European stocks fall, led by automotive sector

European stocks fell on Wednesday, heading for the second daily loss in three, on profit-taking and correction, led by the auto sector, which was hit by a broad rise in Euro against a basket of major currencies.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index fell more than 0.2% as of 11:25 GMT, after it closed higher by 0.8% yesterday, following its drop by 0.75% on Monday due to profit-taking from the highest since late February of 393.87 points.

The pan European index opened lower today, on profit-taking from a 9-month high, with most of the major European markets and sectors seeing red.

The automotive sector saw the largest losses today, dropping about 1.5%, after the euro jumped to its highest level in two and a half years against the US dollar.

S&P 500 futures fell 0.5%, after the index closed higher by 1.1% yesterday at Wall Street, and hit a new record high of 3,678.45 points.

Back to Europe, the Euro Stoxx 50 index fell 0.3%, France's CAC 40 fell 0.2%, and Germany's DAX fell 0.4%.

While  the UK's FTSE 100 rose 0.2%, after the British government granted Pfizer permission to distribute its Covid-19 vaccine, starting next week.