European Markets Finished Mixed Ahead Of OPEC Meeting

(RTTNews) - The European markets ended Tuesday's session with mixed results. The markets were locked in a sideways trend throughout the session, fluctuating between small gains and losses. Investors were reluctant to make any major moves ahead of tomorrow's OPEC meeting.

Uncertainty remains regarding whether the cartel will come to an agreement on production cuts. News that non-OPEC oil producer Russia will not attend the OPEC meeting has added to uncertainty about the outcome.

Crude oil prices fell to around $45 a barrel ahead of the meeting. The drop in prices weighed on shares of energy stocks. Weakness in precious metal prices also pulled mining stocks lower Tuesday.

The upcoming Italian referendum this weekend also has investors in a cautious mood. Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi is staking his political future on this referendum that would change the Italian constitution by weakening the upper house of parliament and strengthening the central government. Italian banks recovered some ground today, following yesterday's sharp sell-off.

The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index advanced 0.25 percent. The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks increased 0.69 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, added 0.13 percent.

The DAX of Germany climbed 0.36 percent and the CAC 40 of France rose 0.91 percent. The FTSE 100 of the U.K. declined 0.40 percent, but the SMI of Switzerland finished higher by 0.28 percent.

In Frankfurt, Deutsche Lufthansa advanced 0.69 percent. The airline announced that it would cancel more than 1700 flights on Tuesday and Wednesday as its main pilots union Vereinigung Cockpit extended their strike into the second week.

SGL Carbon fell 3.31 percent after its board approved a proposal to increase the company's share capital by 76 million euros against cash contributions with shareholders' indirect subscription rights.

In Paris, Technip dropped 1.54 percent and Total decreased 0.26 percent.

In London, BT Group climbed 1.16 percent. Telecoms regulator Ofcom said that it is proceeding with a formal notification to require the legal separation of Openreach from BT.

Mining stocks were under pressure due to a pull back in metal prices. Antofagasta sank 3.91 percent and BHP Billiton tumbled 3.03 percent. Fresnillo decreased 3.44 percent and Anglo American fell 2.63 percent. Rio Tinto weakened by 2.32 percent and Randgold Resources surrendered 2.01 percent.

Homebuilders turned in a solid performance after the rise in U.K. mortgage approvals. Barratt Developments gained 2.28 percent and Taylor Wimpey rose 2.05 percent. Persimmon also finished higher by 1.95 percent.

Actelion surged 10 percent in Zurich, after reports that the biotech company is considering a complicated deal to combine with Johnson & Johnson.

Eurozone economic confidence improved to an 11-month high in November as upbeat assessments of consumers and retailers offset the weakness in industrial sentiment, survey data from the European Commission showed Tuesday.

The economic sentiment index rose slightly to 106.5 from 106.4 in October, but below the expected score of 106.8. This was the highest since December 2015, when the reading was 106.6.

The pace of decline in German import prices slowed for a sixth straight month in October and at a steeper rate, preliminary data from Destatis showed Tuesday.

The import price index decreased 0.6 percent year-on-year following 1.8 percent fall in September. Economists had forecast a 0.8 percent decline.

Export prices fell 0.1 percent annually in October after a 0.6 percent slump in the previous month.

Germany's consumer price inflation remained unchanged at its highest level in two years in November, preliminary data from Destatis showed Tuesday. The flash consumer price index rose 0.8 percent year-on-year, same as in October. The figure was the highest since October 2014, when prices climbed at the same pace.

The French economy expanded as initially estimated in the third quarter, second estimate from the statistical office Insee showed Tuesday. Gross domestic product grew moderately by 0.2 percent sequentially, reversing a 0.1 percent fall in the previous quarter.

French consumer spending increased at a faster-than-expected rate in October, after falling in the previous month, figures from the statistical office INSEE showed Tuesday. Consumer spending rose 0.9 percent month-over-month in October, reversing a 0.4 percent drop in September. That was above the 0.2 percent climb expected by economists.

U.K. mortgage approvals increased to a 7-month high in October, the Bank of England reported Tuesday. The number of mortgages approvals increased to 67,518 in October from 63,594 in September. This was the highest since March, when approvals totaled 69,994. The expected level was 65,000.

With consumer spending increasing by more than initially estimated, the Commerce Department released a report on Tuesday showing a bigger than expected upward revision to the pace of GDP growth in the third quarter.

The report said GDP climbed by 3.2 percent in the third quarter compared to the initially estimated 2.9 percent increase. Economists had expected the pace of growth to be upwardly revised to 3.0 percent.

Home price growth in major U.S. metropolitan areas held steady in the month of September, according to a report released by Standard & Poor's on Tuesday.

The report said the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-City Composite Home Price Index saw a year-over-year increase of 5.1 percent in September, unchanged from August. Economists had expected the pace of growth to accelerate to 5.2 percent.

In welcome news for retailers going into the holiday shopping season, the Conference Board released a report on Tuesday showing a much bigger than expected jump in U.S. consumer confidence in the month of November.

The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index surged up to 107.1 in October from an upwardly revised 100.8 in October. Economists had been expecting the index to climb to 101.0 from the 98.6 originally reported for the previous month.