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European stocks end sharply lower after China’s shock currency move

European equities tumbled to close sharply lower on Tuesday, amid the surprise news that China has allowed a "one-time" depreciation of its currency against the U.S. dollar, causing the currency to suffer its biggest fall in over two decades.

The People's Bank of China (PBoC) devalued the yuan by almost 2 percent against the greenback sending shockwaves through markets, as currencies with heavy trade exposure to China hit lows against the U.S. dollar and equities on both sides of the Atlantic tanked. Commodities were hit hardest, as oil and industrial metals faced severe selling.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 ended around 1.7 percent lower after extending losses throughout the session.

Germany's DAX took the brunt of the selling in Europe, tanking around 2.75 percent after the ZEW Institute's economic sentiment index came in at 25 points, falling from the 29.7 recorded in the previous month. The survey is a gauge of analyst and investor mood in the euro zone's largest economy. A separate indicator of current conditions however, rose from 63.9 points in July to 65.7 points this month.

The French CAC provisionally ended 1.8 percent lower, while London's FTSE 100 ended down 1 percent.

U.S. stocks traded around 1 percent lower on Tuesday after an unexpected move overnight by the central bank.

Renminbi banknotes are placed on a bank staff's table in a bank in Lianyungang, east China's Jiangsu provinceChina's 'big bang' dents global markets

The central bank cut the renminbi's daily peg against the U.S. dollar to 6.2298 renminbi, down from 6.1162 on Monday, describing the unexpected move as a "one-off depreciation". But market watchers have widely interpreted it as the first of many moves to help restore competitiveness in the Chinese economy by weakening the currency.

In a statement, the Chinese central bank said that it had changed the way it calculated the currency's daily midpoint against the greenback, now taking the midpoint from market-makers quotes and the previous day's closing price. The move comes after recent data showed a drop in Chinese exports.

Brent crude tumbled $1.49 to trade at $48.91, erasing most of the gains made in oil's biggest daily rally since late May the previous session,while U.S. crude plunged as much as 4.2 percent to $43.31, edging closer to its 2015 low of $42.03

Three-month nickel and copper both slumped in the region of 3 percent on the London Metal Exchange.

Elsewhere, earnings season is winding down in Europe but a few companies still reported results Tuesday.

Danish jewelry retailer Pandora saw shares up around 4.7 percent after it raised its full-year outlook and posted strong second-quarter earnings.

Adecco, the Swiss employment group, reported a 22 percent boost in second-quarter net profit on Tuesday, slightly missing analysts' expectations, sending shares down 4 percent.

Shares in Delta Lloyd plunged over 20 percent after the Dutch insurer swung to a net loss in the first half of the year.

Luxury goods makers including LVMH, Swatch Group and Burberry as well as carmakers such as BMW and Daimler were all in negative territory as a result of the yuan devaluation, given the importance of the China to these firms.

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