European shares inch lower on doubts over Covid-19 vaccine

European shares headed lower on Wednesday after a downbeat session on Wall Street, as doubts over a potential COVID-19 vaccine reignited fears about the slow recovery from a looming global recession.

The pan-European STOXX 600 dropped 0.3 per cent by 0708 GMT in its second day of fall, with banks, telecoms and travel & leisure sector stocks leading the decline.

Wall Street indexes fell more than 1 per cent overnight after a media report questioned the validity of the results of US drugmaker Moderna's coronavirus vaccine trial that had sent stock markets soaring on Monday.


In a bright spot, shares of British retailer Marks & Spencer jumped 5.2 per cent after saying that it would accelerate its latest turnaround programme as it dealt with the fallout from the coronavirus crisis and reported a 21 per cent fall in annual profit.