European Stocks Close Lower As Investors Await Fed Rate Decision

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed slightly weak on Tuesday, as investors largely stayed cautious, looking ahead to the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement on Wednesday.

The Fed is widely expected to lower interest rate by 25 basis points. The bank's accompanying statement is eyed for clues about possible moves with regard to interest rates in the coming months.

The pan European Stoxx 600 ended down by 0.1%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 edged lower by 0.03% and France's CAC 40 closed down by 0.69%, and Germany's DAX climbed 0.49%. Switzerland's SMI settled with a loss of 0.69%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Portugal, Russia and Sweden ended weak.

Czech Republic, Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Turkiye closed higher, while Denmark ended flat.

In the UK market, WPP rallied 6.3%. Fresnillo gained 2.6%, while BAE Systems, Pearson, Entain, Babcock International, Bunzl, Imperial Brands, The Sage Group, Endeavour Mining and Sainsbury (J) moved up 2 to 2.1%.

The Magnum Ice Cream Company shares ended 3.7% down. Diageo, Tesco, GSK, Next, Intertek Group, Rentokil Initial, Croda International, Marks & Spencer, Lloyds Banking Group, EasyJet, Antofagasta and Legal & General closed lower by 1.2 to 2.5%.

In the German market, Bayer, Beiersdorf and Rheinmetall gained 4 to 4.5%. Allianz climbed by about 3%. Symrise, Deutsche Bank, Henkel, Munich RE, Zalando, Hannover Rueck, Siemens Healthineers and Siemens Energy also posted strong gains.

Shares of wind turbine maker Nordex rallied 2.3% after winning new contracts in France and Belgium.

Daimler Truck Holding, Fresenius, Merck, Vonovia, Qiagen and Heidelberg Materials ended with sharp to moderate losses.

ThyssenKrupp closed lower by about 5.6% after the industrial conglomerate warned of challenging conditions, expecting to swing to a net loss of up to 800 million euros ($931 million) in 2026

In the French market, Thales closed with a gain of over 2.5%. Capgemini, BNP Paribas, ArcelorMittal and Credit Agricole gained 1.5 to 2%, while TP and Edenred gained 1% each.

EssilorLuxottica closed lower by about 5.6%. Bureau Veritas ended 2.7% down, while Kering, Pernod Ricard, Air Liquide, Stellantis, Schneider Electric, Eurofins Scientific, LVMH, Publicis Groupe and Airbus settled lower by 1 to 2%.

In economic news, Germany's foreign trade surplus increased in October as exports rose amid a fall in imports, official data showed.

Exports posted a monthly increase of 0.1% in October, though slower than the 1.5% recovery in September, Destatis reported.

Meanwhile, imports declined 1.2% after rising 5.1% a month ago.

As a result, the trade surplus climbed to EUR 16.9 billion from EUR 15.3 billion in September. The expected surplus was also EUR 15.2 billion. In the same period last year, the surplus totalled EUR 14.6 billion.