Major European Markets Fail To Hold Gains, Close On Weak Note

(RTTNews) - Major European markets failed to hold gains and closed lower on Monday with investors turning cautious and lightening commitments towards the end of the day's session.

Investors looked ahead to monetary policy decisions of major central banks, including the Federal Reserve, Bank of England and the European Central Bank.

Investors also digested the latest batch of economic data and earnings updates.

The pan European Stoxx 600 edged down 0.04%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 ended down 0.16%, Germany's DAX slipped 0.1% and France's CAC 40 lost 0.24%, while Switzerland's SMI declined 0.19%.

Among other markets in Europe, Belgium, Greece, Ireland, Poland and Spain ended weak.

Austria, Denmark, Netherlands, Russia, Sweden and Turkiye closed higher, while Czech Republic, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Portugal ended flat.

In the UK market, Entain rallied 2.8%. Glencore climbed about 2.1%. IAG, Pearson, Weir Group and Barclays gained 1 to 1.4%.

Budget airline Wizz Air Holdings gained 1.7% after unveiling passenger traffic figures for August.

Admiral Group, Johnson Matthey, Endeavour Mining, Croda International, Vodafone Group, Land Securities, Standard Chartered, Ashtead Group, Hiscox, Haleon, Fresnillo and B&M European Value Retail lost 1 to 2.5%.

In the German market, RWE, Deutsche Post and Qiagen lost about 2%, 1.7% and 1.4%, respectively. Deutsche Boerse, Henkel, Beiersdorf and Hannover Rueck also closed notably lower.

Commerzbank and Merck both gained about 1.25%. Mercedes-Benz Group, Infineon Technologies, Adidas, Porsche AG, Vonovia and Zalando posted moderate gains.

In Paris, Saint Gobain declined more than 3%. Societe Generale shed about 1.7%. Bouygues, Veolia, Carrefour, Danone, ArcelorMittal and Renault lost 0.5 to 1.1%.

Teleperformance climbed more than 2%. Thales gained about 1.1%. Essilor, Michelin and Dassault Systemes also closed higher.

Shares of Swedish biotech firm Medivir AB surged more than 8% after the company released promising interim data, including a first complete response in phase 1b/2a HCC study with fostrox in combination with Lenvima in advanced hepatocellular carcinoma.

In economic releases, a survey showed the Eurozone Sentix Investor Confidence Index fell to -21.5 in September from -18.9 in August - a level not seen since Europe's energy crisis last November.

Separate data showed that Germany's trade surplus declined more than expected in July on weak exports and rising imports, exacerbating the possibility of economic contraction in the third quarter.

Exports posted a monthly decline of 0.9% in July, in contrast to June's 0.2% increase. On the other hand, imports grew 1.4%, reversing a 3.2% drop in June.

The Swiss economic output was stable in the second quarter as the improvement in household consumption was offset by the fall in investment, official data showed on Monday.

Swiss gross domestic product stayed flat from the first quarter, when the economy expanded by 0.3%, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, or SECO, said. Economists had expected a 0.1% rise for the June quarter.