European Markets Close Lower As Inflation, Growth Concerns Weigh

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed lower on Wednesday, weighed down by rising concerns about inflation due to high oil prices, slowing economic growth, and possibility of further monetary tightening by global central banks.

The pan European Stoxx 600 ended 0.57% down. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 edged down 0.16%, Germany's DAX drifted down 0.19% and France's CAC 40 lost 0.84%, while Switzerland's SMI lost 0.31%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain and Turkiye closed weak.

Belgium and Finland ended higher, while Czech Republic, Denmark and Sweden closed flat.

In the UK market, Just Eat Takeaway.com shares dropped more than 5%. Burberry Group drifted down 4.7%. IAG and Easyjet ended lower by about 3.7% and 3.3%, respectively.

St. James's Place, Prudential, Rolls-Royce Holdings, Associated British Foods, Hargreaves Lansdown, Ashtead, Smurfit Kappa Group, 3I, Persimmon, Fresnillo, AstraZeneca, CRH, Hikma Pharmaceuticals and Ferguson lost 1 to 2.3%.

Johnson Matthey and Royal Mail both gained about 3.7%. The Sage Group, Land Securities, Bunzl and Segro advanced 1.7 to 2%. Antofagasta, Relx, Experian and Pearson also closed notably higher.

In the German market, Fresenius Medical Care declined more than 4%. Zalando and Commerzbank ended lower by 3.4% and 3.3%, respectively.

Fresenius, Sartorius, Deutsche Bank, Qiagen, Merck, Symrise and Bayer lost 1 to 2.2%.

Vonovia rallied more than 2%. RWE, HeidelbergCement, Henkel and Porsche gained 1 to 1.4%.

In Paris, LVMH dropped about 3.7%. Kering, Hermes International, WorldLine, STMicroElectronics, Pernod Ricard, L'Oreal, BNP Paribas, Essilor and Capgemini lost 1 to 2.3%.

Orange, Renault, Legrand, Michelin, Bouygues, Alstom and Unibail Rodamco ended with sharp to moderate gains.

In economic news, data showed the S&P Global/CIPS UK Construction PMI declining to 50.8 in August, from 51.7 in July, and versus market expectations of 50.5.

Germany's manufacturing sector orders decreased in double-digits on a monthly basis in July, which was much more than forecast, largely due to a big order for air and spacecraft in the previous month, preliminary data from Destatis showed.

Factory orders fell a calendar-and-seasonally adjusted 11.7% in July, which was much worse than the 4% slump slump economists had forecast. The decline for June was revised to 7% from 7.6%. Excluding big orders, factory orders grew 0.3% from the previous month.

Euro area retail sales fell 0.2% month-on-month in July, declining for the first time in four months and at a slightly faster than expected pace, led by a slump in sales of auto fuel, preliminary data from the statistical office Eurostat showed.

Germany's construction activity continued its downward trend in August amid a steep fall in residential building projects due to the aftermath of rising interest rates, survey results from S&P Global showed on Wednesday.

The HCOB construction purchasing managers' index, or PMI, rose to a three-month high of 41.5 in August from July's 29-month low of 41.0.