European Stocks Close Broadly Lower

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed mostly weak on Monday as investors reacted to regional PMI data and some corporate news. Easing geopolitical concerns and hopes that major central banks, including the Federal Reserve, will hold interest rates for now aided sentiment and limited markets' downside.

The pan European Stoxx 600 ended down 0.35%. The UK's FTSE 100 and France's CAC 40 shed 0.26% and 0.47%, respectively. Germany's DAX climbed 0.15%. Switzerland's SMI ended down 0.85%.

Among other markets in Europe, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Spain and Sweden closed weak.

Czech Republic, Greece, Iceland, Ireland and Poland ended higher, while Austria, Netherlands and Türkiye closed flat.

In the UK market, Relx, St. James's Place, BAE Systems and LSEG gained 2%-2.6%.

Prudential, IAG, Barclays, Standard Chartered, Investec, Burberry Group, Aviva Group, DCC, HSBC Holdings and Aberdeen Group moved up 1%-1.5%.

Compass Group shed 3.49%. Associated British Foods, Coca-Cola HBC, Halma, Metlen Energy & Metals, Endeavour Mining, AstraZeneca, Fresnillo, Whitbread and Croda International lost 2%-3%.

Tesco, GSK, Howden Joinery Group, Haleon, Centrica, Intercontinental Hotels Group, Imperial Brands, Smiths Group, Diageo, IMI, Unilever and Convatec Group also ended notably lower.

Ocado Group declined sharply. The online grocery and technology group announced that Tim Steiner would continue to serve as chief executive until the start of the 2028 financial year.

In the German market, Rheinmetall climbed more than 3.5%. Fresenius, Deutsche Boerse, Deutsche Bank, Siemens Energy, Deutsche Telekom, Commerzbank, Volkswagen and Scout24 gained 1%-2%.

Bayer drifted lower by about 4%. Continental, Merck, Symrise, Qiagen and Beiersdorf lost 1%-2.2%.

In the French market, Thales moved up 1.3%. The technology and defense firm has agreed to buy the Gorge family's 35.51% stake in high-technology industrial group Exail Technologies.

Stellantis, STMicroelectronics and Airbus gained 1.6%-2%. AXA, Capgemini, BNP Paribas, Michelin, Publicis Groupe and Credit Agricole also closed higher.

ArcelorMittal, Teleperformance, Edenred, Pernod Ricard, Engie, Accor, Sanofi, Air Liquide, Saint-Gobain, Carrefour, Danone, L'Oreal and Orange shed 1%-3%.

Shares of concessions and construction company Vinci dropped about 2% despite the group bagging three long-term road infrastructure and maintenance contracts in Greater London with a combined value of nearly €70 million per year.

Germany's factory orders rebounded at a stronger-than-expected pace in May, expanding 1.9% on a monthly basis, in contrast to the revised 3.2% drop in April, data from Destatis showed. Orders were forecast to grow 1.1%.

Excluding large scale orders, new orders increased 1% from the previous month.

Germany's construction sector continued to contract in June albeit at a slower pace, purchasing managers' survey data from S&P Global showed.

The construction Purchasing Managers' Index posted 44.8 in June, up from 42.4 in the previous month. This was the highest score since March.

In economic news, data from S&P Global showed the S&P Global France Construction PMI fell to 38.2 in June from 39.6 in May, signaling a faster contraction in construction activity.

Survey results from S&P Global showed the construction sector in UK logged a contraction in June, with the construction Purchasing Managers' Index registering a score of 38.4 for the month, up from May's six-year low of 38.2.

A report from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders Limited (SMMT) showed UK new car sales surged by 11.4% year-on-year to 213,166 units in June, the best performance for the month since 2019.

Data from Eurostat showed Eurozone producer prices rose at a slower pace in May largely due to the decline in energy prices. Producer prices grew 0.2% month-on-month in May, slower than the 0.7% increase in April.

Year-on-year, producer price inflation accelerated to 5.9% in May from 5% in April. Prices were expected to grow 5.7%.

In the EU27, producer prices climbed 0.2% from the prior month, pushing up the annual growth to 5.7%.

Retail sales increased 0.2% on a monthly basis in May, reversing a 0.3% fall in April. The increase came in line with expectations.

On a yearly basis, retail sales growth accelerated to 1.6% from 0.9% in April. This exceeded economists' forecast of 1.5% annual growth.

Retail sales in the EU27 rebounded 0.5% on a monthly comparison after falling 0.6% in April. At the same time, annual growth doubled to 1.9% from 0.8%.