European Stocks Close Broadly Lower After Cautious Session

BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European stocks closed broadly lower on Wednesday with investors mostly staying cautious while watching the developments with regard to U.S.-Iran peace moves and focusing on speeches from prominent central bank officials at the Sintra Forum.Uncertainty about US…

Uncertainty about US-Iran peace talks and the loss of momentum in the AI-driven tech rally contributed to the subdued trend in most of the markets in the region.

During his speech at the European Central Bank Forum on Central Banking in Sintra, Fed Chair Kevin Warsh refrained from signaling the Federal Reserve's policy stance ahead of its meeting later this month. However, he acknowledged that inflation remains elevated.

The pan European Stoxx 600 ended down 0.38%. The UK's FTSE 100 drifted down 0.18% and France's CAC 40 closed 0.79% down, while Germany's DAX moved up 0.18%. Switzerland's SMI finished with a loss of 0.56%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Spain and Sweden closed weak.

Denmark, Greece, Iceland and Poland ended on firm note. Czech Republic edged up marginally.

In the UK market, Associated British Foods closed 3.15% down. The Primark owner said it expects full-year adjusted operating profit and earnings per share to remain below last year's levels amid deepening losses in its sugar business.

British American Tobacco and National Grid both ended lower by 3%. GSK, BP, Diageo, Intercontinental Hotels Group, Shell, SSE, BT Group, IAG, Severn Trent, Centrica, AstraZeneca, Howden Joinery Group, IMI and Entain also ended notably lower.

Babcock International rallied 5.2%. Coca-Cola Europacific Partners climbed 4.85%. Aberdeen Group, Endeavour Mining, The Sage Group, Prudential, Sainsbury (J), Pearson and Computacenter moved up 3.2%-4.5%.

Rentokil Initial, Autotrader Group, Metlen Energy & Metals, Peshing Square Holdings, LSED, BAE Systems, Fresnillo, Natweat Group, Barclays, Standard Chartered and Reckitt Benckiser also moved up sharply.

In the German market, Infineon tumbled 4.7%. Siemens ended 2.7% down. E.ON, Merck, Siemens Energy, Heidelberg Materials, RWE and Vonovia lost 1.3%-2%.

Rheinmetall climbed more than 6%, lifted by reports that Germany aims to expand domestic weapons production.

SAP moved up 5.2% and Scout24 gained 3.4%. Fresenius surged 2.7%, while Symrise, Deutsche Telekom, BMW, MTU Aero Engines, Qiagen, Gea Group, Deutsche Post, Beiersdorf, Fresenius Medical Care, Bayer, Henkel and Zalando gained 1%-2%.

In the French market, STMicroelectronics, Orange, Engie, Carrefour and TotalEnergies ended down by 3%-4.5%.

Schneider Electric drifted down more than 3% after it signed an agreement to acquire industrial artificial intelligence company called Cognite Holding B.V. from Aker and other owners in a $3.1 billion all-cash deal.

Pernod Ricard, Vinci, Sanofi, Bouygues and Publicis Groupe shed 2.3%-3%. Veolia Environment, Legrand, Unibail Rodamco, ArcelorMittal and BNP Paribas also ended notably lower.

Teleperformance jumped more than 9%. EssilorLuxottica climbed about 5.5% and Renault ended with a gain of 4.8%.

Stellantis, Dassault Systemes and Capgemini gained 3.1%-3.3%. Thales, Airbus, Air Liquide and Safran ended higher by 1.4%-2%.

Data from S&P Global showed the S&P Global Germany Manufacturing PMI was revised higher to 50.3 in June from a preliminary of 50.0, pointing to small growth in factory activity, compared to 50.1 in the previous month.

Data from S&P Global showed the S&P Global France Manufacturing PMI was revised higher to 51.2 in June from 50.7 in the preliminary estimate and 49.7 in May, despite contractions in production and new orders.

Flash data from Eurostat showed Eurozone inflation slowed to a three-month low in June, weakening to 2.8% from 3.2% in May. This was the lowest rate since March and remained below forecast of 3%.

Core inflation that excludes energy, food, alcohol and tobacco, softened to 2.4% from 2.6% in the prior month. Prices were expected to rise 2.5%.

Data from S&P Global showed the S&P Global UK Manufacturing PMI posted 52.5 in June, down from May's four-year high of 53.9 and the earlier flash estimate of 53.1.

Data from Nationwide Housing Society showed UK house prices remained flat in June as uncertainty caused by the war in the Middle East and the subsequent rise in fuel prices and market interest rates weighed on the property market.

House prices posted a flat growth in June following a fall of 0.6% in May. Prices were forecast to rise 0.1%.

On a yearly basis, house price growth accelerated to 2.2% in June from 1.7% in May. However, the rate fell short of the forecast of 2.4% increase.