European Markets Drop To Multi-week Lows On Growth Worries, Rate Uncertainty

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed weak on Tuesday, and several markets in the region dropped to multi-week lows, as worries about lofty valuations of Artificial Intelligence-related stocks, and uncertainty about interest rate moves by global central banks, including the Federal Reserve, rendered the mood cautious and forced investors to trim down long positions.

The pan European Stoxx 600 ended down by 1.72%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 settled lower by 1.27%, France's CAC closed 1.86% down, and Germany's DAX finished with a loss of 1.76%. Switzerland's SMI drifted down 0.92%.

Among other markets in Europe, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portual, Spain and Sweden all settled sharply lower.

Russia and Turkiye bucked the trend and closed on the positive side.

In the UK market, Melrose Industries, Antofagasta, 3i Group, Convatec Group and HSBC Holdings lost 3 to 4%.

Ashtead Group, Barclays, WPP, Diageo, Fresnillo, Anglo American Plc, IAG, Scottish Mortgage, Bunzl, Natwest Group, Schroders, Glencore, Standard Chartered and Metlen Energy & Metals ended down by 2 to 2.7%.

ICG gained about 4.5% on stronger than expected earnings. Imperial Brands climbed nearly 2.5% after reporting an increase of nearly 5% in annual adjusted operating profit.

Tesco, Diploma, Centrica, Rightmove and Informa posted modest gains.

In the German market, Siemens Energy lost more than 6%. Deutsche Bank, Infineon, Commerzbank, Adidas, Merck, Mercedes-Benz, Fresenius, Deutsche Post, Siemens, Continental, Volkswagen, Bayer, Porsche Automobil and Heidelberg Materials closed down by 2 to 4.3%.

Deutsche Boerse climbed about 2.75%. E.ON and Zalando posted modest gains.

In the French market, Stellantis, Pernod Ricard, Renault, Edenred, Societe Generale, Capgemini, Accor, Saint Gobain, Hermes International and STMicroElectronics ended lower by 2.5 to 4.5%.

Sanofi, BNP Paribas, Legrand, Schneider Electric, Credit Agricole and Carrefour also closed sharply lower.