Major European Markets Fail To Hold Early Gains, Settle Flat

(RTTNews) - Despite opening on a firm note and holding in positive territory till noon, the major European markets ended roughly flat on Tuesday, as stocks pared gains and struggled to move higher again as investors awaited further updates on the banking sector front.

Investors shrugged off survey results from the statistical office Insee showing that French manufacturers' confidence slightly worsened in March for the first time in four months.

The manufacturing confidence index dropped to 104 in March from 105 in the previous month as the balance of opinion regarding the change in past and future output decreased. The expected score was 103.

Elsewhere, U.K. shop prices logged another record increase in March due to the historical growth in food and non-food prices, data from the British Retail Consortium showed earlier today.

The BRC- NielsenIQ shop price index increased 8.9% on a yearly basis in March, faster than the 8.4% rise in February.

The annual growth was primarily driven by another record 15% growth in food prices. Non-food prices also posted a record gain of 5.9%.

Concerns about banking sector woes eased a bit after recent positive developments, but investors appeared to wait for more clear direction.

The pan European Stoxx 600 edged down 0.06%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 gained 0.17%, Germany's DAX ended 0.09% up, and France's CAC 40 closed higher by 0.14%. Switzerland's SMI gained 0.49%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Ireland, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden closed higher.

Denmark, Greece, Iceland, Netherlands and Turkiye ended weak, while Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, Norway and Russia closed flat.

In the UK market BP, IAG, Glencore, Rio Tinto, Prudential, Tesco, Shell, Sainsbury (J), Endeavour Mining Plc, DCC, Angl American Plc, Mondi and Burberry Group gained 1 to 2.3%.

Hargreaves Lansdown drifted down 2.6%. Ocado Group ended 2.5% down after keeping its profit guidance for the full year.

RightMove, Haleon, Beazley, Kingfisher, Admiral Group, Croda International, Centrica, AstraZeneca and Coca-Cola HBC lost 1 to 2.5%.

In Paris, TotalEnergies surged more than 2.5%. Sanofi, Carrefour, Alstom, Veolia and Saint Gobain gained 1 to 1.6%.

Dassault Systemes dropped 2.6% and Essilor shed about 2.5%. WorldLine, Unibail Rodamco, Publicis Groupe, Eurofins Scientific and Societe Generale also ended notably lower.

In the German market, HeidelbergCement, Siemens Energy, Continental, Commerzbank, Bayer and Siemens surged 1.3 to 2%.

Vonovia ended more than 6% down. Infineon Technologies lost about 3.1%, while Qiagen, Deutsche Bank and Merck ended lower by about 1.6%.

In the Swiss market, UBS rose 1.6% after CEO Ralph Hamers reportedly said the Swiss lender views its government-orchestrated takeover of Credit Suisse Group as a growth opportunity.