European shares fall

European stocks fell on Tuesday as the double whammy from a historic plunge in US crude prices and lacklustre quarterly earnings reports spooked investors already worried about the damage to the global economy from the coronavirus pandemic.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index broke a three-session winning streak to end 3.4% lower.

Basic materials stocks were the biggest decliners, losing almost 6%. The world's largest listed miner BHP Group slid after warning of a sharp drop in global steel production excluding China due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

All the major European country indexes slipped, a day after US crude futures plummeted to below zero for the first time in history with rapidly filling storage capacity causing traders to flee contracts that would deliver oil barrels to them in May. BP Plc, Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Total SA lost between 2.5% and 3.8%, taking the energy index 4.3% lower.