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* Weak handover from Wall Street dents mood in Asia, Europe
* Marks & Spencer jumps on turnaround plan
* AstraZeneca gains after U.S. FDA nod for Lynparza
(Adds comment, updates prices)
By Sruthi Shankar
May 20 (Reuters) - European shares was flat on Wednesday
after a downbeat session on Wall Street, as doubts over a
potential COVID-19 vaccine fanned concerns about whether and how
fast the world can successfully emerge from the coronavirus
crisis.
Still, a boost from healthcare stocks helped the
pan-European STOXX 600 shed early losses, and the index
was last trading flat.
Wall Street fell more than 1% overnight after a media report
questioned the validity of the results of U.S. drugmaker
Moderna's coronavirus vaccine trial that had sent
stocks soaring on Monday.
A market recovery from March lows has stalled in May, as
investors weigh the chance of a resurgence in coronavirus cases
as many countries restart their economies after months-long
lockdowns. The STOXX 600 is down 0.5% this month after a 6% jump
in April.
"Investors are playing a waiting game," said Edmund Shing,
global head of equity derivatives strategy at BNP Paribas. "The
reason for that is we want to see how the exit from lockdowns
proceed and see how quickly each economy picks up."
European markets have cheered a Franco-German proposal this
week for a 500 billion-euro Recovery Fund that would bind all 27
European Union states to raise debt jointly to offer grants to
regions hit hardest by the coronavirus pandemic.
However, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said on Tuesday
a group of EU states will propose funding the recovery efforts
with loans, not grants.
A series of positive corporate updates limited losses in the
markets.
Shares of British retailer Marks & Spencer jumped
4.0% after saying that it would accelerate its latest turnaround
programme as it dealt with the fallout from the coronavirus
crisis and reported a 21% fall in annual profit.
The world's biggest credit data company Experian Plc
gained 6.4% as it said its executive directors would
take a 25% salary cut for six months, but forecast first-quarter
organic revenue to decline by just 5% to 10%.
AstraZeneca Plc rose 1.3% after the U.S. Food and
Drug Administration approved Merck Inc's and its
Lynparza as a treatment for a form of prostate cancer.
French food group Danone rose 0.8% after it
confirmed it would pay out a 2019 dividend and that no share
buyback operations would take place this year.
Swedish video game group Embracer tumbled 9.6%
after weak quarterly report.
(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi
Aich, Bernard Orr)
