European stocks fall on COVID-19 second wave fears

European shares fell on Wednesday as countries began to close schools and cancel surgeries on a resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic, though sterling gained on hopes of further Brexit talks.

The pan-European STOXX 600 slipped, and markets in Frankfurt .GDAXI, London .FTSE and Paris-CHI were down around 0.3 percent following moves to address rising coronavirus infection rates in Europe.

Markets are grappling with “angst about vaccine/antibody delays, angst about rising covid cases in Europe, stalled U.S. fiscal talks, stalled Brexit trade talks”, said Kit Juckes, macro strategist at Societe Generale.