* STOXX 600 records worst day in three weeks
* London's Kingfisher down after reporting lower sales
* Travel & Leisure sector led lower by Lufthansa, SSP Group
(Updates to close)
By Medha Singh and Agamoni Ghosh
Nov 20 (Reuters) - European shares logged their worst day in
three weeks on Wednesday on mounting worries that rising
U.S.-China tensions could take a toll on trade negotiations
between the two countries.
The pan-European STOXX 600 .STOXX slipped 0.4%, with
London's FTSE 100 .FTSE leading declines among most regional
indexes trading in the red.
Sectors sensitive to tariff related headlines including
autos .SXAP and mining stocks .SXPP were down more than
0.4%.
The U.S. Senate unanimously passed a bill on Tuesday aimed
at protecting human rights in Hong Kong, drawing condemnation
from Beijing.
"This deal is so not even there...there's a good reason it
could fall through altogether," said Tom Martin, portfolio
manager at Globalt in Atlanta.
"Both sides want to reassure the markets but at the base
level, if they still don't agree on tariffs and other issues,
its just not going to go through."
Expectations that the world's top two economies would strike
a trade deal have been instrumental in driving the STOXX 600 to
a four-year peak. The benchmark index is now about 3% away from
its record high.
The travel and leisure sectors .SXTP posted the steepest
slide among sub-sectors, led by losses in UK's SSP Group Plc
shares SSPG.L after the airport and train food operator issued
a cautious full year outlook. Also weighing on the index were declines in shares of
Germany's Lufthansa LHAG.DE which is likely to face a trade
union strike during the busy Christmas period if it does not
make wage concessions. Home improvement retailer Kingfisher's KGF.L slumped 7%
and was at the bottom of the benchmark index after it reported a
decline in quarterly sales. On the bright side, Nexi NEXII.MI shares jumped 5%,
helping the Milan .FTMIB index stay in positive territory,
after Italy's biggest retail bank Intesa Sanpaolo ISP.MI said
it was in early talks with the payments group for a potential
deal. European banks .SX7P also slipped, as safety buying pushed
the benchmark German bond yields near their lowest levels this
month. The U.S. yield curve continued to flatten, with the
spread between two-year and 10-year note yields hitting its
narrowest in three weeks. US/
Sectors considered as safe havens during times of economic
strife, including telecoms .SXKP and utilities .SXDP , ended
flat to marginally lower.