The decline compares with a 9.5 percent quarter-on-quarter drop in the US, which, unlike Europe, has not yet been able to get its contagion numbers firmly down and whose economic recovery is in doubt.
Investors focused on the positives despite growing US-China tensions stalling recovery for equities in May, amid signs that many European economies are coming back to life.
EU leaders agree that a much bigger bail out is required. How this is structured is dividing Europe and opening old wounds.
In an interview with Italy’s Corriere della Sera paper, European Stability Mechanism Managing Director Klaus Regling said the easiest way to organise such funds would be via the European Commission and the EU budget.
The devil is in the details, but EU leaders this week will wrangle a deal which might be a starter’s pistol for Brussels to fall on its sword.
European governments are scrambling to put together hundreds of billions of euros to save lives, companies, and families from going bankrupt as countries hit hardest by the virus are also those that can least afford the costs, like Italy and Spain.
The financially well-off members such as Germany and the Netherlands are hesitating to help Italy, Spain and France, where thousands have been killed by Covid-19.
In an interview with Italian daily Il Sole 24 Ore on Saturday, Conte said a common debt instrument was needed to spearhead a European recovery and reinvestment plan to support the economy of the whole area.
After a career breaking glass ceilings to join a tiny global elite, Christine Lagarde will bring experience of cool-headed crisis fighting to her job as first female head of the European Central Bank.
It remains to be seen if the measures are enough to spur spending.
International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde's resignation comes two weeks after her nomination on July 2 for the ECB top job.
In its quarterly economic forecasts, the European Union's executive arm says prices will grow less than previously predicted, pushing the inflation rate further off the European Central Bank's target of close to but less than two percent.
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