading business,
while France's Total TOTF.PA said it would maintain its
dividend. Asian stock markets and Wall Street overnight gained as Fed
Chairman Jerome Powell promised to "do what we can, and for as
long as it takes," to limit economic damage from the pandemic
and boost growth. Investors are eyeing a slew of economic data, including
German second-quarter GDP data, euro zone June unemployment
numbers and final consumer confidence data.