"If infection trends were to continue, this hope will start to dwindle though it would look to the market as if the US was handling the pandemic better after all."
A stronger pound also weighed on the export-heavy index as sources said the European Union and Britain were set to prolong Brexit talks past a mid-October deadline imposed by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Meanwhile, data on Wednesday showed euro zone industrial production slowed sharply in August as expected, mainly due to a plunge in the output of capital goods even though it was cushioned to some extent by higher production of durable consumer goods.