European Stocks Close On Mixed Note

(RTTNews) - European stocks turned in a mixed performance on Monday with investors reacting to the results of German federal election, and digesting euro area inflation data. Among the major markets, the UK ended flat and France closed notably lower, while the German market closed on a firm note.

The pan European Stoxx 600 edged down 0.08%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 closed flat and France's CAC 40 ended down 0.78%, while Germany's DAX ended 0.62% up. Switzerland's SMI crept up 0.04%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Denmark, Ireland, Portugal, Russia and Spain ended higher.

Finland, Greece, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden and Turkiye closed weak, while Belgium ended flat.

In the German federal election, the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU), led by Friedrich Merz, emerged victorious.

The CDU is reportedly negotiating to form a coalition government with Social Democratic Party (SPD), which could lead to pro-growth policies and reforms.

Defense stocks found support on expectations of increased spending by European governments. Mining stocks were a bit subdued.

In the UK market, Centrica, BAE Systems and Vodafone Group gained 4.1%, 3.9% and 3.3%, respectively. Imperial Brands, SSE, United Utilities, National Grid, Unilever, Airtel Africa, British American Tobacco, Haleon, Severn Trent, BT Group, Sainsbury (J), Auto Trader Group, Melrose Industries and WPP gained 1 to 2.2%.

GSK moved higher after initiating a £2bn share buyback program. National Grid advanced after the company announced that it has agreed to sell its National Grid Renewables U.S. onshore renewables business to Brookfield Asset Management.

B&M European Value Retail tumbled 6% after the company lowered its earnings guidance for fiscal year 2025. The company now expects group adjusted EBITDA, pre-IFRS 16, to be in the range of 605 million pounds to 625 million pounds compared to the prior estimation of 620 million pounds to 650 million pound.

The company also announced that Alex Russo will retire as Group Chief Executive and a Director of the Company with effect from 30 April 2025, and added that its is in the advanced stages of a recruitment process to appoint a new Chief Executive Officer with the support of a leading executive search firm.

Entain ended down 4.2%. Endeavour Mining, Polar Capital Technology, Scottish Mortgage, Antofagasta, Fresnillo, Diploma and Intercontinental Hotels Group lost 2 to 3.1%.

Glencore, Natwest Group, Pershing Square Holdings, Anglo American Plc, Barclays Group, Rio Tinto, Halma and Howden Joinery ended lower by 1.4 to 2%.

In the German market, Rheinmetall rallied nearly 6.5%. Puma gained about 4.25% and RWE climbed nearly 4%. Porsche, Vonovia, E.ON, Volkswagen, Commerzbank, Continental and Qiagen gained 2.2 to 3.3%.

Deutsche Post, Mercedes-Benz, Munich RE, Merck, BMW, Bayer, Fresenius Medical Care, Daimler Truck Holding and Hannover Rueck also ended notably higher.

Siemens Energy lost 4%. Siemens Healthineers, Siemens, Infineon, HeidelbergCement, Sartorius and Deutsche Boerse also ended notably lower.

In the French market, Carrefour climbed nearly 4%. Airbus Group, Veolia, Thales, Danone, Engie, Michelin, Eurofins Scientific and Vivendi gained 1 to 3%. Publicis Groupe advanced nearly 1%.

Schneider Electric dropped nearly 7%. Legrand closed 3.3% down, and Hermes International ended lower by 2.3%.

Air Liquide, LVMH, Saint-Gobain, Essilor, STMicroElectronics, Kering, Sanofi, ArcelorMittal, Capgemini and Safran ended with sharp to moderate losses.

On the economic front, German business morale remained unchanged in February as companies were less satisfied with current situation, while expectations improved moderately amid the federal elections, survey results from the ifo Institute showed.

The ifo business climate index registered 85.2 in February, the same as in January. The score was forecast to rise to 85.9.

The current situation index dropped unexpectedly to 85.0 from 86.0 in the previous month. Economists had forecast the reading to climb to 86.5.

Meanwhile, the expectations index rose marginally to 85.4 from 84.3 a month ago. The score was also above forecast of 85.2.

Final data from Eurostat showed Eurozone inflation rose slightly in January, as initially estimated, driven by higher energy prices.

Inflation edged up to 2.5% in January from 2.4% in December. The 2.5% matched the estimate published on February 3.

Core inflation that strips out prices of energy, food, alcohol and tobacco, held steady at 2.7% in January. The rate came in line with the flash estimate.

The acceleration in overall inflation was driven by the jump in energy prices to 1.9% from a marginal 0.1% rise in December.

On a monthly basis, the harmonized index of consumer prices dropped 0.3% in January.

Data showed that EU inflation increased to 2.8% in January from 2.7% in December. Month-on-month, the HICP remained flat.