* Energy, insurers, material stocks lead declines
* Italian bond yields rise as EU stimulus talks delayed
* UK insurers lead decline after halting dividends
* Travel and leisure stocks lead gains
(Updates to close, adds graphic and new comment)
By Susan Mathew and Sagarika Jaisinghani
April 8 (Reuters) - European stock markets inched higher to
post a third straight day of gains of Wednesday, tracking a
rally on Wall Street, but sentiment remained fragile with all
eyes on whether euro zone finance ministers will agree an
economic rescue package.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX ended up 0.02%,
reversing earlier losses of as much as 1.5%. Equities posted a
strong start to the week on hopes that the rate of coronavirus
infections was plateauing in western Europe and the United
States. MKTS/GLOB While the daily death toll rose again in Spain, and France
became the fourth country to register more than 10,000 deaths
from the virus, Wall Street rallied on hopes that the outbreak
was close to its peak in the United States. .N
London shares .FTSE closed down 0.5%, paring earlier
losses of up to 2%, while the main index in Paris .FCHI
finished 0.1% higher.
Euro zone finance ministers have struggled to agree a
coordinated economic support package despite several calls for
common debt issuance to back businesses impacted by the
outbreak. "The impression it gives the world is that Europe is
disjointed, and that will reinforce the view that the overall
response will be slower and less impressive than elsewhere,"
said Kit Juckes, a macro strategist at Societe Generale in
London.
Energy .SXEP , mining .SXPP , insurers .SXIP and bank
stocks .SX7P were among the biggest decliners. Defensive real
estate stocks .SX86P gained 1.4%, while travel and leisure
.SXTP led with a 3.3% rise.
UK insurers, including Direct Line DLGD.L and Aviva PLC
AV.L , were among the biggest decliners on the STOXX 600 after
they cancelled more than 1 billion pounds ($1.2 billion) of
dividends on Wednesday to conserve funds to tackle the fallout
from the pandemic. Sources said carmaker Renault 's RENA.PA board might also
consider suspending its dividend while miner Rio Tinto RIO.L
said it would press ahead with its own payout. The pan-region benchmark index has gained about 20% since
hitting an eight-year low on March 16, boosted by aggressive
global stimulus measures, but remains 25% below its all-time
high.
The chairman of the euro zone finance ministers, Mario
Centeno, suspended talks on a half a trillion euro package until
Thursday, sending the 10-year Italian bond yield to its highest
since March 19. GVD/EUR
"If we did get confirmation that Europe was moving towards
joint liability, debt issuance etc, even if it's relatively
small, setting the precedent would be a powerful signal," said
Graham Secker, chief European equity strategist at Morgan
Stanley.
With countries doubling down on lockdowns to curb the spread
of the virus, analysts have further cut profit estimates for
STOXX 600 firms, with first-quarter earnings now expected to
slide 15.7% compared with the Jan. 1 forecast of a 10.5% rise.
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Sector performances in Europe so far this year https://reut.rs/3dZJ2gx
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