European Markets Close Under Water On Wednesday

(RTTNews) - European shares finished lower on Wednesday, handing back gains from the previous session as the fragile Iran-Israel truce took hold.

U.S. President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy said late on Tuesday that talks between U.S. and Iran were "promising" and that Washington was hopeful for a long-term peace deal. Investors remain skeptical.

The DAX in Germany dropped 143.25 points or 0.61 percent to finish at 23,498.33, while the FTSE in London sank 40.24 points or 0.46 percent to close at 8,718.75 and the CAC 40 in France lost 57.83 points or 0.76 percent to end at 7,558.16.

In Germany, Deutsche Telekom plunged 3.00 percent, while Vonovia declined 2.19 percent, Heidelberg Materials jumped 1.78 percent, Deutsche Post tumbled 1.51 percent, E.ON skidded 1.50 percent, Volkswagen dropped 0.98 percent, Deutsche Borse added 0.55 percent, Zalando sank 0.48 percent and Deutsche Bank collected 0.20 percent.

In London, easyJet stumbled 2.60 percent, while British American Tobacco weakened 1.31 percent, Scottish Mortgage improved 1.24 percent, Airtel Africa and Rolls-Royce Holdings both advanced 0.97 percent, Schroders lost 0.76 percent, Centrica fell 0.54 percent, Prudential rose 0.51 percent, Rightmove dipped 0.38 percent and Vodafone was down 0.29 percent.

In France, Worldline plummeted 38.26 percent, while Danone stumbled 2.32 percent, Vivendi tanked 2.16 percent, Sanofi retreated 1.67 percent, Accor jumped 1.29 percent, Carrefour sank 1.24 percent, Societe Generale slumped 1.06 percent, Credit Agricole fell 0.60 percent and BNP Paribas dipped 0.23 percent.

In economic news, Spain's economic growth slowed in the first quarter, as estimated earlier, final data from the statistical office INE revealed on Wednesday. Gross domestic product grew 0.6 percent sequentially in the first quarter. The rate matched the initial estimate and was slower than the 0.7 percent growth posted in the preceding quarter.

France's consumer confidence held steady in June and remained well below its long-term average, data from the statistical office INSEE showed on Wednesday. The consumer sentiment index stood at 88.0 in June, the same as in May. Meanwhile, economists had expected the score to rise to 89.0. Further, the index remained well below its long-term average of 100.

Finland's unemployment rate increased in May to the highest level in five years, figures from Statistics Finland showed on Wednesday. The jobless rate among the 15-74 age groups rose to 10.5 percent in May from 10.2 percent in April.