The pan-European STOXX 600 index fell 0.1 percent at the close after two sessions of gains.
SAP shares fell 2.4 percent after Bloomberg News reported late Tuesday that the United States is investigating the company among others as part of a civil probe into alleged conspiring to raise prices for government agencies over a decade.
The oil and gas sector led losses among major sectors on the STOXX index, falling 1.7 percent. Oil prices Crude rose more than 1 percent as investors reassessed whether China’s latest stimulus plans would be able to support its economy and spur fuel demand in the world’s largest crude importer.
China’s central bank on Tuesday unveiled its biggest stimulus package since the coronavirus pandemic to pull the economy out of a deflationary recession. That sent European stocks soaring, with French luxury stocks such as LVHM the biggest gainers.
China-exposed sectors such as automakers fell 1.3 percent after rising more than 3 percent in the previous two sessions.
Shares in Bavarian Nordic rose 3.9 percent after the Danish biotech company said it had received a $63 million order from the U.S. government for doses of its monkeypox and smallpox vaccine.
