* Healthcare, utilities, tech top sectoral gainers
* Deliveroo jumps on Delivery Hero stake buy
* HeidelbergCement slides on Barclays downgrade
(Adds comments, updates prices throughout)
By Shreyashi Sanyal
Aug 9 (Reuters) - European stocks reached a record high
after healthcare, utilities and technology gains outweighed
declines triggered by a fall in commodity prices earlier on
Monday.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.2% to a
closing high of 470.68 points, powered by rises in the defensive
sectors of utilities and healthcare.
Technology stocks rose 0.5%, led by a 4.5% jump in
British food delivery company Deliveroo after Germany's
Delivery Hero took a 5.09% stake in it.
Oil majors Royal Dutch Shell, BP and
TotalEnergies slipped about 1% each as crude prices
fell more than 2.5% on fears that pandemic-led curbs in Asia,
particularly China, would dent fuel demand.
Miners also fell on weaker metal prices after data
showed China's export growth unexpectedly slowed in July.
"Oil remains under pressure, but while there might well be
some Delta variant fears driving the move, the fact that
equities have remained broadly calm points towards an odd
disconnect," said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG.
"Either equities are blithely ignoring a major worry, or oil
prices are undergoing a self-contained selloff that is being
driven chiefly by supply concerns."
The STOXX 600 capped its best week since mid-March on
Friday, on the back of a flurry of dealmaking and strong
earnings. Volumes are expected to thin as many traders head for
summer holidays.
Of the 70% of the STOXX 600 companies that have reported so
far, 68% have topped analysts' profit estimates, Refinitiv IBES
data shows. Only 51% beat expectations in a typical quarter.
Investors will be keenly watching U.S. inflation data this
week to see if the numbers make a case for an early tapering
announcement by the Federal Reserve, the odds of which were
cemented after a strong jobs report on Friday.
Vectura rose 5.5% after U.S. tobacco company Philip
Morris raised its bid for the British drugmaker.
Among decliners, Hargreaves Lansdown fell 11.3%
even after posting higher annual underlying earnings as
Britain's biggest fund supermarket said it did not expect equity
trading volumes to remain at high levels.
HeidelbergCement, the world's second-largest
cement maker, fell 2.9% after Barclays downgraded the stock to
"underweight", citing muted earnings growth due to inflationary
pressures.
(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar and Shreyashi Sanyal in Bengaluru;
Editing by Amy Caren Daniel, Subhranshu Sahu and Alexander
Smith)
