European Markets Close Weak After Cautious Session

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed on a weak note on Monday after a cautious session as investors awaited key inflation data from major economies in the region, and looked for more details about U.S. - EU trade deal.

The pan European Stoxx 600 ended down 0.44%. Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 closed lower by 0.37% and 1.59%, respectively. Switzerland's SMI lost 0.48%. The UK market was closed for Bank Holiday.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Spain and Sweden ended weak.

Belgium, Greece, Poland and Turkiye closed higher, while Iceland ended flat.

In the German market, Merck lost nearly 2%. Brenntag, Bayer, Daimler Truck Holding, BASF, Adidas, Deutsche Post, Siemens Energy, Zalando, Sartorius, Porsche, Qiagen, RWE and Mercedes-Benz closed down by 1 to 1.6%.

Puma zoomed about 16% on reports that Artemis, the holding company of France's Pinault family, is weighing options for its 29% stake in Puma SE, including a sale, Bloomberg reported on Monday, boosting the sportswear maker's shares.

Citing unnamed sources, Bloomberg reported the Pinaults were working with advisors to assess options for the asset and had reached out to potential buyers.

In the French market, Vinci ended nearly 6% down. Bouygues, AXA, Veolia Environment, BNP Paribas, Societe Generale, Saint Gobain and Credit Agricole closed lower by 3 to 4.5%.

Eurofins Scientific, Engie, Capgemini, Pernod Ricard, Michelin, Orange, Accor, Publicis Groupe, Pernod Ricard, LVMH and Sanofi also ended notably lower.

STMicroElectronics and Vivendi closed moderately higher.

On the economic front, German business sentiment hit the highest level in more than a year in August on expectations that the fiscal stimulus would help to kickstart the economic recovery.

The business climate index rose to 89.0 in August from 88.6 in the previous month. This was the highest score since April 2024 and also came in above economists' forecast of 88.6.

"The German economy's recovery remains weak," ifo President Clemens Fuest said.

The improvement was due to the rise in expectations among companies. However, assessment about the current situation weakened slightly.

At 91.6, the expectations index climbed unexpectedly to the highest since February 2022, from 90.8 in July. The score was forecast to drop to 90.2.

The current situation index fell slightly to 86.4 from 86.5 in the previous month. The reading was seen at 86.7.