European Markets Finish Lower On Tuesday

(RTTNews) - The major European stock markets opened lower on Tuesday and spent all day in the red, finishing with modest losses.

The markets were kept under water by ongoing concerns about the outlook for U.S. interest rates, especially following better than expected economic data last week that may allow the FOMC to more aggressively trim stimulus.

Geopolitical tensions also were on investors' radar following U.S. President Joe Biden's trip to Kyiv and Russian President Vladimir Putin's speech on the Ukraine war.

Germany's DAX shed 79.93 points or 0.52 percent to finish at 15,397.62, while the FTSE in London sank 36.56 points or 0.462 percent to close at 7,977.75 and the CAC 40 in France fell 26.96 points or 0.37 percent to end at 7,308.65.

In Germany, Siemens Energy tumbled 2.64 percent, while Covestro retreated 1.83 percent, Deutsche Post declined 1.65 percent, Deutsche Borse slumped 1.37 percent, Daimler Truck Holding skidded 1.28 percent, Infineon Technologies dropped 1.15 percent, Deutsche Telekom added 0.50 percent, Heidelberg Cement sank 0.40 percent and Deutsche Bank lost 0.31 percent.

In London, Persimmon plummeted 3.54 percent, while Prudential plunged 3.12 percent, Rightmove tumbled 2.98 percent, Scottish Mortgage Investment surrendered 2.01 percent, BAE Systems jumped 1.96 percent, Rolls-Royce Holdings slumped 1.63 percent, Shell sank 1.53 percent, Vodafone dropped 1.07 percent, Compass Group added 0.81 percent, Tesco fell 0.56 percent and Haleon rose 0.55 percent.

In France, Atos plummeted 5.81 percent, while Engie surged 4.83 percent, Schneider Electric stumbled 2.25 percent, Societe Generale retreated 1.61 percent, L'Oreal climbed 1.29 percent, Veolia Environment sank 0.70 percent, Credit Agricole shed 0.58 percent, Sanofi rose 0.38 percent and BNP Paribas dipped 0.15 percent.

In economic news, Eurozone business activity grew the most in nine months in February, thanks to the improvement in the services activity and the return of manufacturing output to the growth territory amid fading supply-side problems, the purchasing managers survey by S&P Global showed on Tuesday.

UK manufacturing output declined in February at the fastest pace since September 2020 and selling price expectations slowed to the lowest since early 2021, the Industrial Trends Survey from the Confederation of British Industry said on Tuesday.

Germany's economic confidence rose for the fifth month in a row and at a faster than expected pace in February, results of the ZEW survey showed Tuesday, adding strength to the view that the biggest euro area economy may indeed avoid a recession.