European Shares Retreat As Investors Eye Powell's Speech

(RTTNews) - European stocks declined on Monday as Middle East worries escalated and investors awaited comments from ECB President Christine Lagarde and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell for additional clues on the rate outlook.

Government bond yields nudged higher despite rising odds that the ECB will accelerate the pace of its interest rate cuts.

Inflation eased across a raft of key German states in September, preliminary data showed today ahead of national data due later in the day. Elsewhere, official data showed the U.K. economy grew at a slower-than-estimated pace in the second quarter on weaker industrial and construction sectors.

Gross domestic product advanced 0.5 percent from the first quarter, revised down from the first estimate of 0.6 percent, figures from the Office for National Statistics revealed.

The pan-European STOXX 600 fell 0.8 percent to 523.86 after rising half a percent to close at a record high on Friday.

The German DAX shed 0.6 percent, France's CAC 40 dipped 1.6 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was down 0.4 percent.

Rightmove fell nearly 3 percent after the British online property website rejected a £6.2bn takeover offer by Rupert Murdoch's Australian property group.

Energy giant BP Plc and peer Shell were seeing modest gains as oil prices rose on fears of escalation of the conflict in the Middle East.

Private equity and venture capital firm 3i Group fell 2.4 percent after short-seller Shadowfall Capital reportedly took a multimillion-pound short position against the company.

German carmaker Volkswagen tumbled 3 percent after cutting its 2024 outlook.

French-Italian carmaker Stellantis N.V. slumped 13 percent after slashing its annual guidance.