European Markets Close Lower

(RTTNews) - European markets ended lower on Tuesday, weighed down mostly by losses in the energy sector. The mood remained a bit cautious amid uncertainty about the outlook for economic growth in the region, and possible interest rate moves by major central banks.

Investors awaited the minutes from the Federal Reserve's most recent monetary policy meeting, and Fed Chair Jerome Powell's speech at the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium, due later in the week.

Sweden's central bank lowered its key policy rate by a quarter-point as inflation continued to ease amid weakening growth prospects, and signaled as much as three more interest reductions this year.

The Executive Board of Riksbank decided to cut the policy rate by 25 basis points to 3.5%. Previously, the bank had lowered its policy rate in May, which was the first cut since February 2016.

The pan European Stoxx 600 ended down 0.45%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 dropped 1%, Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 ended lower by 0.35% and 0.22%, respectively. Switzerland's SMI edged down 0.07%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Sweden and Turkiye ended weak.

Russia and Spain edged down marginally, while Iceland closed higher.

In the UK market, BT Group dropped nearly 6.5%. JD Sports Fashion ended down 4.4%. Shell, BP, Segro, Ashtead Group, Frasers Group, Airtel Africa, Vodafone Group, B&M European Value Retail, Whitbread, BAE Systems, Melrose Industries, Marks & Spencer and HSBC Holdings lost 1.9 to 3%.

EasyJet, Endeavour Mining and Taylor Wimpey closed higher by 1 to 1.3%.

In the German market, Siemens Energy, Rheinmetall, Bayer and Sartorius lost 2.4 to 3.5%. Fresenius Medical Care, Deutsche Bank, Adidas, Continental and Commerzbank lost 1.2 to 2%.

Henkel climbed 1.75% and E.ON ended 1.2% up. Zalando, BASF, Symrise, Beiersdorf, RWE, Mercedes-Benz and Merck posted modest gains.

In the French market, Pernod Ricard and Teleperformance both ended more than 2% down. TotalEnergies ended 1.4% down. Eurofins Scientific, Orange, Kering, BNP Paribas, Bouygues and Edenred also closed weak.

Renault rallied nearly 1.5%. Hermes International, STMicroElectronics, LVMH and Unibail Rodamco also closed higher.

On the economic front, eurozone inflation edged up in July and core inflation remained sticky as initially estimated, final data from Eurostat showed on Tuesday. The harmonized index of consumer prices climbed 2.6% year-on-year in July, slightly faster than the 2.5% increase in June. The rate matched the estimate published on July 31.

Another report from Eurostat said Eurozone construction output posted an increase of 1.7% on a monthly basis in June, reversing a 0.9% drop in May. This was the first rise in four months. Further, this was the quickest expansion since January 2023, when output had risen 3.4%.

The euro area current account surplus increased sharply in June on improving goods trade and primary income, the European Central Bank reported. The current account balance showed a EUR 51 billion surplus in June compared to a EUR 38 billion surplus in the previous month. This was the highest since January 2013.

Germany's producer prices continued to decrease on weaker energy prices but the overall pace of fall in producer prices slowed further. The annual fall in producer prices halved to 0.8% in July from 1.6% in June, Destatis saidd. The rate came in line with expectations.

Switzerland's foreign trade surplus decreased to CHF 4.1 billion in July from CHF 4.8 billion in June. In real terms, exports declined 1.8% over the month, faster than the 0.2% fall in June. Meanwhile, imports remained flat in July, versus a 0.8% increase in June.