European Stocks Close Lower Ahead Of Key Economic Data, ECB Policy

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed lower on Tuesday as investors stayed cautious ahead of crucial economic data, including reports on U.S. consumer and producer price inflation, the European Central Bank's monetary policy announcement, and the release of the Fed minutes, for more clues about the outlook for interest rates.

Geopolitical tensions and comments from some Fed officials that it's premature to consider cutting interest rates weighed on sentiment.

The pan European Stoxx 600 ended down 0.61%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 edged down 0.11%, Germany's DAX dropped 1.32% and France's CAC 40 drifted down 0.86%. Switzerland's SMI ended lower by 0.36%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Iceland, Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Spain and Sweden ended weak.

Finland, Greece, Norway, Portugal and Russia closed higher.

In the UK market, BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce Holdings, Standard Chartered and Melrose Indsutries lost 3 to 4.5%.

RightMove, B&M European Value Retail, Barclays, Beazley, ICP, Whitbread, Lloyds Banking, Imperial Brands and Barratt Developments also ended notably lower.

Fresnillo rallied about 4%. St. James's Place, Antofagasta, Weir Holdings, Anglo American Plc, Croda International, Halma, WPP, Rio Tinto, Glencore, RS Group, BT and Convatec Group gained 1 to 2.5%.

BP gained more than 1% after the oil major said it expects to report a strong performance from its trading business for the first quarter.

In Germany, Rheinmetall tumbled nearly 9%. MTU Aero Engines, Daimler Truck Holding, Munich RE, HeidelbergCement, Hannover Rueck, SAP and Siemens Energy lost 2 to 4%.

Deutsche Bank, Covestro, Siemens Healthineers, Allianz, Volkswagen, Fresenius, BMW and Commerzbank also closed weak.

Infineon rallied 4%. Fresenius Medical Care, Sartorius, Merck, RWE and Qiagen ended with moderate gains.

In the French market, Thales, Airbus Group, Hermes International, Essilor, Safran, LVMH, Legrand, AXA, Bouygues and Saint Gobain ended with sharp losses.

Alstom soared more than 7%. Teleperformance, Eurofins Scientific, STMicroElectronics, Engie, Pernod Ricard and L'Oreal gained 0.8 to 1.5%.

On a light day on the economic front, France's trade deficit decreased in February as exports rose faster than imports, data released by the customs office showed earlier today.

The trade deficit dropped more-than-expected to EUR 5.2 billion in February from EUR 7.2 billion in January.

The shortfall was forecast to decrease to EUR 7.0 billion. In the same period last year, the deficit totalled EUR 8.9 billion.

UK retail sales growth improved in March as an unusually early Easter boosted both food and non-food sales, the British Retail Consortium said.

Total retail sale advanced 3.5% on a yearly basis in March, following February's 1.1% rise. In the same period last year, sales had increased 5.1%.

Retail sales growth exceeded headline inflation for the first time in more than two years.