Major European Markets Recover After Sharp Setback, Close Roughly Flat

(RTTNews) - The major European markets closed roughly flat on Monday after spending much of the day's session in negative territory amid concerns about the outlook for global economic growth, ahead of China's trade and inflation data, and the report on U.S. inflation.

Investors also reacted to data showing a bigger than expected drop in Germany's industrial production in the month of June.

Germany's industrial production posted a monthly fall of 1.5% in June, following a revised 0.1% drop in May, data from Destatis showed. Analysts had forecast output to decrease moderately by 0.5%.

On a yearly basis, industrial production slid 1.7% in June after staying flat in May.

The Eurozone Sentix Investor Confidence improved to -18.9 in August from -22.5 in July. Analysts had expected a score of -23.4.

Meanwhile, British house prices fell for a fourth straight month in July due to rising borrowing costs, data from mortgage lender Halifax showed.

The pan European Stoxx 600 edged up 0.09%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 ended 0.13% down, and Germany's DAX settled 0.01% down. France's CAC 40 ended 0.06% up, while Switzerland's SMI edged up 0.08%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Iceland, Ireland, Portugal and Turkiye closed higher.

Belgium, Norway, Poland and Russia ended weak, while Finland, Greece, Netherlands, Spain and Sweden settled roughtly flat.

In the UK market, Melrose Industries climbed 2.61%. Rolls-Royce Holdings, BAE Systems, 3i Group, Airtel Africa, HSBC Holdings, Natwest Group and St. James's Place gained 1 to 1.5%.

Unite Group declined sharply following a rating downgrade. Scottish Mortgage, B&M European Value Retail, Anglo American Plc, Endeavour Mining, JD Sports Fashion, National Grid, Glencore, Antofagasta, BT Group, Vodafone Group, Croda International, Ocado Group and RS Group lost 1 to 2.25%.

LSL Property Services plummeted 10% after the provider of mortgage and valuation services issued a profit warning on mortgage market woes.

In the German market, Bayer, Brenntag, Infineon and SAP gained 1 to 1.5%.

Siemens Energy plunged more than 6% after posting a wider loss for Q3 and cutting its annual outlook. Commerzbank ended 3.6% down, and Sartorius drifted down nearly 3%.

Porsche lost about 2.1%, while Adidas, Siemens Healthineers, E.ON, and Merck lost 1 to 1.1%. Shares of vehicle maker Daimler Truck Holding ended 0.7% down. The company said that its Chief Financial Officer Jochen Goetz, 52, passed away suddenly and unexpectedly in a tragic incident on August 5th, 2023.

In Paris, Thales, Safran, Vinci, AXA, Kering and Societe Generale posted moderate gains.

Teleperformance ended lower by about 2.4%. Alstom, WorldLine, ArcelorMittal, STMicroElectronics, L'Oreal, Veolia and Renault declined 0.6 to 1.1%.