06:39 AM EST, 11/25/2020 (MT Newswires) -- European bourses were taking a breather midsession Wednesday from the recent global rally in equities, as traders weighed the outlook for a COVID-19 vaccine rollout in 2021 against a global economy weakened by ongoing anti-virus lockdowns, travel bans, and yet rising debt loads.

The European Central Bank damped the recent rally in Eurozone banking stocks, warning that pandemic-induced sour loans could undercut plans for a resumption of bank dividend payments, and that lenders may need larger loan-loss provisions. The ECB, in its semi-annual Financial Stability Review, suggested that banks nay have sidestepped booking bigger loss-provisions by use of government-backed debt moratoria and other gimmicks. The Stoxx 600 Bank Index was down 1.6% midsession.

On the national gauges, the DAX in Frankfurt was off 0.4% mid-session, the CAC 40 in Paris slipped 0.2%, and the UK's FTSE 100 was down 0.5%.

The broad gauge Stoxx Europe 600 fell by 0.4%, but the Stoxx Europe 600 Technology Index bucked the trend and was up edged up 0.2%. The Stoxx Europe 600 Oil & Gas Index was down 1.4%.

Brent crude futures traded at $48.32, up 1.1%.

German 10-year sovereign bonds offered a negative 0.58% yield, slightly more negative than on Monday.

The Euro Stoxx 50 volatility index rose 1.1% to 21.65, still indicating moderately above-average volatility for European stock markets in the next 30 days, but again near the lowest reading of the pandemic months. The 20-mark on the index indicates average volatility ahead, while below 20 points to expectations for calmer markets.

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