Major European Markets Close Lower On Growth Worries

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed lower on Thursday as concerns about slowing growth, tighter monetary policy, and the energy crisis weighed on investor sentiment.

The pan European Stoxx 600 drifted down 0.65%. Germany's DAX dropped 0.55% and France's CAC 40 ended 1.04% down, while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 edged up 0.07%. Switzerland's SMI ended 0.07% down.

Other markets in Europe closed flat. Austria, Denmark, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal and Sweden closed weak.

Czech Republic, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Poland, Russia and Spain ended higher, while Belgium and Finland settled flat.

Financials shares attracted buying following a Morgan Stanley analyst note upgrading the banking sector.

Miners Antofagasta and Anglo American rose sharply after a flurry of Chinese cities announced measures to boost housing demand. However, Anglo American gave up its early gains and ended weak, while Antofagast closed on a firm note.

Shares of e-commerce retailer THG plummeted more than 13% after the company reported a wider first-half loss.

Renault, Accor, Publicis Groupe, Societe Generale and Sanofi were among the prominent gainers in the French market.

Atos, Dassault Systemes, CapGemini, Hermes International, Kering, Essilor, LVMH and Carrefour shed 2 to 4.6%.

In the German market, Puma ended more than 5% down. Adidas ended lower by about 4%. Brenntag, Sartorius, E.ON, Symrise, Covestro, Siemens Healthineers and RWE also ended sharply lower.

Deutsche Bank gained nearly 2.5%. Zalando, Fresenius, Allianz, Merck and HeidelbergCement gained 0.6 to 1.2%.

Spanish lenders Bankinter, Sabadell and Caixabank gained 4.5 to 6% after reports that Madrid could modify a bank tax to avoid conflicts with the European Central Bank.

On the economic front, U.K. consumer confidence slipped into negative territory for the first time since June 2020, while French consumer price inflation slowed less than expected in August, separate reports showed.

The euro area trade deficit widened in July to the highest level since the series began in 1999, rising to EUR 40.3 billion in the month from EUR 32.2 billion in June, data released by Eurostat showed.

Exports declined by adjusted 1.7% from June, while imports grew 1.5%. On an unadjusted basis, the trade balance showed a deficit of EUR 34.0 billion compared to a surplus of EUR 20.7 billion in the same period last year.

France's consumer price inflation slowed to 5.9% in August from 6.1% a month earlier, final data from the statistical office Insee revealed. But the rate was slightly above the 5.8% estimated on August 31.

EU harmonized inflation came in at 6.6% in August, down from 6.8% in the previous month. The preliminary estimate was 6.5%.

Germany's wholesale price inflation eased for the fourth month in a row in August but remained at an elevated level, data from Destatis showed. Wholesale prices logged a double-digit annual growth of 18.9% after rising 19.5% in July. The pace of growth has slowed for the fourth consecutive month.

On a monthly basis, wholesale prices edged up 0.1 percent, in contrast to July's 0.4 percent fall.