European Stocks Close Lower; Bank Stocks Among Notable Losers

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed lower on Friday with investors assessing monetary policy decisions of several central banks, and digesting a slew of European and U.S. economic data.

Eurozone business recovery slowed sharply in June as the manufacturing sector downturn gathered momentum and activity in the services sector deteriorated.

The HCOB's preliminary composite Purchasing Managers' Index, compiled by S&P Global, fell to 50.8 from May's 52.2.

Elsewhere, U.K. private sector growth eased to a seven-month low in June as a slowing of service sector growth offset a stronger performance in manufacturing.

The S&P Global Composite PMI decreased to 51.70 from 53 points in May as some companies put big decisions on hold until after July 4 election.

On the positive side, U.K. retail sales volume grew 2.9% on a monthly basis in May, offsetting the 1.8% fall in April, official data revealed.

Also, British consumer sentiment index advanced to -14 in May from -17 in April, monthly survey data from the market research group GfK showed.

The pan European Stoxx 600 dropped 0.73%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 ended down 0.42%, Germany's DAX lost 0.5% and France's CAC 40 ended lower by 0.56%, while Switzerland's SMI settled lower by 0.95%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Denmark, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal and Spain ended weak.

Belgium, Iceland and Russia edged down marginally, while Greece, Sweden and Turkiye closed higher.

Bank stocks were among the prominent losers amid the possibility of several central banks lowering interest rates in the coming months.

In the UK market, Antofagasta ended more than 4% down. Convatec Group, Rolls-Royce Holdings, Smurfit Kappa Group, Glencore, Pershing Square Holdings, HSBC Holdings, Natwest Group, Marks & Spencer, B&M European Value Retail, Standard Chartered and Barclays Group closed lower by 1.5 to 2.5%.

Phoenix Group Holdings rallied about 4.2%. United Utilities, Haleon, Burberry Group and British American Tobacco gained 1 to 1.7%.

Britvic shares rallied 7.3%. The soft drinks producer has rejected a second acquisition proposal of 1,250 pence per share from Carlsberg Group A/S, a Danish brewer.

In the German market, Siemens Energy shed about 5%. Fresenius Medical Care and Infineon both ended down by about 3%. Deutsche Bank, Commerzbank, HeidelbergCement, Adidas, Vonovia, BMW, Siemens, Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benzh and Deutsche Post lost 1 to 2%.

Covestro climbed nearly 2%. Deutsche Boerse, Continental, Qiagen, SAP and Hannover Rueck posted moderate gains.

In the French market, Saint Gobain lost about 3.7%, and Renault ended lower by about 3%. Teleperformance, ArcelorMittal, Veolia, Societe Generale, Dassault Systemes, Capgemini, BNP Paribas, AXA and Credit Agricole lost 1 to 2%.

Danone, Engie and Kering ended sharply higher.

Shares of Danish drugmaker Zealand Pharma soared nearly 19% after the company said an early-stage study showed a high dose of its drug helped reduce weight by an average 8.6% over 16 weeks.