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European stocks fell to their lowest level in six months on Wednesday, as fears of a global recession loomed as a result of gloomy data from major economies, including China and Germany.
The collapse of exports led to a contraction of the German economy in the second quarter, while China's industrial production growth reached its lowest level in more than 17 years in July, highlighting the impact of a war painful trade between the United States and China on global growth.
Industrial data from the euro area also showed weak performance in June.
The benchmark European index STOXX 600 ended the session down 1.7% after reaching its lowest level since February 15, while stock market indices in Germany, France and Italy, hit by a political crisis, fell by more than 2%.
Pessimism returned to the market after a rare day of respite after Washington postponed the imposition of new tariffs on certain Chinese products.
All European sectors closed the session down with a trade-sensitive technology index down 3%, while the banking index hit its lowest level in more than three years.
The STOXX 600 index has fallen more than 5% since the beginning of the month and is headed for a repeat of its 5.7% loss in May, the largest decline in more than three years.
Index losses were limited by Wednesday's rally in the commodities, health care and utilities sectors, the preferred investors in the defense sectors.
(Reuters)
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