European markets opened slightly ally lower on Wednesday, despite the region starting to lift restrictive measures in various countries to allow the economies to gradually restart.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 slipped 0.2% below the flatline in early deals, with oil and gas stocks sliding 2.2% to lead losses while the health care sector gained 0.9%.

Confidence among investors was further hit on Tuesday after the International Monetary Fund said the global economy in 2020 will likely suffer the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression this year, due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The IMF now expects the global economy to contract by 3% in 2020. By contrast, in January it had forecast a global gross domestic product expansion of 3.3% for this year.

Source : CNBC