European Shares Marginally Lower As German GDP Contracts

(RTTNews) - European stocks were subdued on Monday after data showed the German economy contracted in the whole year of 2023.

Gross domestic product shrank 0.3 percent sequentially, in contrast to the 1.8 percent expansion seen in 2022, Destatis reported. This was the first decline since 2020.

"Overall economic development faltered in Germany in 2023 in an environment that continues to be marked by multiple crises", Destatis President Ruth Brand said at the Berlin press conference.

Separate data showed Germany's wholesale prices fell at a slower pace for a second month in a row in December as the steep declines in mineral oil products continued.

The wholesale price index decreased 2.6 percent year-on-year following a 3.6 percent slump in November and a 4.2 percent decline in October.

The euro rose against the dollar while bonds fell as traders weighed the outlook for monetary policy ahead of a raft of speeches from central bank officials at the 54th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum.

Across the Atlantic, earnings from Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley as well as retail sales figures will be in focus this week.

The pan European STOXX 600 was marginally lower at 476.41 after gaining 0.8 percent on Friday.

The German DAX was little changed with a negative bias, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 slipped 0.1 percent and France's CAC 40 was down 0.2 percent.

PageGroup shares fell 2.5 percent. The recruiter said that a lack of client and candidate confidence hurt its earnings in its latest quarter.

Homebuilder Crest Nicholson lost 5 percent after lowering its profit guidance. Filtronic, a manufacturer of aerospace, defense, telecoms infrastructure products, jumped 3 percent after it secured a radio-frequency subsystem contract from QinetiQ, a global defense company.

French aircraft manufacturer Dassault Aviation plunged 5.7 percent after its deliveries last year fell short of targets.

Atos plummeted 11.3 percent. The technology company named a new CEO and warned that its free cash flow would be slightly below its target in the second half of the year.

German lender Commerzbank rallied 1.3 percent as talks of a merger with Deutsche Bank resurfaced. Shares of the latter were down 0.6 percent.

Kontron rose 2.5 percent. The IoT technology company said that it sees its net profit grow over 87 million euros in 2024.