(Reuters) – European aerospace and defence stocks fell more than 3% on Wednesday on signs of a fresh U.S.-led push to end the Russia-Ukraine war, which also lifted Ukraine’s government bonds.
The STOXX Aerospace and Defence Index (.SXPARO), opens new tab declined to its lowest level since early September, and was down 2.6% by 1322 GMT, marking its biggest one-day fall in over a month.
Shares in Rheinmetall (RHMG.DE), opens new tab, Renk (R3NK.DE), opens new tab, BAE Systems (BAES.L), opens new tab, Leonardo (LDOF.MI), opens new tab, Saab (SAABb.ST), opens new tab were among the biggest fallers on a steady pan-European STOXX (.STOXX), opens new tab index, with losses ranging from 4% to 7%.
Two traders pointed to a Politico report about a possible framework agreement over Ukraine as a trigger for the drop.
Ukraine has received “signals” about a set of U.S. proposals to end the war that Washington has discussed with Russia, a senior Ukrainian official told Reuters on Wednesday.
