UPDATE 2-European shares hobbled by record recession forecast, ECB concerns

* European Commission sees record euro zone recession in
2020
* Healthcare stocks steady on AstraZeneca boost
* Risk seen that PEPP might be challenged - Economist
* Oil and gas sector leads declines

(Adds details, updates to close)
By Sruthi Shankar and Ambar Warrick
May 6 (Reuters) - European shares ended slightly lower on
Wednesday as a chilling GDP forecast undercut optimism about a
swift economic recovery, even as several countries began easing
coronavirus-related curbs.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX ended down 0.4%,
having stuck to a tight range as the European Commission
forecast the euro zone economy would contract by a record 7.7%
this year. Adding to pressure were concerns over future asset purchase
programmes by the European Central Bank after a ruling by
Germany's highest court on Tuesday gave the ECB three months to
justify its stimulus schemes. "We suspect that trust in the ECB's ability to forcefully
fight the current crisis and to keep euro zone sovereign debt
sustainable over the coming years might have suffered," Reinhard
Cluse, chief European economist at UBS wrote in a note.
"We also see a risk that the ECB's Pandemic Emergency
Purchase Programme (PEPP) might be challenged in the German
Constitutional Court."
Energy stocks .SXEP were the worst performers of the day,
ending 3% lower after marking their biggest one-day gain in more
than a month on Tuesday.
Swedish oil firm Lundin Energy LUNE.ST led sector losses
after Norwegian rival Equinor EQNR.OL offered to sell its
4.88% stake in the firm. Norwegian oil firm Aker BP AKERBP.OL also dropped after
announcing a cut in its quarterly dividend payments by
two-thirds due to the pandemic and the plunge in crude prices.
While European shares have climbed from lows touched in
March, the STOXX 600 has been largely rangebound over the past
three weeks as investors look for tangible signs of the
coronavirus pandemic slowing down.
The threat of a renewed Sino-U.S. trade spat has also
weighed on sentiment.
Travel and leisure stocks .SXTP fell 1.8%, while bank
stocks .SX7P shed more than 1.6%.
UK-listed AstraZeneca AZN.L jumped 3.8% after the U.S. FDA
approved its diabetes drug as a treatment for heart failure.
The broader healthcare sector .SXDP gained on the back of
better-than-expected quarterly results from Denmark's Novo
Nordisk NOVOb.CO and German dialysis specialist Fresenius
Medical Care FMEG.DE . Still, earnings for companies listed on the STOXX 600 index
are expected to drop by 30.6% in the first quarter and a sharper
44.9% in the second quarter, according to Refinitiv data.
In further signs of how the pandemic is causing economic
damage, data showed orders for German industrial goods collapsed
in March, while euro zone business activity plummeted in April.