European Stocks Close On Mixed Note

(RTTNews) - European stocks pared most of their early gains and ended on a mixed note on Monday amid concerns about rising tensions in the Middle East. A batch of encouraging economic data from the region aided sentiment early on in the session.

According to reports, Israel has reviewed military plans for a potential response against Iran. The war cabinet reportedly remains determined to act, but it is not clear if a decision has been made.

This follows Iran's unprecedented attack on Israel. Iran has defended itself saying the attack was in response to an alleged airstrike done by Israel at its consular offices in Syria in which two generals with its paramilitary Revolutionary Guard were killed earlier in the month.

The pan European Stoxx 600 ended up by 0.13%. Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 climbed 0.41% and 0.43%, respectively. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 ended down by 0.45%, while Switzerland's SMI ended higher by 0.14%.

Among other markets in Europe, Iceland, Poland, Russia and Sweden closed higher.

Austria, Finland, Greece, Norway, Portugal and Turkiye ended weak, while Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands and Spain closed flat.

In the UK market, Beazley, IMI, B&M European Value Retail, Admiral Group, Phoenix Holdings, Natwest Group, BAE Systems, Persimman, Weir Group Holdings, Auto Trader Group, Melrose Industries and Intertek Group gained 1 to 3.2%.

Fresnillo dropped more than 4%. BP, BT, Centrica, Anglo American Plc, Royal Dutch Shell, Ashtead Group and National Grid lost 1 to 2.3%.

In the German market, Adidas rallied about 4% after Morgan Stanley upgraded its rating on the stock to "overweight" from "underweight."

Covestro, Sartorius, Siemens, Rheimetall, HeidelbergCement, Zalando and Mercedes-Benz gained 1 to 2.5%.

Bayer, RWE, Qiagen, Merck and Brenntag ended notably lower.

In the French market, Stellantis climbed about 2.7%. WorldLine gained more than 2%. LVMH, Eurofins Scientific, Hermes International and Schneider Electric advanced 1 to 1.5%.

Societe Generale ended more than 3% down. TotalEnergies, Capgemini, ArcelorMittal and Carrefour ended lower by 1 to 1.2%.

Swiss software firm Temenos soared 20%. The company said a "special committee" formed by its board found that accusations in a report by Hindenburg Research were incorrect and misleading.

Eurozone industrial production recovered in February driven by the rebound in capital and durable consumer goods output, official data revealed.

Industrial production grew 0.8% on a monthly basis in February, Eurostat reported. This was in contrast to the 3% contraction seen in January.

Switzerland's producer and import prices declined for the eleventh straight month in March, data from the Federal Statistical Office showed.

Producer and import prices dropped 2.1% year-on-year in March, following a 2.3% fall in the previous month.

The producer price index fell 0.5% annually in March, and import prices registered a sharp decrease of 5.4%.

On a monthly basis, producer and import prices increase at a stable rate of 0.1%. The monthly increase was largely attributed to higher costs for petroleum products.