European Shares Tumble On Economic Recovery Concerns

European stocks slumped on Thursday as a shift to some kind of policy easing in China raised worries about softening growth momentum in the rest of this year.

Inflationary concerns also weighed after the minutes from the Fed’s June meeting showed the U.S. central bank has been caught off guard by the recent rise in inflation.

The minutes of the Fed’s mid-June FOMC meeting showed officials felt substantial further progress on the economic recovery “was generally seen as not having yet been met,” but agreed to act if inflation or other risks increased.

The pan European Stoxx 600 dropped 1.3 percent to 453.65 after climbing 0.8 percent in the previous session. The German DAX declined 1.2 percent, France’s CAC 40 index gave up 1.8 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 was down 1.4 percent.

Cyclicals succumbed to selling pressure, with automakers Daimler and Renault losing 2-3 percent on economic recovery concerns.

Banks Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank, BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole, Societe Generale and Lloyds bank fell 2-4 percent as government bond yields extended their decline.

Swiss building material company Holcim AG, formerly known as LafargeHolcim, fell 2.4 percent after launching new Group identity.

Telenor Group shares edged up slightly as the Norwegian telecoms company agreed to sell 100 percent of its mobile operations in Myanmar to M1 Group for a total consideration of $105 million.

Miners Anglo American, Antofagasta and Glencore all fell more than 3 percent in London while oil majors BP Plc and Royal Dutch Shell dropped more than 1 percent each.

Food delivery group Deliveroo rallied 4.5 percent after raising its forecasts for sales this year.

Housebuilder Persimmon lost 2.9 percent despite posting a strong set of results for the first six months of the year.

Ladbrokes-owner Entain advanced 1.8 percent after providing a bullish update.

German automotive lighting group Hella declined 2 percent after Knorr-Bremse, a maker of breaking systems used in trains and commercial vehicles, dropped plans to acquire a 60 percent in the company held by the founding family.

Remote connectivity software specialist Teamviewer plunged 13 percent after announcing a weaker second-quarter billings growth forecast.

Sugar producer Suedzucker plummeted 4 percent after reporting a fall in Q1 operating profit.

In economic news, German exports expanded at a marginal pace in May, data from Destatis revealed. Exports grew only 0.3 percent month-on-month in May, following a 0.2 percent rise in April.

At the same time, imports advanced 3.4 percent, reversing a 1.4 percent drop in the previous month.