European shares lost its two-day gain streak after Spain reported a rising number of COVID-19 deaths and France became the fourth country to have a death toll above 10,000.
Britain’s leading retailer Tesco plunged by 7% to the bottom of the STOXX 600 Index. The drop comes after the retailer said that it is expecting to lose up to £925 million ($1.1 billion) due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
The pan-European STOXX 600 Index slid by 0.9% at 0703 GMT, losing gains made at the start of the week on hopes that the U.S. and Europe were showing signs of declining COVID-19 cases.
The benchmark index surged by 20% after it had reached an eight-year low on March 16th. However, it remained 25% below its record high as market sentiment continues to be driven by efforts to contain the virus.
London’s FTSE 100 also fell by 1.2% after the country reported a 6,100 death toll. Meanwhile, Germany’s DAX dipped 0.8% after gaining 8% in the past two days.