European Shares Tumble On Worries About US Finances

(RTTNews) - European stocks fell sharply on Wednesday after Fitch downgraded the U.S. government's credit rating from AAA to AA+, citing fiscal deterioration and repeated debt ceiling standoffs.

The rating agency said that during the last 20 years, there has been a decline in the standard of governance in America, the effect of which is visible in fiscal and debt decisions.

There was little reaction in the dollar, with the euro falling below the 1.1090 support zone to move into a short-term bearish zone against the greenback.

Investors also looked ahead to the Bank of England's interest rate announcement on Thursday and the U.S. nonfarm payrolls report due to be published on Friday for directional cues.

The pan European STOXX 600 was down 1.4 percent at 460.52 after declining 0.9 percent the previous day in its biggest single-day percentage loss in nearly a month.

The German DAX dropped 1.4 percent, France's CAC 40 shed 1.3 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was own 1.4 percent.

Miners Anglo American, Antofagasta and Glencore fell 2-3 percent on China growth concerns.

Ferrexpo dropped 2 percent after reporting a fall in pellet production for the first half of the year.

BAE Systems jumped 5 percent. The defense company upgraded its guidance for 2023 after reporting strong first-half figures.

Housebuilder Taylor Wimpey rallied more than 3 percent after its first-half trading beat expectations.

German automotive and industrial supplier Schaeffler Group fell 2.3 percent despite lifting its FY23 margin view and backing sales growth forecast.

Likewise, Hugo Boss declined 2.4 percent despite the luxury fashion brand reporting higher earnings and sales in the second quarter and raising its guidance again for 2023.

Specialty chemicals maker Symrise lost 2.5 percent after reporting lower earnings for the first half of the year.

Siemens Healthineers plunged 6.6 percent. The medical device maker confirmed its outlook after reporting an unexpected drop in quarterly operating profit.

Roche was down about 1 percent and Novartis fell 1.5 percent.

Swiss drug maker Roche's subsidiary Genentech has accused a Novartis unit, Sandoz, of infringing one of its patents.