European Stocks Close Lower; Policy Meetings, China Covid News In Focus

(RTTNews) - European stocks ended lower on Monday after a cautious session with investors looking ahead to the upcoming monetary policy meetings of the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank, and awaiting U.S. inflation data.

The markets were also weighed down by worries about a surge in Covid-19 cases in China after the country relaxed some strict curbs. A top government health adviser warned that the epidemic in China is spreading rapidly and that it will be difficult to completely cut off the transmission chain.

Most of the major markets in the region spent the entire session in negative territory.

The pan European Stoxx 600 drifted down 0.49%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 and France's CAC 40 both ended 0.41% down, while Germany's DAX ended lower by 0.45% and Switzerland's SMI closed 0.31% down.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Netherlands, Russia, Spain and Sweden ended weak.

Iceland, Poland, Portugal and Turkiye closed higher, while Norway ended flat.

In the UK market, Frasers Group, Fresnillo, Endeavour Mining, Prudential, Rio Tinto, Kingfisher, Ocado Group, Mondi, Persimmon, Antofagasta and Sainsbury (J) ended 2 to 4% down.

Dechra Pharmaceuticals and Harbour Energy both gained nearly 1.5%. Experian, Haleon, Sage Group, Rentain, BAE Systems and Standard Chartered moved up 0.6 to 1%.

In Paris, Unibail Rodamco ended more than 3% down. Carrefour, ArcelorMittal, Veolia, L'Oreal, Saint Gobain, Vinci, Renault and Pernod Ricard shed 1 to 2%.

Dassault Systems climbed more than 2%. Thales, Essilor,WorldLine, Total Energies and Airbus gained 0.6 to 1.2%.

In the German market, HelloFresh drifted down more than 3%. Deutsche Wohnen, Deutsche Boerse, Henkel, Vonovia, BASF, Fresenius Medical Care and Fresenius lost 1.7 to 2.6%.

Zalando surged more than 5%. Sartorius rallied 2.7%, while Symrise, Qiagen, Siemens Healthineers and Merck gained 1 to 1.5%.

Danish shipping major A.P. Møller - Mærsk A/S drifted down 2.6% after saying it has appointed Vincent Clerc as its new Chief Executive Officer, with effect from January 1, 2023.

Shares of Danish biotech firm Novozymes plunged 15.2%, while Chr. Hansen Holdings jumped 17.6% after the two companies announced plans to merge.

Shares of Swiss specialty chemicals firm Clariant AG ended 1.7% down. The company announced impairment charges of around CHF 225 million related to its Sunliquid plant in Podari, Romania, for the fiscal 2022.

In economic releases, the U.K. economy rebounded at a faster-than-expected pace in October with strong contribution from services activity, official data revealed earlier today.

Monthly real gross domestic product expanded 0.5 percent in October, reversing a fall of 0.6 percent in September, the Office for National Statistics said.

GDP was forecast to gain 0.4 percent after additional bank holiday for the State Funeral of HM Queen Elizabeth II weighed on September GDP.

Germany's residential construction sector outlook remained bleak amid rising cancellations and record low business expectations as high inflation, rising interest rates and less subsidies damp activity, results of a survey by the ifo institute showed Monday.

Cancellations in the German residential property construction grew further in November, with the survey showing that the share of surveyed companies affected rose to 16.7 percent from 14.5 percent in the previous month.