European stocks reverse early gains as Fed nerves kick in

European stocks reversed early gains on Wednesday, as investors turned cautious ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s first economic projections since the COVID-19 pandemic set off a recession in February.

After gaining as much as 0.9% at the open, the pan-European STOXX 600 was last down 0.5 percent.

Travel & leisure sector .SXTP led the declines with a 2.2 percent fall, while automakers .SXAP, oil & gas .SXEP and bank stocks .SX7P – all outperformers in recent weeks – fell between 1.3 percent and 2 percent.