European Stocks Close Lower As Investors Await Crucial Economic Data

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed lower on Tuesday with investors largely making cautious moves, assessing the likely stance of the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England with regard to interest rates.

The pan European Stoxx 600 fell 0.6%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 dropped 0.76%, Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 lost 0.52% and 0.92%, respectively. Switzerland's SMI ended down 0.89%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden ended weak.

Russia and Turkiye closed higher, while Norway ended flat.

In the UK market, Flutter Entertainment ended down more than 7%. National Grid and Entain lost 5.43% and 4.7%, respectively. Persimmon, Associated British Foods, Hikma Pharmaceuticals, Relx, Severn Trent, Intertek Group, Anglo American Plc, AstraZeneca and Scottish Mortgage lost 2 to 3%.

Persimmon ended lower by about 3%. According to reports, the company is interested in acquiring Cala Homes. United Utilities declined sharply, extending recent losses following a sewage spill in one of its water reserves.

Ocado Group soared nearly 10%. JD Sports Fashion rallied nearly 5.5%. ICG gained 3.2% after the investment firm showcased impressive growth and revenue milestones for the year ending March 31, 2024.

Fresnillo, Antofagasta, Legal & General, RS Group, Lloyds Banking Group, EasyJet, Rolls-Royce Holdings, Barclays Group, Smith (DS), Kingfisher, BT Group and Glencore advanced 1 to 3.2%.

In the German market, Deutsche Boerse, Puma, MTU Aero Engines, Sartorius, SAP, Qiagen, Hannover Rueck, Bayer, Henkel, Beiersdorf, Rheinmetall, HeidelbergCement and BASF lost 1 to 2.5%.

Siemens Energy climbed nearly 4%. Volkswagen gained about 2.4%. Vonovia and Fresenius Medical Care also ended sharply higher.

In the French market, Carrefour dropped about 7%. Teleperformance ended down 4%. Schneider Electric, Thales, Eurofins Scientific, Capgemini, Safran, Essilor, LVMH, Pernod Ricard, Sanofi, Dassault Systemes and Air Liquide lost 1 to 2%.

Renault rallied more than 2.5%. Michelin, BNP Paribas and Societe Generale also ended notably higher.

On the economic front, Germany's wholesale prices declined at a slower pace in April, data published by Destatis revealed. Wholesale prices dropped 1.8% on a yearly basis in April, following the 3% decline in March.

The statistical office re-based wholesale selling prices to the new base year 2021.

UK shop price inflation weakened in May to the lowest since November 2021 as non-food prices continued to decline, data from the British Retail Consortium and the market research firm NielsenIQ showed.

The shop price index posted an annual increase of 0.6% in May after a 0.8% gain in April. This was the slowest growth since November 2021. Non-food prices declined 0.8% after a 0.6% drop. At the same time, the annual growth in food inflation decelerated to 3.2% from 3.4% in April.

UK retail sales recovered in May and selling price inflation continued to ease, survey results from the Confederation of British Industry showed.

The retail sales balance rose to +8% from -44% in April, latest Distributive Trades Survey results revealed.

Eurozone consumers lowered their inflation expectations for the next 12 months and turned less negative regarding the economic outlook, though their unemployment worries remained, results of a monthly survey by the European Central Bank showed.

The median rate of expected inflation over the next 12 months fell to 2.9% from 3% in March. The latest rate was the lowest since September 2021. The ECB, which aims to keep inflation at 2%, has signaled an interest rate cut in June.