European stocks closed weak after a lackluster session on Tuesday as investors turned cautious and booked profits after recent steep climb in values amid rising optimism about swift economic recovery, momentum in vaccine rollout and additional stimulus in the U.S.
The pan European Stoxx 600 edged down 0.09%. Germany’s DAX ended lower by 0.34%, while the U.K.’s FTSE 100 and France’s CAC 40 advanced 0.12% and 0.1%, respectively. Switzerland’s SMI gained 0.23%.
Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain and Sweden ended weak.
Belgium, Iceland, Netherlands and Turkey closed higher.
In the UK market, Taylor Wimpey, Prudential, Berkeley Group, Imperial Brands, ICP, United Utilities, BAE Systems and Pennon Group gained 1.5 to 2.6%.
Everaz, IAG and Experian lost more than 3%. Kingfisher, JD Sports Fashion, Melrose and Bunzl ended lower by 2 to 2.4%. Shares of online retail company Ocado ended 1.6% despite the company reporting a drop in annual loss.
Travel firm TUI AG ended weak after reporting a wider net loss of €699 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2021.
In Germany, Adidas and HeidelbergCement ended notably higher, while Lufthansa, RWE, Thyssenkrupp, Infineon Technologies, Covestro, Linde and Deutsche Bank lost 1 to 3%.
In the French market, Unibail Rodamco gained more than 3%, Teleperformance, LVMH, Hermes International, Essilor, Kering, LOreal, Carrefour and Capgemini gained 1 to 2%.
Technip ended more than 7% down. Total shares ended sharply lower after the company reported a massive fall in annual profit. Full-year 2020 net profit came in at $4.06 billion, beating expectations of $3.86 billion.
Air France-KLM, Renault, Saint Gobain, Airbus Group and Publicis Groupe lost 1 to 2%.
ArcelorMittal failed to hold early gains and ended modestly lower. The company said that it will sell 40 million Cleveland-Cliffs common shares for gross proceeds of $651.6 million, and that it will use the proceeds to buy back shares in AccelorMittal.
On the vaccine front, a report from Reuters said the EU has finalized a deal with Pfizer and BioNTech for the supply of an additional 300 million doses of their COVID-19 vaccine.
In economic releases, German exports rose marginally in December, data from Destatis revealed. Exports gained 0.1% month on month, slower than the 2.3% increase in November. Economists had forecast a monthly fall of 1%.
At the same time, imports decreased 0.1%, following a 5.4% rebound logged a month ago. Imports were expected to decline more sharply by 1.1%.
Elsewhere, data out of U.K. showed the country’s retail sales declined for the first time since last spring. Total sales decreased 1.3% on a yearly basis in January as the current lockdown has hit non-essential retailers harder than in November, data from the British Retail Consortium showed. Like-for-like sales grew 7.1%.
France’s economic output was estimated to be around 5% below its pre-crisis level in January, according to a survey by the Bank of France. The bank cautioned that the estimates are subject to high uncertainty and are dependent on the evolution of the pandemic.
The business confidence index for industry remained stable at 97.5 in January. Managers expect activity to remain stable again in February.
Market Analysis
European Stocks Close Weak On Profit Taking
2021-02-09 18:43:46
