European shares tumble on oil crash, dour earnings

April 21, 2020: European stocks fell on Tuesday (April 21) as the double whammy from a crash in U.S. crude to minus $40 per barrel and dismal first-quarter earnings reports spooked investors about the lasting damage to the global economy from the coronavirus pandemic.

BP, Royal Dutch Shell and Total fell between 3% and 4.0%, knocking 1.1% off the pan-European STOXX 600 index at 0702 GMT.

All major European country indexes slipped a day after U.S. crude CLc1 plummeted to below zero for the first time in history with a wipeout in storage capacity causing traders to flee contracts that would deliver oil barrels to them in May.

In Frankfurt, analyst Oliver Roth of Oddo Seydler bank argued that while a low oil price might appeal to consumers, it puts producers -- "an important part of the world economy" -- under pressure and negatively affects their investments.

At 11:00 a.m. (0900 GMT), the DAX stood at 10,449 points, down 225 points or 2.12%.

Reuters