European Markets Close On Mixed Note

(RTTNews) - The major European markets ended mixed on Monday with investors digesting the latest batch of economic data and looking ahead to speeches from top officials of a few central banks and the minutes from the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting, for clues about future interest-rate moves.

The pan European Stoxx 600 edged up 0.1%. France's CAC 40 gained 0.18%, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 and Germany's DAX both ended down 0.11%. Switzerland's SMI ended 0.03% up.

Among other markets in Europe, Denmark, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Turkiye closed higher. Austria, Finland, Netherlands and Russia edged up marginally.

Iceland ended notably lower, while Belgium, Czech Republic and Greece settled a bit weak.

In the UK market, Spirax-Sarco Engineering gained nearly 3%. Flutter Entertainment, TUI, Antofagasta and Halma climbed 2 to 2.5%.

Royal Dutch Shell, Scottish Mortgage, Admiral Group, Rentokil Initial, Rio Tinto and Burberry Group also ended notably higher.

Ashtead tanked more than 10% after the British equipment rental firm warned that annual profits will fall short of forecasts.

Smurfit Kappa Group ended nearly 3% down. Compass Group, CRH, DCC, Severn Trent, Ds Smith, Ferguson, AstraZeneca, Bunzi and Associated British Foods ended lower by 1.2 to 1.6%.

In the German market, Puma, Merck, Sartorius, Siemens Energy, SAP, Zalando, Hannover Rueck, Deutsche Post, Vonovia, Deutsche Bank and Adidas gained 1 to 2.6%.

Bayer plunged 17.7% after stopping the main study of its top experimental medicine and losing a key U.S. trial against its weed killer Roundup.

Henkel ended nearly 2% down. Beiersdorf, Siemens, RWE and Fresenius Medical Care closed moderately lower.

In Paris, Stellantis declined 2.1%. TotalEnergies ended 1.8% down. Publicis Groupe, Unibail Rodamco, Dassault Systemes, LVMH, Hermes International, Capgemini, Airbus Group and Edenred gained 0.7 to 1.5%.

Eurofins Scientific dropped 2.7%. Essilor and Schneider Electric ended lower by 1.7% and 1.6%, respectively. Pernod Ricard, Bouygues and Carrefour ended moderately lower.

Shares of Swiss private lender Julius Baer plunged 12% after lowering profit expectations.

On the economic front, data from Destatis showed Germany's producer prices declined for the fourth straight month in October, dropping 11% from a year ago. The annual decline in September was 14.7%, which was the biggest fall since records began in 1949.

However, Destatis said the decline was largely attributed to the base effect as the war in Ukraine pushed up producer prices in August and September 2022.

On a monthly basis, producer prices slid 0.1% in October.

A report from Eurostat showed Eurozone construction output expanded in September after falling in the previous month. Construction output advanced 0.4% month-on-month in September, reversing a 1.1% decline in August.

On a yearly basis, production in the construction sector slid 0.3% after remaining flat in the previous month.

Germany's economy is likely to contract again in the fourth quarter, the Bundesbank said in its monthly report on Monday.

The economy is set to recover only arduously from the period of weakness that has persisted since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, the bank said, and forecast a slight increase in economic output in the first quarter of 2024.