European shares close lower on growing fears of Iran attack on Israel
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STOXX 600 down 0.4%
Euro zone inflation dips below 2%
STOXX volatility index at three-week high
Defence, energy shares rise on elevated Middle East risks
Germany's Covestro jumps on $16 billion buyout deal
Updated at 1600 GMT
By Shashwat Chauhan and Pranav Kashyap
Oct 1 (Reuters) - European shares reversed initial gains to close lower on Tuesday, as investors moved out of riskier assets amid escalating geopolitical fears that Iran was planning an attack on Israel.
The pan-European STOXX 600 .STOXX closed 0.4% lower, reversing course after rising as much as 0.5% during the day.
A gauge of STOXX volatility .V2TX spiked to a more than three week high. Most STOXX sectors fell, with euro zone banks .SX7E leading losses, down 2.8%.
Personal and household goods .SXQP and retail .SXRP rounded out top decliners, down 1.7% and 1.3%, respectively.
The United States hasindications Iran is preparing to imminently launch a ballistic missile attack against Israel that could be at least as large as a strike that Tehran staged earlier this year, U.S. officials said.
"It's a classic risk-off (move) ... however, it's unlikely to last because when they've (Iran) attacked in the past, it quickly fizzled out," said Giles Coghlan, managing director at GCFX.
"I would expect this dip to be bought quite quickly in equities," Coghlan added.
Bucking the trend, heavyweight energy stocks .SXEP jumped 1.3% tracking a more than 3% advance in crude oil prices. O/R
Defence companies such as Germany's Rheinmetall RHMG.DE and Sweden's Saab SAABb.ST also rose 5.1% and 3.5%, respectively.
Euro zone government bond yields, which move inversely to prices, extended their declines as investors sought safe-haven assets. GVD/EUR
Yields had initially fallen after data showed euro zone inflation dipped below 2% for the first time since mid-2021 in September, reinforcing an already solid case for a European Central Bank rate cut this month.
Rate-sensitive real estate .SX86P ended up 1.1%, while utilities .SX6P, often traded as a bond proxy, gained 0.4%.
Meanwhile, manufacturing activity across the euro zone declined at its fastest pace this year in September, while the German manufacturing sector also contracted at its fastest rate in a year, PMI data showed.
France's manufacturing sector continued to contract in September, while Italy's manufacturing activity contracted for a sixth straight month in September.
Among other headlining stocks, chemicals maker Covestro 1COV.DE gained 3.8% after Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) said it had struck a deal tobuy the chemicals maker for 14.7 billion euros ($16.3 billion), including debt.
Gucci owner Kering PRTP.PA slipped 2.9% after Goldman Sachs downgraded its rating to "sell", while brewer Anheuser-Busch Inbev ABI.BR rose 1.6% after Citi upgraded its rating to "buy".
Reporting by Pranav Kashyap and Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman, Sonia Cheema and Chris Reese
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