European Shares Decline As China Rate Cut Fails To Inspire

(RTTNews) - European stocks fell on Tuesday as modest cuts in China's loan prime rates failed to inspire investors.

Investors also awaited cues from Fed Chair Jerome Powell's testimonies and the Bank of England's interest-rate decision this week for clues on the monetary policy outlook.

In economic releases, preliminary data from Destatis showed earlier today that Germany's producer price inflation eased for the eighth straight month in May to reach its lowest level in more than two years amid a fall in energy prices.

The producer price index climbed 1.0 percent year-over-year in May, slower than the 4.1 percent rise in April. Economists had forecast price growth to ease to 1.7 percent.

Further, the latest inflation rate was the weakest since January 2021, when prices had risen 0.9 percent.

Separate data from the European Central Bank revealed that the 20-nation bloc's adjusted current account surplus fell to 4 billion euros in April from 31 billion a month earlier.

The pan European STOXX 600 was down 0.4 percent at 460.14 after losing 1 percent on Monday.

The German DAX shed 0.8 percent, France's CAC 40 slipped 0.4 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was little changed with a negative bias.

Carmaker Stellantis dropped 2 percent after forming a 50-50 joint venture with iPhone assembler Foxconn to design and sell semiconductors for the automotive industry from 2026.

Braemar tumbled 3.5 percent in London on news that Chief Financial Officer Nick Stone will step down on July 31.

Monks Investment was marginally lower after posting a smaller FY23 net loss. Abrdn fell about 1 percent after selling its 2.18 crore shares in HDFC Asset Management Company.

Renault slumped 4.4 percent. The French carmaker appointed its group chief executive Luca de Meo as the future chairman and CEO of Ampere.

Drug maker Sanofi rallied 2.4 percent. The International Chamber of Commerce ruled in its Favour in an arbitration case over claims by Boehringer Ingelheim in cancer lawsuits linked to heartburn drug Zantac in the United States.

China-related LVMH and Hermes International both fell about 1 percent after a modest interest rate cut by China.

German specialty chemicals company Lanxess plunged 17 percent after cutting its second-quarter and full-year 2023 adjusted EBITDA guidance, citing weak demand.