European Stocks Close Notably Lower As Growth Worries Resurface

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed notably lower on Tuesday amid renewed concerns about the outlook for global economic growth and uncertainty about the pace of interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve following recent mixed economic data.

Investors digested some regional economic data and a report on U.S. manufacturing activity, and awaited comments from European Central Bank policymakers.

Shares of energy and mining companies tumbled on weak commodity prices.

The pan European Stoxx 600 fell 0.97%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 ended down 0.78%, Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 closed lower by 0.97% and 0.93%, respectively. Switzerland's SMI dropped 0.83%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden and Turkiye ended with sharp to moderate losses.

Denmark and Iceland closed modestly lower, while Greece settled flat.

In the UK market, Rightmove dropped 6.8%. Fresnillo ended 5.6% down. Anglo American Plc, Antofagasta, Melrose Industries, Glencore, BP, Endeavour Mining, Shell, Natwest Group, Pershing Square Holdings, Standard Chartered, Rio Tinto and Mondi lost 2 to 5%.

Easyjet climbed about 2.75%. B&M European Value Retail, Tesco, Reckitt Benckiser, IAG, Severn Trent and Intertek Group gained 1 to 2.2%.

Ashread gained about 1% after keeping its annual profit forecast. Rolls Royce Holdings gained nearly 2% after Hong Kong airline Cathay Pacific said issues identified in the British manufacturer's Trent XWB-97 engines could be resolved by Sept. 7.

In the German market, Infineon ended 4.6% down. Porsche, Daimler Truck Holding, Siemens Energy, Commerzbank and BASF lost 2.3 to 3.2%.

HeidelbergCement, BMW, Deutsche Bank, Mercedes-Benz, Qiagen, Rheinmetall, Siemens, Volkswagen and Vonovia ended down 1 to 2%.

Symrise climbed about 1.5%. Hannover Rueck, Zalando, Puma, Beiersdorf and Henkel posted modest gains.

In the French market, ArcelorMittal, STMicroElectronics and TotalEnergies ended down 5.1%, 4.6% and 3.1%, respectively.

Stellantis, Renault, Sain Gobain, Legrand, Airbus Group, Pernod Ricard, Dassault Systemes, Schneider Electric, Safran, Publicis Groupe, BNP Paribas and Societe Generale lost 1.3 to 3%.

Teleperformance rallied about 2.5%. Carrefour and Danone also ended notably higher.

On the economic front, UK retail sales increased in August driven by food sales, data from the British Retail Consortium showed. Total retail sales grew 1% year-on-year in August but slower than the 4.1% increase posted in the same period last year.

Nonetheless, the pace was better than the 3-month average growth of 0.4%.

Switzerland's economic growth accelerated in the second quarter as initially estimated on strengthening manufacturing and services output, data from the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, or SECO, showed. Gross domestic product grew 0.5% sequentially after posting 0.3% growth in the previous two quarters. The rate came in line with the flash estimate.

Switzerland's consumer price inflation eased more-than-expected in August to the lowest level in five months, the Federal Statistical Office reported.

The consumer price index rose 1.1% on a yearly basis in August, slower than the 1.3% rise in July. The expected increase was 1.2%. Further, this was the lowest inflation since March, when prices had risen 1%.

In U.S. economic news, the Institute for Supply Management released a report showing a continued contraction by U.S. manufacturing activity in the month of August.

The ISM said its manufacturing PMI inched up to 47.2 in August from 46.8 in July, but a reading below 50 still indicates contraction. Economists had expected the index to rise to 47.5.