European Stocks Close Lower On Interest Rate Uncertainty, Political Concerns

European stocks closed lower on Tuesday, weighed down by the developments on the political front in the region, comments from some ECB officials that the central bank is unlikely to cut interest rates anytime soon, and lingering uncertainty about the outlook for U.S. interest rates.

Higher U.S. Treasury yields weighed as well on stocks. Bond yields rose after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that former President Donald Trump is entitled to immunity from federal prosecution for official actions he took while in office.

The landmark decision at the height of an election season stoked speculation about the possibility of another Trump presidency after last week’s poor debate performance by incumbent Joe Biden.

The pan European Stoxx 600 ended down 0.42%. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 drifted down 0.56%, Germany’s DAX closed lower by 0.69% and France’s CAC 40 ended down 0.3%. Switzerland’s SMI dropped 0.32%.

Among other markets in Europe, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden ended weak.

Austria, Belgium, Iceland, Netherlands, Russia and Turkiye closed higher.

In the UK market, Beazley ended down 5.2%. Sainsbury (J) drifted down nearly 3% after the supermarket chain flagged that adverse weather had weighed on recent volume growth.

BT Group, United Utilities, Standard Chartered, Fresnillo, Vodafone Group, Severn Trent, AstraZeneca, Entain, Burberry Group, Mondi, Anglo American Plc, GSK, Informa, Rolls-Royce Holdings and Weir Group lost 1.2 to 3%.

3i Group gained about 2%. Croda International, BP and Persimmon advanced 1 to 1.5%.

In the German market, Hannover Rueck and Munich RE both ended more than 3% down. Porsche, Adidas, HeidelbergCement, Daimler Truck Holding, Allianz, RWE, Merck, Siemens, BMW, Deutsche Bank and Bayer lost 1 to 2%.

Siemens Energy rallied about 3.75%. MTU Aero Engines gained 3.4%.

In the French market, Michelin, Stellantis and Eurofins Scientifica lost 2.7 to 3%. Kering, L’Oreal, Sanofi, Credit Agricole, Essilor and BNP Paribas also ended notably lower.

Teleperformance climbed more than 4% after Morgan Stanley upgraded its rating to “Overweight” from “Equal-weight.”

STMicroElectronics, Engie, Publicis Groupe, Carrefour, Unibail Rodamco and Renault also posted strong gains.

On the economic front, flash data from Eurostat showed eurozone inflation softened in June on slower food and energy price growth. The harmonized index of consumer prices posted an annual growth of 2.5%, which was slower than the 2.6% increase in May. The flash rate came in line with expectations.

At the same time, core inflation that excludes prices of energy, food, alcohol and tobacco, held steady at 2.9% in June. On a monthly basis, the HICP gained 0.2% in June. Final data is due on July 17.

The euro area unemployment rate held steady at a record low in May, data published by Eurostat showed. The jobless rate came in at seasonally adjusted 6.4%, which was unchanged from April and matched expectations. The unemployment rate was 6.5% in May 2023.

UK shop prices increased at the slowest pace since late 2021 in June as food prices posted a slower growth amid deepening deflation in non-food prices, the British Retail Consortium reported Tuesday. The shop price index rose only 0.2% year-on-year in June, slower than the 0.6% increase in May.

Market Analysis