ROME: European shares dipped on Wednesday as strong results from Adidas and robust mining stocks were more than offset by weak banks and a drop in Italian stocks over fresh political jitters.
Italy’s turning lower after right-wing leader and aspiring prime minister Matteo Salvini reiterated his party’s view that the euro was a flawed currency. He also said he was open to forming any sort of coalition government as long as it did not include the Democratic Party.
The pan-European STOXX 600 however managed to limit losses to 0.2 percent, also weighed by a early losses on Wall Street, while Germany’s DAX .GDAXI added 0.1 percent, lifted by a double-digit gain in German sports fashion company adidas (ADSGn.DE).
Adidas jumped 11.2 percent after announcing a share buyback of up to 3 billion euros and lifting its 2020 profitability target.