European Stocks Close On Mixed Note

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed mixed on Monday with investors digesting the latest batch of economic data from the region and weighing the outlook for the global economy in general and the European economy in particular.

Worries about inflation and interest rates weighed. Investors also kept an eye on the US debt ceiling negotiations.

The pan European Stoxx 600 gained 0.25%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 climbed 0.3%. Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 edged up 0.02% and 0.05%, respectively, while Switzerland's SMI ended 0.12% up.

Among other markets in Europe, Belgium, Finland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Russia and Sweden ended higher.

Czech Republic, Denmark, Iceland, Spain and Turkiye closed weak, while Austria, Greece and Poland ended flat.

In the UK market, TUI rallied 3%. 3i, Centrica, Carnival, Segro and Polymetal International gained 2 to 2.6%.

HSBC Holdings, Anglo American Plc, Flutter Entertainment, Whitbread, Antofagasta, Lloyds Banking, BHP, Natwest Group, Prudential, Mondi and Glencore gained 1.3 to 2%.

Rolls-Royce Holdings dropped more than 2%. DCC, Tesco and BAE Systems also ended notably lower.

In Paris, Alstom climbed more than 5%. AXA surged 2.5%. Kering, Saint Gobain, Societe Generale, Unibail Rodamco, Teleperformance and Eurofins Scientific posted moderate gains.

In the German market, Siemens Energy gained about 2.5% after adjusting its outlook for fiscal year 2023.

Henkel rallied 2.3%. Siemens Healthineers, Vonovia, HeidelbergCement, BASF, Deutsche Bank and Covestro gained 1 to 2%.

Zalando, Deutsche Boerse, Sartorius, Infineon, Puma, Bayer and SAP lost 0.8 to 1.4%.

On the economic front, eurozone industrial production declined at the fastest pace in nearly one-and-and-a-half years in March, largely led by a slump in the capital goods output, and suggested that a downward revision to the first quarter economic growth was likely.

Industrial production logged negative monthly growth of 4.1% in March, reversing a 1.56% gain in February, preliminary data from Eurostat showed. That was above the 2.5% fall economists had expected.

The European Commission raised the euro area economic growth and inflation projections for this year and next on Monday, but warned that the single currency bloc faces several risks that policymakers must monitor closely. The currency-bloc is projected to grow 1.1 percent this year and 1.6% in 2024, the executive arm of the EU said in its Spring economic forecast.

Data from Destatis showed Germany's wholesale prices logged its first decline since December 2020 driven by the sharp fall in mineral oil product prices. The data showed the wholesale price index declined 0.5% in April from the last year, following March's 2% increase.

Prices dropped for the first time since December 2020, when the index slid 1.2%. Prices were forecast to drop 0.7% in April.

On a monthly basis, wholesale prices dropped 0.4%, in contrast to the 0.2% rise in March. Economists had forecast a monthly growth of 0.3%.

Data from the Federal Statistical Office showed Switzerland's producer and import price inflation eased further in April to the lowest level in the current sequence of growth, with prices increasing 1% year-on-year, slower than the 2.1% increase in the previous month.

The producer price index climbed 1.9% annually in April, while import prices registered a fall of 0.9%.