European Stocks Close Lower After Cautious Session

European stocks snapped a fairly long winning streak and closed lower on Tuesday as traders chose to take some profits ahead of U.S. consumer price inflation data, and the European Central Bank’s monetary policy announcement, due on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively.

Data showing a slowdown in China’s exports growth and an unexpected contraction in exports raised concerns about Chines economic growth.

Germany’s consumer price inflation rose to a four-month high in November due to less favorable energy base effects, official data showed. The consumer price index registered an annual increase of 2.2% in November, following a 2% rise in October, Destatis reported. The rate matched the estimate published on November 28.

Inflation, based on the harmonized index of consumer prices, stood at 2.4%, the same as in October and in line with the flash estimate.

The pan European Stoxx 600 fell 0.52%. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 closed down 0.86%, Germany’s DAX edged down 0.08% and France’s CAC 40 ended down 1.14%, while Switzerland’s SMI declined 1.01%.

Among other markets in Europe, Finland, Greece, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden and Turkiye closed weak.

Austria, Belgium, Iceland and Ireland ended higher, while Denmark and Poland settled flat.

In the UK market, Ashtead Group tanked 14% after the British construction equipment rental group said it plans to move its listing from London to New York.

Antofagasta, Vistry Group, Rolls-Royce Holdings, Endeavour Mining and Glencore lost 2 to 3.5%.

3i Group, AstraZeneca, JD Sports Fashion, Persimmon, Legal & General, BAE Systems, Severn Trent, United Utilities, Bunzl, Mondi, Diploma, Vodafone Group and Prudential also ended notably lower.

British Land climbed more than 1.5%. Sainsbury (J), B&M European Value Retail, Tesco and Spirax Group also closed with solid gains.

In the German market, Siemens Energy closed down 3.7%. Beiersdorf, Rheinmetall, Deutsche Telekom, Zalando, Siemens and Munich RE lost 0.6 to 1.3%.

Sartorius jumped more than 6% and Qiagen climbed nearly 5%. Volkswagen lost about 2% after reports that talks with unionists will continue next week.

TeamViewer lost more than 12% after the software firm agreed to acquire the London-based IT firm 1E for an enterprise value of $720 million.

Siemens Healthineers, Merck, Commerzbank, HeidelbergCement, Henkel, Mercedes-Benz, Deutsche Bank, Symrise and Vonovia gained 1 to 2.2%.

In the French market, Unibail Rodamco, LVMH, Kering and Schneider Electric lost 2.5 to 3.1%. Hermes International, Publicis Groupe, Vivendi, Safran and Carrefour closed lower by 1.8 to 2.2%.

L’Oreal, Thales, Saint Gobain, Essilor, STMicroElectronics, Legrand, TotalEnergies and AXA lost 1 to 1.5%.

Stellantis, Renault, Credit Agricole, Teleperformance and Pernod Ricard posted moderate gains.