Major European Markets Close Roughly Flat

European stocks settled roughly flat on Tuesday after swinging between gains and losses almost right through the session.

Stocks moved higher earlier in the day as bond yields turned positive and the euro surged up after reports that the European Union is mulling a joint bond sale to fund energy and defense spending.

According to reports, the European Union will unveil a plan this week to jointly issue bonds on a potentially massive scale to finance energy and defense spending.

However, worries about inflation amid the continued surge in crude oil prices and the economic impact of the sanctions on Russia weighed on the markets.

The pan European Stoxx 600 drifted down 0.49%. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 edged up 0.07%, Germany’s DAX edged down 0.02% and France’s CAC 40 ended 0.32% down, while Switzerland’s SMI declined 1.32%.

Among other markets in Europe, Belgium, Denmark, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland and Sweden ended weak.

Austria, Czech Republic, Finland, Norway, Portugal, Spain and Turkey closed higher.

In the UK market, M&G shares soared more than 15% as the investment manager announced a £500mln share buyback program.

Fresnillo gained nearly 9.5%. ITV gained 7.8%. BP advanced 5.1% and IAG rallied 4.3%, while Phoenix Group Holdings, Rolls-Royce Holdings, Aviva, WPP, Shell, Standard Chartered, ICP, Royal Mail, Natwest Group and Legal & General gained 2.3 to 4%.

IWG jumped about 9%. After posting improved annual results, the flexible workspace provider announced the merger of its digital assets with The Instant Group.

British Land shares moved higher after the real estate investment trust announced a new joint venture with Melbourne-based pension fund AustralianSuper.

Polymetal International tumbled nearly 47%. Relx, Ocado Group, RightMove, Rentokil Initial, Informa, Intertek Group, Croda International, Experian, Halma, Vodafone Group, Melrose Industries, Ferguson and Bunzl shed 3 to 7%.

In the German market, Symrise and Sartorius both shed about 7%. Qiagen, Siemens Healthineers, E.ON, Merck, Zalando, Deutsche Wohnen, HelloFresh, Vonovia and Porsche Automobil lost 1 to 5%.

Munich RE, Adidas and Allianz gained about 5.5%, 4.8% and 3.2%, respectively. Continental, Deutsche Bank, Covestro, BASF, Siemens and Puma gained 1.7 to 3%.

In Paris, Societe Generale, Saint Gobain, Engie, BNP Paribas, Sanofi, Vinci, Veolia and Schneider Electric climbed 3 to 5.6%. Air France-KLM, Bouygues, AXA, Essilor, Publicis Groupe, Sanofi and Credit Agricole also moved up sharply.

Valneva SE moved up sharply. The French biotech firm said that it has successfully completed the phase III pivotal trial of its single-shot Chikungunya vaccine candidate VLA1553.

Dassault Systemes plunged more than 7%. Teleperformance, Hermes International, Faurecia, LO’real, WorldLine, Accor, LVMH, Renault and STMicroElectronics shed 2 to 6.5%.

In economic releases, the eurozone economy expanded at a slower pace in the fourth quarter, as initially estimated, due to the fall in household spending, revised data from Eurostat showed.

Gross domestic product grew 0.3% sequentially, following third quarter’s 2.3% expansion. The rate came in line with the preliminary estimate published on February 15.

German industrial output advanced 2.7% month-on-month, faster than the revised 1.1% increase seen in December, Destatis reported. Production was forecast to climb at a slower pace of 0.5%.

On a yearly basis, industrial output grew 1.8%, in contrast to the 2.7% decline posted in the previous month.

U.K. retail sales logged another strong growth in February on higher demand for furniture and home accessories and clothing and footwear. Like-for-like sales increased 2.7% on a yearly basis in February as restrictions were lifted, data from the British Retail Consortium and KPMG showed. At the same time, overall retail sales grew 6.7%.