Major European Markets Close On Slightly Negative Note

Major European stock markets ended somewhat weak on Monday, as investors digested quarterly earnings updates from big name European and U.S. companies, and looked ahead to the Federal Reserve's monetary policy.

The Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, but the accompanying statement and Fed Chair Jerome Powell's post-meeting press conference may shed additional light on the outlook for rates.

Recent economic data has tamped down expectations of a near-term rate cut, with the central bank now seen as likely to leave rates unchanged until at least September.

The pan European Stoxx 600 edged up 0.07%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 ended 0.09% up, while Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 ended lower by 0.24% and 0.29%, respectively. Switzerland's SMI ended down 0.11%.

Most of the other markets in Europe ended higher. Austria, Belgium, Finland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Sweden and Turkiye closed higher.

Iceland and Spain ended weak, while Denmark, Greece and Netherlands closed flat.

In the UK market, Anglo American Plc gained nearly 4.5%. The company's board has unanimously rejected a US$39Bn takeover bid from Australia-based BHP, saying the offer "significantly undervalues" the company and its future prospects and was "highly unattractive" for Anglo American's shareholders.

Entain, Smith (DS), Frasers Group and Beazley gained 3 to 4.5%.

Prudential, St. James's Place, Smurfit Kappa Group, Airtel Africa, Phoenix Group Holdings, Mondi, Weir Group, Schrodders, Vodafone Group, Admiral Group, Antofagasta and Legal & General advanced 1 to 2.5%.

Astrazeneca gained about 0.7% after the company announced progress with two breast cancer treatments.

JD Sports Fashion ended nearly 3% down. Ashtead Group, B&M European Value Retail, Centrica, Croda International, Natwest Group, IHG, Rolls-Royce Holdings and Relx lost 1 to 2.2%.

In the German market, Fresenius Medical Care rallied about 3.5%. Daimler Truck Holding, RWE, Rheinmetall, Fresenius and Siemens Energy gained 1.5 to 2.7%. Puma, Vonovia, Zalando, Qiagen and HeidelbergCement also ended notably higher.

Deutsche Bank tumbled about 8.6%. The lender has provided updates on the ongoing litigation concerning its acquisition of Postbank, revealing that a legal provision will affect its second-quarter and full-year profitability as well as capital ratios.

The total estimated amount of all claims, inclusive of accumulated interest, stands at about 1.3 billion euros.

Porsche, Commerzbank, Continental, SAP and Merck lost 1.2 to 2.7%.

In Paris, Eurofins Scientific surged nearly 4%. WorldLine, Michelin, Renault, Teleperformance, Alstom, Capgemini, Bouygues, Orange, ArcelorMittal, Engie, AXA and Societe Generale gained 1 to 2.5%.

Hermes International, LVMH, Safran and STMicroElectronics ended notably lower.

In economic news, Euro area economic sentiment deteriorated further in April largely reflecting the difficulties in the industrial sector, survey data revealed.

The economic confidence index dropped to 95.6 in April from 96.2 in the previous month, the European Commission said. The expected reading was 96.9.

The economic sentiment index deteriorated notably in industry, and services, retail trade and construction experienced moderate falls. Only consumer confidence improved from March.

Reflecting the deterioration in the assessment of the current order book, the industrial confidence index fell to -10.5 from -8.9 in the previous month.

Germany's consumer prices logged a steady pace of increase in April reflecting the stickiness of inflation despite the disinflationary pressure gaining strength over recent months.

The consumer price index posted an annual growth of 2.2%, which was the same rate as seen in March and weaker than economists' forecast of 2.3%.

The current 2.2% inflation was the lowest since May 2021.

On the other hand, EU harmonized inflation rose slightly to 2.4%, while the rate was expected to remain at 2.3%.

Data showed that core inflation that strips out food and energy softened to 3% in April from 3.3% in March.

Month-on-month, the CPI gained 0.5%, slightly above the expected 0.6%. At the same time, the harmonized index of consumer prices gained 0.6%, in line with expectations.

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