(For a live blog on European stocks, type LIVE/ in an Eikon
news window)
* Automakers, travel and bank stocks lead declines
* Coffee maker JDE Peet's surges in market debut
* STOXX 600 logs monthly gain of 3%
(Updates to market close)
By Sruthi Shankar
May 29 (Reuters) - European shares fell on Friday, with
investor nerves ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump's response
to China over its national security law for Hong Kong taking
some of the shine off May's stock rally.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX fell 1.4%, with
the week's outperformers -- travel & leisure .SXTP , banks
.SX7P and automakers .SXAP -- leading the decline.
Trump said he would hold a news conference on China later on
Friday. Investors fear a U.S. response could further damage
Sino-U.S. relations and cloud the prospect for economic recovery
from a coronavirus-led slump. China warned of countermeasures, and added that a U.S. bill
proposing to sanction Chinese officials over their treatment of
the Uighur minority severely interfered in its internal
affairs. "Today's press conference could well up the ante if
President Trump signs off on that bill as well as implement
further measures that might hint that the U.S. is keen to send
the Chinese a message," said Michael Hewson, chief market
analyst at CMC Markets.
Hopes of a global economic recovery, as policymakers
unleashed stimulus programmes and several countries emerged from
lockdowns, helped the STOXX 600 mark a 3% gain in May.
Germany's auto-heavy DAX .GDAXI outperformed with a 6.8%
monthly rise as many investors bought beaten-down cyclical
stocks after improving economic data.
Coffee maker JDE Peet's BV JDEP.AS , one of the few big
companies to go public during the coronavirus crisis, jumped
13.8% on its market debut, valuing it at 15.6 billion euros
($17.3 billion). Among decliners, Hugo Boss AG BOSSn.DE fell 9.1% after
Jefferies downgraded the stock to "hold", saying its performance
improvement will be derailed by two years due to the pandemic.
Renault SA RENA.PA slid 7.7% on news it was launching
talks with unions to restructure several French car plants and
confirmed plans to cut around 15,000 jobs worldwide.