European Stocks Close Weak Amid Uncertainty About Interest Rates

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed weak on Wednesday as uncertainty about the outlook for interest rates rendered the mood cautious. Investors also assessed the economic health of the region, tracking the latest batch of economic data.

The pan European Stoxx 600 ended down 0.23%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 dropped 0.68%, Germany's DAX ended 0.65% down, and France's CAC 40 drifted down 0.36%. Switzerland's SMI closed lower by 0.31%.

Among the other markets in Europe, Austria, Finland, Greece, Norway, Portugal, Spain and Turkiye closed weak.

Denmark, Poland and Russia ended higher, while Belgium, Iceland, Netherlands and Sweden ended flat.

In the UK market, J Sainsbury ended down more than 5.5% after reporting lower general merchandize sales in the 16 weeks to January 6. Barratt Developments ended down 5.5% after it agreed to buy rival Redrow.

Antofagasta, Vodafone, Anglo American Plc, JD Sports Fashion and Tesco declined 3 to 4%.

Legal & General, Glencore, Prudential, Intertek, Barclays Group, Endeavour, B&M European Value Retail, St. James's Place, Segro, Burberry Group and British American Tobacco lost 1.2 to 2.6%.

In the German market, Deutsche Bank, Deutsche Post and Infineon lost 4.7 to 5%. Commerzbank ended lower by about 3.6% and Qiagen ended 2.25% down.

Vonovia, Bayer, BASF, Deutsche Telekom, RWE, Continental, Allianz and Fresenius ended lower by 0.8 to 1.6%.

Siemens Energy, BKW, Hanover Rueck and Sartorius gained 1.3 to 1.6%.

In Paris, TotalEnergies ended down 3% after Q4 adjusted EPS missed estimates. Carrefour and Teleperformance lost about 2.8% and 2.4%, respectively.

WorldLine and Societe Generale ended lower by about 2%. Bouygues, Engie, STMicroElectronics and ArcelorMittal also closed notably lower.

Dassault Systemes rallied 3.5%. Renault and Unibail Rodamco both gained about 2%. Saint Gobain, LVMH, Hermes International, Capgemini and Stellantis also ended higher.

On the economic front, data from Destatis showed Germany's industrial production posted a sharper-than-expected decline in December, dropping by 1.6% on month. Economists had expected production to drop by 0.4%. On a yearly basis, the decline in industrial production softened to 3% from 4.3% in November.

France's trade deficit widened more-than-expected to EUR 6.8 billion in December from EUR 5.9 billion in November, data from the customs office showed. The shortfall was forecast to rise to EUR 6.0 billion. In the same period last year, the defiict totaled EUR 14.7 billion.

Exports posted a monthly increase of 1.1%. At the same time, imports climbed more sharply by 2.6%. On a yearly basis, exports and imports fell 3.3% and 12.7%, respectively.

UK house prices increased for the fourth successive month in January, taking the annual growth rate to the highest level in a year, the results of a survey by Lloyds Bank subsidiary Halifax and S&P Global showed.

House prices grew 1.3% month-on-month in January, following a 1.1% gain in December.