European Stocks Close Weak After Cautious Session

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed on a weak note on Monday as worries about corporate earnings outlook, energy crisis following Russia turning off Nord Stream 1, and fresh Covid-19 curbs in China weighed on sentiment.

Also, with key U.S. inflation data due later in the week, traders largely refrained from creating fresh long positions.

After Russia turned off Nord Stream 1, the biggest single pipeline carrying Russian gas to Germany for annual maintenance, Germany has warned that Moscow could halt gas flows permanently.

Flows are expected to stop for 10 days, but it is feared that the shutdown might be extended due to war in Ukraine.

The pan European Stoxx 600 ended 0.53% down. Germany's DAX fell 1.4% and France's CAC 40 shed 0.61%, while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 flat, and Switzerland's SMI edged up 0.11%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Spain and Sweden ended with sharp to moderate losses,

Denmark, Iceland, Norway and Turkey closed higher, while Czech Republic and Portugal settled flat.

In the UK market, IAG ended nearly 6% down. Flutter Entertainment, Antofagasta, Ocado Group, Anglo American Plc, Dechra Pharmaceuticals, ABRDN, Fresnillo, Smurfit Kappa Group and Scottish Mortgage shed 2 to 5%.

Centrica and SSE both gained more than 3%. Severn Trent, United Utilties, Compass Group, National Grid, Reckitt Benckiser, Relx, Rentokil Initial, Airtel Africa and Standard Chartered moved up 1 to 2.3%.

In the French market, Atos plunged nearly 9%. Faurecia, Valeo, Air France-KLM, Renault, BNP Paribas, Saint Gobain and Vivendi shed 3 to 7%.

Societe Generale, Michelin, Credit Agricole, Unibail Rodamco, Vinci, Bouygues, Publicis Groupe, Accor, ArcelorMittal and WorldLine also declined sharply.

In Germany, Covestro, Deutsche Bank, BASF, Zalando, Continental, Adidas, HelloFresh, Daimler, Volkswagen and BMW drifted down 2.7 to 4.6%.

Porsche Automobil, Siemens, Bayer, Infineon Technologies, Deutsche Post and HeidelbergCement lost 1.7 to 2.5%.

Sartorius, RWE, Symrise and Merck posted strong gains.

Danske Bank shares slumped nearly 4% after the Danish lender revised its 2022 net profit outlook downwards, citing rising interest rates and unfavorable financial market conditions.