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April 21 (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 .STOXX 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.