European Shares Mostly Lower In Cautious Trade

(RTTNews) - European stocks were broadly lower on Monday ahead of a short week of trading before the long Easter weekend.

A cautious undertone prevailed as the trade war between the U.S. and China escalated and Federal Reserve Altanta head Bostic trimmed his FOMC forecast to just one rate cut this year.

Traders also awaited cues from U.S. and European inflation data this week, with the U.S. core personal consumption expenditure (PCE) price index likely to show a 0.3 percent rise in February, keeping the annual pace at 2.8 percent.

The pan European STOXX 600 slipped 0.1 percent to 509.06 after nine straight weeks of gains, the longest run in 12 years.

France's CAC 40 dropped 0.3 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 eased 0.2 percent while the German DAX was marginally higher.

SKF, a Swedish bearing and seal manufacturing company, fell 1.2 percent after joining a new research and innovation project.

Real estate group SBB jumped 11 percent after an announcement that it would buy back debt at a 60 percent discount to the original value.

Direct Line Insurance Group plunged 12 percent after Belgian insurer Ageas said it won't make a third takeover offer.

Gamma Communications, a provider of communication products and services, rose about 1 percent as it reported a rise in pre-tax income for the full year, supported by improved revenue, mainly from Gamma Business and Gamma Enterprise segments.

Pennon Group, a water utility company, declined about 2 percent after delivering full year financial performance in line with the management expectations.

Home improvement retailer Kingfisher lost 2.1 percent after its pre-tax profit for fiscal year ended January 31 fell 22.3 percent to 475 million pounds from last year's 611 million pounds.

Property development company Henry Boot shed 1 percent after its fiscal 2024 profit before tax fell 18 percent to 37.3 million pounds from last year's 45.6 million pounds.

Delivery Hero SE shares tumbled 4 percent. The German food delivery company said Chief Financial Officer Emmanuel Thomassin will leave the company at the end of September and that the Supervisory Board is engaged in evaluating successors.