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* Oil stocks jump as crude prices gain
* UK midcaps weaker as lockdown measures awaited
* Travel stocks extend declines as virus cases rise
(Updates to market close)
By Sruthi Shankar
Sept 22 (Reuters) - A jump in oil and tobacco shares helped
European stocks close higher on Tuesday, with the main indexes
partially recovering from a selloff triggered by fears of new
lockdowns as COVID-19 cases spike across the continent.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.2% after
Monday's 3.2% drop, while the German DAX was up 0.4%
and Italy's FTSE MIB gained 0.5%.
Britain's exporter-heavy FTSE 100 added 0.4%,
benefiting from a weaker pound after Prime Minister Boris
Johnson told people to work from home where possible and ordered
bars and restaurants to close early to tackle a fast-spreading
second wave of infections.
London-listed oil majors Royal Dutch Shell and BP
jumped nearly 3%, with crude prices rising on
expectations that renewed restrictions would have only a limited
impact on fuel demand.
Britain's midcap index, made up of more domestically
focussed companies, slipped 0.3%.
"Many such measures will hit parts of consumer spending
(mostly services such as leisure, entertainment, tourism)
disproportionately," Berenberg economist Holger Schmieding said
in a note. "We expect these measures to temporarily dampen but
not derail the overall economic rebound."
Data showed euro zone consumer confidence rose to -13.9 in
September from -14.7 in August, the European Commission said,
while the Ifo Institute upgraded its forecast for Germany,
expecting GDP to shrink 5.2% this year, an improvement on its
last projection of a 6.7% drop.
A slew of rating actions also helped, with British American
Tobacco gaining 4.1% and Imperial Brands up
3.2% after RBC boosted its ratings to "outperform".
Danish shipping firm AP Moeller Maersk jumped
5.2% after JPMorgan upgraded the company to "overweight".
Travel & leisure stocks fell 1.1%, adding to a 5.2%
drop in the previous session, with surging COVID-19 cases across
Europe threatening to hamper travel demand again.
Premier Inn-owner Whitbread slipped 2.8% after
saying it plans to cut 6,000 jobs in its hotel and restaurant
units due to the pandemic's impact on the industry.
Britain's Beazley said it expected claims linked to
the pandemic to double to $340 million, driving its shares down
14.1%. Europe's insurance sector was down 1.6%.
Airbus SE fell 2.7% after CEO Guillaume Faury told
a French radio station that the situation with airlines was
worse than expected.
Deutsche Bank slipped 1% after an executive told
Reuters it plans to shutter one in five branches in Germany.
(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak
Dasgupta and Pravin Char)
