European shares pull back from 3-month highs after rally

(Reuters) – European shares retreated from three-month highs on Monday, as investors locked in some profits following a strong rally last week on hopes of a post-coronavirus recovery.

The pan-European STOXX 600 <.stoxx> declined 0.8% by 0709 GMT, led lower by personal and household goods <.sxqp>, healthcare <.sxdp> and retail <.sxrp> sectors.

The pull back came after U.S. tech-heavy Nasdaq <.ixic> breached its intraday record high on Friday and the STOXX 600 closed 14% below its all-time high as improving economic data and fresh stimulus measures lent weight to hopes that the worst is behind.

AstraZeneca slipped 1.8% after Bloomberg reported it had approached U.S. rival Gilead Sciences about a possible merger to form one the world’s largest drug companies.

German card payments company Wirecard dropped 4.1% after prosecutors opened proceedings against its entire management board as part of a market manipulation probe.

Oil majors Royal Dutch Shell , BP and Total rose between 0.5% and 3% as crude prices climbed after major producers agreed to extend a deal on record output cuts. [O/R]

(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)