By Shreyashi Sanyal and Sruthi Shankar
(Reuters) - European shares steadied on Thursday after logging their worst day since last December on the slapping of U.S. tariffs on a raft of European exports, with a bounce for Airbus and luxury goods makers pushing main indexes back into the black.
The blue-chip and wider STOXX 600 pan-European indexes sank almost 3% on Wednesday after the World Trade Organization approved 10% tariffs on European-made Airbus (PA:AIR) planes and 25% duties on goods ranging from French wine to Scotch whisky.
After the initial shock of the decision, however, read as threatening a new transatlantic trade war, many analysts said that the detailed list of products affected showed the actual economic impact of the tariffs should be minimal.
Shares of Airbus, down 2% on Wednesday, jumped 4.5% in early trade, as the list - published after European markets closed on Wednesday - showed it had exempted some Airbus parts.
Luxury brands including French spirits maker Remy Cointreau (PA:RCOP) and Louis Vuitton owner LVMH (PA:LVMH) were also excluded and the euro zone blue-chip index (STOXX50E) gained 0.4%.
"The reaction this morning is just muted because you had two big days of selloff," said Claudia Panseri, a strategist at UBS.
"For the time being, the total amount (of the tariffs) at this stage is very small. I don't think there will be retaliation. U.S.-China trade (tensions) definitely has more of an impact."
The broader pan-European STOXX 600 index (STOXX) edged 0.1% higher, with the food & beverage sector (SX3P) leading gains with a 0.9% rise.
Growth worries continue to dog markets. Data on Thursday showed euro zone business growth stalled in September, suggesting that a contraction in manufacturing activity was increasingly spilling over to the services industry.
A prolonged tit-for-tat trade war between Washington and Beijing and worsening outlook for a quarterly earnings season that is just getting underway has hurt European sentiment after a bullish September.
Ted Baker Plc (L:TED) plunged 35% after the British fashion retailer reported a first-half pretax loss and warned of the worst business conditions for retailers in 30 years.
H&M (ST:HMb) shares, however, jumped 7.0% after the world's second-biggest fashion retailer reported its first quarterly rise in pretax profit in over two years. That helped the retail index (SXRP) gain 0.3%.
The Frankfurt Stock Exchange will remain shut on Thursday for the Day of German Unity public holiday.