European Stocks Close Broadly Lower

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed mostly lower on Tuesday, weighed down by concerns about economic slowdown, and uncertainty about the outlook for interest rates following recent comments from ECB officials that the fight against inflation is not over yet.

Investors, awaiting a slew of key economic data this week, were reluctant to make significant moves. On Thursday, the Commerce Department is due to release its report on personal income and spending in the month of October.

The report includes readings on inflation said to be preferred by the Federal Reserve and could impact the outlook for interest rates.

The pan European Stoxx 600 ended 0.3% down. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 edged down 0.07%, France's CAC 40 shed 0.21%, and Germany's DAX gained 0.16%. Switzerland's SMI ended down 0.56%.

Among other markets in Europe, Belgium, Denmark, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Turkiye closed weak. Greece edged down marginally.

Austria, Finland, Poland, Portugal, Russia and Spain ended higher.

In the UK market, Pearson, Just Eat Takeaway.com, Royal Mail, Burberry Group, ITV, Prudential and Entain lost 2.1 to 3.8%.

RightMove, Persimmon, Land Securities, Legal & General, Croda International, Segro, WPP and St. James's Place ended down 1 to 1.7%.

Rolls Royce Holdings rallied more than 6%. Rolls-Royce has set out ambitious new profit targets and said it plans to sell it electric aircraft division, aiming to turn around the company.

Easyjet gained about 4.6% lifted by strong earnings and guidance. Smurfit Kappa Group and Mondi climbed 2.7% and 2.1%, respectively. J Sainsbury, Johnson Matthey, Flutter Entertainment and Fresnillo gained 1.2 to 1.7%.

In the German market, Zalando ended 5.7% down. Bayer ended down 3.5% and Siemens Energy lost about 2.7%. Sartorius ended down 1.7%, while Merck, Volkswagen and BASF lost 1 to 1.2%.

RWE climbed more than 3%. Fresenius Medical Care and Infineon gained 2% and 1.9%, respectively. Commerzbank, Fresenius, Deutsche Post, MTU Aero Engines and HeidelbergCement also ended notably higher.

In Paris, Pernod Ricard, Kering, Alstom, Hermes International and LVMH lost 1.7 to 2.5%. Edenred and WorldLine also ended notably lower.

Michelin, Publicis Groupe, Airbus Group, Safran, Orange, Saint Gobain, Capgemini and Thales ended higher by 0.6 to 1%.

On the economic front, a report from market research group Gfk showed the GfK Consumer Climate Indicator for Germany edged up to -27.8 heading into December 2023 from a downwardly revised -28.3 in November, compared with market forecasts of -27.9.

Still, consumer sentiment remains very weak characterized by uncertainty and concern, with no signs of a sustainable recovery in the coming months, the report says.

According to a report from INSEE, the consumer confidence in France rose to 87 in November, the highest reading since April last year, from 84 in the previous month.

A report from European Central Bank said lending to companies in the Euro area dropped by 0.3% year-on-year in October, marking the first decline since July 2015. Meanwhile, loans to households in the eurozone rose by 0.6% year-on-year in October, the slowest pace since June 2015.

The report from ECB also said M3 money supply in the Euro area dropped for the fourth consecutive month, falling by 1% year-on-year to EUR 16 trillion in October, after a 1.2% decrease in the prior month.