European stocks tumble on concerns over recovery

(Reuters) – European shares fell again on Thursday on dimming prospects for a recovery in the global economy, but shares in Lufthansa soared after a major shareholder agreed to endorse a 9-billion-euro state bailout.

The pan-European STOXX 600 <.stoxx> fell 1.1% by 0717 GMT, led lower by travel & leisure <.sxtp>, bank <.sx7p> and oil & gas <.sxep> stocks.

A surge in the number of coronavirus cases globally, prospects of a fresh trade tussle between the United States and the European Union and worrying forecast for global economy this year pushed the STOXX 600 to its lowest since June 15.

Among gainers, Lufthansa rose 11% after billionaire Heinz Hermann Thiele, who owns a 15.5% stake, told a local newspaper he would endorse the rescue.

Bayer AG inched 0.3% higher after it agreed to pay as much as $10.9 billion to settle U.S. lawsuits claiming that its widely used weedkiller Roundup caused cancer.

(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva)