European Stocks Close Lower On Growth Concerns

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed lower on Tuesday, weighed down largely by losses in banking and energy sectors.

Lower oil prices, weak Chinese trade data and concerns about problems ailing the banking sector rendered the mood a bit bearish. Also, with key U.S. inflation data due on Wednesday, investors largely stayed wary of making significant moves.

The pan European Stoxx 600 ended 0.33% down. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 closed lower by 0.18% and France's CAC 40 shed 0.59%, while Germany's DAX edged up 0.02%. Switzerland's SMI drifted down 0.42%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Czeh Republic, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden and Turkiye closed weak.

Greece and Ireland ended slightly higher.

In the UK market, Unite Group and Ocado Group lost 4.52% and 4.14%, respectively. Land Securities, DCC, British Land Company, Auto Trader Group, Segro and Persimmon ended lower by 2.3 to 3.2%.

Fresnillo, M&G, Croda International Group, Scottish Mortgage, Prudential, ABRDN, GSK and Diageo also ended notably lower.

IAG climbed more than 3.5%. Flutter Entertainment, Relx, Beazley, IHG, Hiscox and Imperial Brands gained 1.1 to 2.23%.

JD Sports Fashion gained 1% after it proposed buying France's Groupe Courir for an enterprise value of 520 million euros ($572 million).

In the German market, Sartorius tumbled 3.7%, Puma declined 3.1%, Zalando drifted down 2.8% and Adidas ended lower by about 2.5%.

Daimler Truck Holding lost about 2% after confirming preliminary results and keeping its outlook unchanged.

Vonovia, Siemens Energy and Siemens Healthineers lost 1.6 to 2.2%.

Fresenius rallied nearly 9% after confirming its FY23 guidance. Munich RE, RWE and E.ON gained 1.5 to 1.8%, while Hannover Rueck, Henkel, Merck, Mercedes-Benz and MTU Aero Engines posted moderate gains.

In Paris, Eurofins Scientific shed more than 4%. Danone, Kering, Veolia, Schneider Electric, Dassault Systemes, Unibail Rodamco and CapGemini lost 1.6 to 2.8%.

Teleperformance climbed nearly 2%. Thales gained about 1.2%, while Stellantis advanced 0.8%.

In economic releases, France's foreign trade deficit decreased at the end of the first quarter as imports fell faster than exports, data from the customs office showed earlier today.

The trade deficit dropped to EUR 8.02 billion in March from EUR 9.3 billion in February. In the corresponding month of 2022, the deficit totaled EUR 13.6 billion.

Data out of U.K. showed house prices in the country unexpectedly declined in April amid rising interest rates.

House prices decreased 0.3% on a monthly basis in April, in contrast to the 0.8% increase in March, Lloyds Bank subsidiary Halifax said -marking the first fall in four months.