European shares claw back some losses as oil prices gain

(Reuters) – European shares on Tuesday recouped some of the brutal losses in the previous session, as higher oil prices and expectations of more stimulus measures eased anxiety around the economic hit from the coronavirus outbreak.

The pan-European STOXX 600 <.STOXX> gained 1.6% by 0808 GMT, but was far from making up for the 7% slump on Monday that pushed the index into bear market territory – seen as a 20% drop from recent all-time highs.

Europe’s oil subesctor <.SXEP> led the gains with a 3.6% rise as crude bounced 5% from the biggest one-day rout in nearly 30 years. [O/R]

Corporate newsflow helped, with German chipmaker Infineon Technologies rising 3.3% after U.S. officials found no national security concerns with its proposed $10 billion takeover of U.S. firm Cypress Semiconductor Corp .

(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Bernard Orr)