Evergrande fears resurface, European equities fall

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European equities fell at the start of the week on continuing concerns about struggling property developer China Evergrande, with mining and retail sectors exposed to the Asian country among the largest losers. After a three-day run of advances, the regional STOXX 600 index fell 0.5 percent. Miners, automakers, and retailers all sank more than 1%.

After a mid-week rise, investors took some profits off the table as Evergrande’s deadline for paying $83.5 million in bond interest passed without comment, despite concerns that shook financial markets earlier this week.

Adidas (OTC: ADDYY) and Puma (OTC: PUMA) declined 3.7 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively, after Nike (NYSE: NKE) lowered its fiscal 2022 sales forecast and warned of delays during the holiday shopping season, blaming the continued supply chain crisis. In general, Germany’s DAX declined 0.7 percent as the country prepares to vote for the successor to German Chancellor Angela Merkel this weekend.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ: AZN) rose 3.2 percent after the firm said that its cancer medicine Lynparza accomplished its primary target in a late-stage trial.