European stock markets headed lower on Monday, as fears about the economic hit from the coronavirus pandemic intensified with several nations extending near-total lockdowns. The pan-European STOXX 600 index was down 0.9%, with autos .SXAP, financials .SXFP and insurers .SXIP shedding between 1.2% and 2.3%. The banking index .SX7P slumped another 2.7%, bringing its total losses for the month to nearly 30%, as lenders complied with the European Central Bank’s call to freeze dividends in a bid to shore up credit. “There’s a little bit of profit taking after the rally last week, but now people are also saying, ‘let’s see whether (the stimulus measures) will be successful and we’re going to see a sort of a manageable economic hit’,” said Jakob Christensen, chief analyst at Danske Bank. The benchmark European index ended Friday with one of its best weekly percentage gains since the 2008-09 financial crisis, […]