European shares inch lower on doubts over COVID-19 vaccine

European shares headed lower on Wednesday after a downbeat session on Wall Street, as doubts over a potential COVID-19 vaccine reignited fears about the slow recovery from a looming global recession.

The pan-European STOXX 600 dropped 0.3% by 0708 GMT in its second day of fall, with banks, telecoms, and travel & leisure sector stocks leading the decline. Wall Street indexes fell more than 1% overnight after a media report questioned the validity of the results of U.S. drugmaker Moderna's coronavirus vaccine trial that had sent stock markets soaring on Monday.

In a bright spot, shares of British retailer Marks & Spencer jumped 5.2% after saying that it would accelerate its latest turnaround program as it dealt with the fallout from the coronavirus crisis and reported a 21% fall in annual profit.