European stocks fell 1 % as global economic impact of virus weighs

European stocks traded lower on Wednesday, despite the region starting to lift restrictive measures in various countries to allow the economies to gradually restart.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 fell 1 percent in early deals, with oil and gas stocks sliding 3.4 percent to lead losses while the food and beverages sector bucked the downward trend to add 0.7 percent.

he IMF now expects the global economy to contract by 3% in 2020. By contrast, in January it had forecast a global gross domestic product expansion of 3.3% for this year.

Food delivery services led the individual share prices action on Wednesday. German meal kit company Hellofresh climbed 6 percent to lead the Stoxx 600 while Just Eat and Ocado each gained more than 3.5 percent .

At the other end of the European benchmark, Hiscox, Capita and Cineworld all fell by more than 9 percent