BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European stocks closed weak on Tuesday
as uncertainty about the outlook for interest rate and the change of guard in
the U.K. and France after the recently concluded elections in the two countries
rendered the mood cautious, prompting investors lighten commitments.

A slew of disappointing corporate updates weighed on sentiment. Fed chair Jerome
Powell's statement that the central bank does not plan to reduce interest rates
until it is confident that inflation is sustainably moving toward 2%, weighed as
well.

Traders also awaited comments from European Central Bank board (ECB) member
Piero Cipollone for further direction.

The pan European Stoxx 600 fell 0.9%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 ended down 0.66%,
Germany's DAX dropped 1.28% and France's CAC 40 ended down 1.56%, while
Switzerland's SMI edged down 0.12%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Iceland,
Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Spain, Sweden and Turkiye ended weak.

Poland closed higher, while Greece and Portugal settled flat.

In the UK market, BP ended lower by about 4% after the company warned of
'significantly lower' refining margins and flagged impairment of $1 billion to
$2 billion on the value of a plant in Germany.

Burberry Group, Next, Persimmon, Melrose Industries, B&M European Value Retail,
Frasers Group, Rolls-Royce Holdings, Associated British Foods, Barratt
Developments, Barclays, Marks & Spencer, Centrica, Lloyds Banking Group and
Natwest Group lost 2 to 4.5%.

Severn Trent rallied 2.5%. Pershing Square Holdings, BT Group, Smith & Nephew,
Haleon, Entain, Endeavour Mining, Halma and United Utilities gained 1 to 1.8%.

In the German market, Mercedes-Benz ended down nearly 4%. Infineon, Bayer,
Siemens, Continental, HeidelbergCement, BASF, Deutsche Post, MTU Aero Engines,
SAP, Commerzbank, Zalando, Qiagen, RWE, Adidas, Fresenius and Deutsche Telekom
lost 1 to 2.5%.

Covestro, Rheinmetall and BMW posted moderate gains.

In the French market, Dassault Systemes ended more than 5% down. The stock fell
as the company cut its 2024 earnings target.

Saint Gobain, Capgemini, BNP Paribas, Airbus Group, Societe Generale, Vinci,
TotalEnergies, ArcelorMittal, Bouygues, STMicroElectronics, Essilor and Legrand
ended down 2 to 3.5%.

In economic news, UK retail sales declined in June as the cold weather in the
first half of the year weighed on consumer spending, the British Retail
Consortium said on Tuesday.

Total retail sales fell 0.2% in June from the previous year. BRC Chief Executive
Helen Dickinson said the sales of weather sensitive categories such as clothing
and footwear, and DIY and gardening were hit particularly hard.

Appearing before the Senate Banking Committee, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome
Powell said more good data would strengthen the central bank's confidence
inflation is moving sustainably toward its 2% target and lead to a potential
interest rate cut.

'The Committee has stated that we do not expect it will be appropriate to reduce
the target range for the federal funds rate until we have gained greater
confidence that inflation is moving sustainably toward 2%,' Powell said in
prepared remarks.

'Incoming data for the first quarter of this year did not support such greater
confidence,' he continued. 'The most recent inflation readings, however, have
shown some modest further progress, and more good data would strengthen our
confidence that inflation is moving sustainably toward 2%.'



Copyright(c) 2024 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved

Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX