(For a live blog on the U.S. stock market, click or
type LIVE/ in a news window.)
* Equities recover as Iran-U.S. tensions abate
* German stocks lead gains in the region
* Boeing suppliers fall after plane crash
* NMC Health, Finablr sink as major investors sell shares
(Updates to close)
By Medha Singh
Jan 8 (Reuters) - European shares ended higher on Wednesday
after Iran indicated the overnight missile strikes "concluded"
its retaliation to the U.S. killing of General Qassem Soleimani.
Tehran's attack on U.S. military bases in Iraq initially
raised fears of a wider war in the Middle East, spurring a
flight to safer assets and causing the pan-European STOXX 600
to fall as much as 0.6%.
However, the benchmark index gradually recovered and closed
0.2% higher as Iran said it did not seek to escalate the
confrontation.
There were no American casualties in the attack and Tehran
appeared to be standing down, U.S. President Donald Trump said
in the final minutes of European trading hours, lifting U.S.
stock indexes to record highs.
"After a very negative initial reaction to the overnight
events in the Middle East, the market seems to be picking up
hope that the events provide the sufficient base for
de-escalation," said Ingo Schachel, head of equity research at
Commerzbank.
Germany's DAX outperformed regional bourses as the
positive geopolitical development overshadowed an earlier data
showing an unexpected fall in industrial orders in November in
the country.
France's Airbus, among the biggest boosts to the
pan-regional index, rose 2% as its U.S. rival Boeing Co's
737-800 jet belonging to a Ukrainian airline burst into flames
shortly after take-off from Tehran, killing all 176 people
aboard.
Airbus shares helped the travel and leisure to lead
the charge among European subsectors with its 0.7% gain. On the
other hand, Boeing suppliers Senior Plc, Safran
and Melrose slipped between 0.1% and 1.2%.
In Britain, the blue-chip index lagged its European
peers, weighed down by losses in shares of energy giants BP
and Royal Dutch Shell which tracked oil prices
lower.
London's FTSE 250 midcaps index was pulled down 0.8%
by declines in real estate companies.
Shares of NMC Health and Finablr plunged
more than 15% each after two major shareholders launched a
discounted share sale in the London-listed groups, weeks after
NMC was hit by a short-selling attack by U.S. firm Muddy Waters.
(Reporting by Medha Singh in Bengaluru
Editing by Alexandra Hudson)
