European Markets Close Weak On Growth Worries

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed on a weak note on Monday as rising economic uncertainty and tariff concerns rendered the mood bearish. Recent weak U.S. and Chinese economic data hurt as well.

Shares from mining and financial sectors were among the notable losers in the session.

The pan European Stoxx 600 fell 1.29%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 ended down 0.92%, Germany's DAX settled 1.6% down, and France's CAC 40 closed down 0.9%. Switzerland's SMI finished with a loss of 0.48%.

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

Russia closed notably higher, while Finland and Greece ended flat.

In the UK market, Entain and Rolls-Royce Holdings both ended lower by about 8.6%. Intermediate Capital Group, Anglo American Plc, Barclays, Informa, Natwest Group, Standard Chartered, Weir Group, IAG, HSBC Holdings, Lloyds Banking Group and Croda International lost 2 to 6%.

Kingfisher rallied about 3.7%. Whitbread, Severn Trent, National Grid, Land Securities, United Utilities, Unilever and Sainsbuary (J) gained 2 to 3.4%.

In the German market, Siemens Energy shed about 9%. MTU Aero Engines closed lower by over 6.5%. SAP, Infineon, Zalando, Adidas, Heidelberg Materials and Deutsche Bank ended down 3 to 5%.

Siemens, Fresenius, Brenntag, Daimler Truck Holding, Commerzbank, Detusche Post, BASF and Sartorius also closed notably lower.

Porsche climbed nearly 5%. Puma, BMW, Deutsche Boerse, Mercedes-Benz, Beiersdorf, Volkswagen, Symrise, Bayer, Vonovia and Deutsche Telekom gained 1 to 3%.

In the French market, Saint Gobain, Societe Generale, ArcelorMittal and Safran closed down 4 to 5.2%. Vivendi ended nearly 4% down, and Airbus closed lower by about 3.7%.

BNP Paribas, Legrand, Schneider Electric, STMicroElectronics, Unibail Rodamco and Credit Agricole also declined sharply.

Kering advanced nearly 3%. Stallantis, Carrefour and Michelin gained 2.2 to 2.7%. Dassault Systemes, Air Liquide, Eurofins Scientific, Pernod Ricard, L'Oreal and Engie gained 1 to 2%.

In the Swiss market, Watches of Switzerland Group shares gained more than 2% after the company announced a share buyback program.

On the economic front, provisional data from Destatis showed Germany's industrial production expanded at the fastest pace in five months in January after falling in the previous month.

Industrial output increased 2% on a monthly basis, in contrast to the revised 1.5% decrease in December, the data showed. Output was expected to grow by 1.5%. The rebound at the start of the year was mainly driven by a 6.4% growth in the automotive industry.

Industrial production was 1.6% lower than in January 2024, following a 2.2% drop in December.

Meanwhile, Germany's foreign trade surplus decreased in January as exports logged a renewed fall amid a further increase in imports, official data showed.

Exports posted a monthly decrease of 2.5% in January, reversing a 2.5% growth in December, Destatis reported. This was the first fall in three months.

Imports climbed 1.2%, though slower than the 1.6% rebound in the prior month.

As a result, the trade surplus shrank to EUR 16.0 billion from EUR 20.7 billion in December. The expected surplus was EUR 21.0 billion. In the same period last year, the surplus totaled EUR 25.3 billion.

Swiss consumer confidence dropped to -33.6 in February from -29.3 in the previous month. The expected score was -28.0. Nonetheless, the index improved from the previous year's reading of -42.3. Among the four components, three of them improved from last year's level. The economic outlook index worsened to -37.3 from -31.9.