(For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock
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* Oil stocks slide as crude prices slip ahead of OPEC+ talks
* STOXX 600 down 1%; jumps nearly 14% on the month
* ABN Amro down 8.9% after announcing job cuts
* Moderna to seek U.S., EU authorisation for vaccine
(Updates to close)
By Susan Mathew
Nov 30 (Reuters) - Europe's benchmark stock index posted its
biggest monthly gain on record on the prospect of easing
coronavirus restrictions and hopes for a COVID-19 vaccine, but
ended Monday lower with eyes on the Brexit trade deal
negotiations.
Five weeks ahead of the deadline, talks in London between
Britain and the European Union over the weekend were "quite
difficult" and "massive divergences" remained on the most thorny
elements of fisheries, economic fair play and settling disputes,
an EU source said.
"While my belief in a deal being reached is still intact,
time is fast running out and you have to wonder how long it can
go on before we see a wobble in the markets," said Craig Erlam,
senior market analyst at OANDA Europe.
London's blue-chip stocks gave up early gains to
close down 1.6%, while the pan-European STOXX 600 index
lost 1% at the end of a month that saw it surge nearly 14%.
The gains were driven by hopes of a more stable U.S. trade
policy under Joe Biden's presidency, and promising results for
major coronavirus vaccine candidates, with Moderna's
application for U.S. and European emergency authorisation on
Monday being the latest.
France's CAC 40 jumped 20% this month, while Spain's
IBEX and Italy's MIB rose more than 22% each.
German shares and UK blue-chips gained more
than 12%.
Oil and gas stocks were the biggest decliners in
Europe, down 3.4%, with Total SE, BP and Royal
Dutch Shell sliding around 5% as crude prices slipped
on uncertainty about whether OPEC+ would agree to extend its
deep output cuts at talks this week.
At the bottom of the STOXX 600 was Dutch bank ABN Amro
, down 8.9% after saying it would cut almost 3,000 jobs
by 2024.
Siltronic shares, meanwhile, jumped 7.6% after
the German silicon wafer maker said it was in advanced talks to
be bought by Taiwan's GlobalWafers in a
3.75-billion-euro ($4.5 billion) deal.
Germany's main DAX index gave up its gains at the
close, ending down 0.3% with consumer and healthcare stocks
leading declines. Data on Monday showed that a newly introduced
VAT cut pushed annual consumer prices lower further in November.
(Reporting by Susan Mathew in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak
Dasgupta)
