European Shares Decline As Investors Await US Inflation Numbers

(RTTNews) - European stocks were moving lower on Tuesday as Chinese trade data disappointed, and traders braced for key U.S. inflation data due this week for fresh clues on the Federal Reserve's monetary policy path.

The pan-European STOXX 600 fell half a percent to 464.44 after rising 0.4 percent on Monday.

The German DAX slipped 0.2 percent, France's CAC 40 shed 0.7 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was down 0.3 percent.

Swedish real estate firm SBB fell over 7 percent after halting dividend and suffering a ratings' cut.

Italian lender Banco BPM jumped 5.5 percent after raising its profit goal for this year and the next.

Purplebricks plunged more than 60 percent in London after the online estate agency said it doesn't expect to return cash generation in early fiscal 2024 as expected earlier.

British insurer Direct Line slumped 5.8 percent after a warning that an uptick in motoring claims will hit its earnings in 2023.

Sports fashion chain JD Sports climbed 2.6 percent after it proposed buying France's Groupe Courir for an enterprise value of 520 million euros ($572 million).

German auto giant Daimler Truck Holding fell more than 4 percent after confirming preliminary results and keeping its outlook unchanged.

Fresenius Medical Care rose 1.2 percent. The dialysis specialist said it is seeing improving trends in the first quarter after operating profit declined less than feared.

Fresenius SE & Co. surged 6.4 percent after confirming its FY23 guidance.

In economic releases, France's foreign trade deficit decreased at the end of the first quarter as imports fell faster than exports, data from the customs office showed earlier today.

The trade deficit dropped to EUR 8.02 billion in March from EUR 9.3 billion in February. In the corresponding month of 2022, the deficit totaled EUR 13.6 billion.

Data out of U.K. showed house prices in the country unexpectedly declined in April amid rising interest rates.

House prices decreased 0.3 percent on a monthly basis in April, in contrast to the 0.8 percent increase in March, Lloyds Bank subsidiary Halifax said -marking the first fall in four months.