Europe close: Stocks find a small bid after heavy selling

(Sharecast News) - European shares found their footing more or less on Thursday, helped by relatively benign economic data out in the States but only after a couple of sessions of heavy selling.
"A strong US jobless claims reading has settled some of the nerves evident within markets today, as US markets regain ground in the wake of sharp inflation-fuelled losses this week," said IG senior market analyst Josh Mahony.

Against that backdrop, the pan-European Stoxx 600 index ended down 0.14% to 437,32, alongside a 0.33% rise for the German Dax to 15,199.68.

It was a similar story out in the euro area periphery, with Milan's FTSE Mibtel edging up 0.14% to 24,486.01, although the Spanish Ibex 35 slipped 0.46% to 8,966.2.

Mahony also commented on the potential impact, or not, of the new Covid-19 strain detected in India on the country's plans to reopen its economy.

"Despite the vaccines clearly unable to fully protect against particular rogue strains, the ability to avoid hospitalisations and reduce the severity of the condition does provide greater hope that the UK recovery can go ahead as planned."

Nonetheless, according to analysts at ShoreCap, neutralising antibody assays did not suggest that the B.1617 variant first detected in India "substantially" lessened antibodies ability to neutralise the virus.

On the flip side, it was not yet clear whether they reduced vaccines' efficacy against mild-to-moderate illness nor as regards their impact on reducing transmission, they added.

In company news, shares mining heavyweights BHP, Anglo American, Rio Tinto and Glencore were all off by more than 4%.

UK luxury brand Burberry fell 4% as the firm reported a 10% drop in annual sales due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

UK telecoms and broadband provider BT Group also slumped, as it reported a 7% fall in revenue and a 6% fall in annual adjusted earnings.

Hargreaves Lansdown was another top faller despite the financial services group reporting record new business in the first four months of 2021 as people invested savings amassed during the pandemic into the stock market.

Spanish firm Telefonica gave up early gains after it reported a slowing in revenue declines in the first quarter.