London — European shares fell on Tuesday as worries over the coronavirus pandemic overshadowed Chinese trade data that pointed to a buoyant recovery, while the dollar edged away from a three-week low.
The pessimistic mood jarred with earlier resilience on Asian markets, which recovered losses after Chinese data showed exports rising 9.9% in September and imports swinging to a 13.2% jump against a 2.1% drop in August. “The question is not necessarily how China’s trade is doing per se, but how well will consumers spend on Christmas to give some sense of normalcy amid a period of great stress,” said Nordea Investments’ Sebastien Galy in a note.On Monday, the Nasdaq Composite jumped 2.6%, its biggest one-day rally in a month. Wall Street gains were driven by Apple, which surged 6.4% ahead of the expected debut of its latest iPhone. Amazon, another of the Big Tech winners from the pandemic, rallied 4.