European stocks closed mixed on Monday after a cautious session amid concerns about the health of the world’s second largest economy after Country Garden Holdings, a major property developer in China, missed bond payments and warned of multibillion-dollar losses.
Shares of mining companies lost ground, weighed down by concerns about the outlook for base metal demand following fresh debt woes and poor corporate earnings from Chinese property developers.
The pan European Stoxx advanced 0.15%. Germany’s DAX gained 0.46% and France’s CAC 40 edged up 0.12%, while the U.K.’s FTSE 100 ended 0.23% down. Switzerland’s SMI gained 0.26%.
Among other markets in Europe, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal and Russia ended weak.
Turkiye closed modestly higher, Austria, Belgium, Iceland and Netherlands edged up marginally, while Spain and Sweden closed slightly down.
In the UK market, B&M European Value Retail gained about 3% and Airtel Africa rallied nearly 3%. JD Sports Fashion gained 2.2%.
Coca-Cola, Hargreaves Lansdown, Legal & General Group, Admiral Group, GSK and Pershing Square Holdings ended higher by 1 to 1.8%.
Ocado Group dropped 4.33%. Anglo American Plc, Entain, Persimmon, Fresnillo, Glencore, ABRDN and Flutter Entertainment lost 2.2 to 3.2%.
Rio Tinto declined 1.67%, while Croda International, Smith & Nephew, Spirax-Sarco Engineering and Taylor Wimpey ended lower by 1 to 1.25%.
In the German market, Covestro climbed 3.8%. SAP, Sartorius, Hannover Rueck, Henkel, Deutsche Telekom, E.ON, and Siemens gained 0.9 to 1.6%.
Fresenius Medical Care ended more than 5% down. Zalando and Commerzbank drifted down 1.7% and 1.4%, respectively.
In Paris, Pernod Ricard, STMicroElectronics, L’Oreal, Air Liquide, Danone, Michelin, Legrand and Bouygues gained 0.6 to 1%.
Thales ended lower by 1.7%. TotalEnergies, Renault, Kering and LVMH lost 0.5 to 1.1%.
In economic news from Europe, Germany’s wholesale prices continued to decline in July, figures from Destatis showed. Wholesale prices posted an annual decline of 2.8% in July but slightly slower than the 2.9% fall in June. This was the fourth consecutive decline in prices.
The annual fall largely reflects 20.8% decrease in the wholesale prices of petroleum products. Similarly, wholesale prices of waste and scrap were down 32.8%. On the other hand, fruits and vegetable prices increased 27.5%.
Month-on-month, wholesale prices dropped 0.2%, the same pace of decline as seen in June.
Market Analysis
European Stocks Close On Mixed Note After Cautious Session
2023-08-14 17:26:54
