European Stocks Close Broadly Lower After Cautious Session

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed broadly lower on Monday, as investors largely stayed cautious and refrained from making big moves ahead of U.S. Presidential election, and the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement, due on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively.

Markets continued to react to corporate earnings updates, and economic data.

Markets expect the U.S. central bank to cut interest rates by 25 bps amid economic contradictions, following a supersize 50 basis point move in September.

Also, the Bank of England is expected to cut interest rates by 25 basis points when it meets on Thursday.

The pan European Stoxx 600 dropped 0.33%. Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 closed down 0.56% and 0.5%, respectively. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 edged up 0.09%, while Switzerland's SMI ended down 0.59%.

Among other markets in Europe, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain and Turkiye closed weak.

Poland, Russia and Sweden ended modestly higher, and Austrial edged up marginally, while Greece settled flat.

In the UK market, Hiscox and Melrose Industries lost about 3% and 2.7%, respectively. Weir Group, Endeavour Mining, Centrica, BAE Systems, Fresnillo, Beazley, ICG, IHG, Rentokil Initial, Pershing Square Holdings and Intertek Group closed down 1 to 2%.

Natwest Group climbed 2.61% and Smith (DS) gained 2.5%. Frasers Group, Antofagasta, BT Group, Schrodders, Barclays, HSBC Holdings, Tesco and BP gained 1 to 1.7%.

Burberry Group shares rallied 6% following reports that Italy's Moncler could be considering making a bid for the luxury firm.

In the German market, Vonovia, Fresenius, Rhenimetall, Puma, SAP and Bayer ended down 1 to 2.2%. Symrise, Sartorius, BASF and Infineon also closed notably lower.

Porsche advanced 2.3%. RWE gained about 1.55%, while Qiagen and Fresenius Medical Care both ended higher by about 1.15%.

In the French market, STMicroElectronics lost about 2.7% after Morgan Stanley downgraded its rating on the stock to "underweight" from "equal weight".

Schneider Electric lost more than 2% after the French industrials giant ousted CEO Peter Herweck with immediate effect, citing issues with his execution of the company's strategy.

Dassault Systemes, Thales, Saint-Gobain, Accor, Capgemini, Stellantis and Sanofi closed down 0.9 to 2.1%.

Essilor rallied more than 3%. Teleperformance gained nearly 2% and Kering climbed by about 1.5%. Credit Agricole, Carrefour, ArcelorMittal and Safran posted moderate gains.

In economic news, the euro area manufacturing downturn continued in October albeit at the slowest pace in five months, survey data published by S&P Global showed.

The HCOB manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index increased to 46.0 in October from 45.0 in September. The flash score was 45.9. The score suggests that the sector posted its slowest fall since May.

Results of the closely watched Sentix Survey showed that investor confidence in the euro area strengthened for a second straight month in November amid a modest improvement in the economic data from Germany and optimism about the outcome of the presidential election in the U.S., while markets continue to look for some solid stimulus news from China.

The Sentix investor confidence index for Eurozone rose to -12.8 from -13.8 in October, the behavioral research think tank said. Economists had forecast a score of -12.7. The current situation index of the survey climbed to -21.5 from -23.3 in the previous month. The expectations index was steady at -3.8 in November.