European Stocks Close On Weak Note On Growth Worries

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed broadly lower on Monday with investors turning cautious after data showed the euro zone economy is slipping into a recession.

Investors also reacted to news about the Chinese government's decision to relax some Covid restrictions. Uncertainty about the outlook for U.S. interest rates following last week's strong non-farm payrolls data also contributed to the weak sentiment.

The pan European Stoxx 600 drifted down 0.41%. Germany's DAX dropped 0.56% and France's CAC 40 fell 0.67%, while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 advanced 0.15%. Switzerland's SMI edged down 0.03%.

Among other markets in Europe, Belgium, Ireland, Netherlands and Turkiye closed weak.

Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Poland, Portugal and Sweden ended higher, while Finland, Greece and Spain settled flat.

In the UK market, Entain, Hargreaves Lansdown, M&G, Burberry Group, WPP, Sage Group, Persimmon, Pearson, Halma, Kingfisher, Ocado Group and Melrose Industries lost 1 to 2.5%.

Prudential rallied 5.3%. Rio Tinto, Anglo American Plc, Frasers Group and Compass Group gained 1 to 1.6%.

Glencore shares moved higher after the company entered into a $180 million corruption settlement with DRC.

In Paris, Teleperformance, Orange, Bouygues, Capgemini, WorldLine, Kering and Dassault Systemes lost 2 to 3.1%.

Publicis Groupe, Essiolor, Danone, Pernod Ricard, Michelin and Societe Generale also ended notably lower.

Renault climbed 1.6%. Alstom gained about 1%, while Unibail Rodamco and Saint Gobain posted modest gains.

In the German market, Bayer declined nearly 3%. Symrise, Deutsche Boerse, Covestro, Qiagen, Adidas, Sartorius, BASF, Fresenius and Henkel ended lower by 1 to 2.3%.

Volkswagen surged 1.6%. Deutsche Bank, Porsche Automobil, BMW and Munich RE gained 0.8 to 1.2%.

In economic news, the S&P Global Eurozone Composite PMI was confirmed at 47.8 in November of 2022, pointing to a fifth straight month of falling private sector activity and the second-sharpest since May 2013, excluding months hit by COVID-19 restrictions.

The S&P Global Eurozone Services PMI came in at 48.5 in November 2022, little-changed from 48.6 recorded in both the preliminary estimate and October's final reading. The figure signaled a fourth straight month of falling output levels across the service sector.

The UK service sector registered a moderate contraction in November as economic uncertainty and the cost of living crisis dampened discretionary spending, which in turn hurt demand, final survey data from S&P Global showed.

Elsewhere, the Confederation of British Industry cautioned that the UK will see a lost decade if no action is taken. With rocketing inflation and negative growth, Britain is in stagflation, the lobby observed.

The Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply final headline services Purchasing Managers' Index posted 48.8 in November, in line with flash estimate.

The score was unchanged since October, when the index dropped to its lowest since January 2021.

Data released by Eurostat showed Eurozone retail sales logged its biggest decline so far this year in October on weaker food and non-food products turnover as record inflation squeezed consumer spending.

Retail sales slid 1.8% month-on-month in October, in contrast to the 0.8% increase in September. This was slightly bigger than economists' forecast of -1.7%.

Euro area investor sentiment rose for a second month in a row to its highest level since June. The investor confidence index climbed sharply to -21.0 from -30.9 in November, the think tank said. Economists had forecast a modest improvement in the reading to -27.6.