European Stocks Close Notably Lower

(RTTNews) - European stocks ended notably lower on Monday as investors weighed the likely impact of monetary tightening and looked ahead to the Bank of England's monetary policy and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's congressional testimonies, due later in the week.

The Bank of England, scheduled to announce its policy on Thursday, is expected to raise interest rates by a quarter point to a 15-year high of 4.75%, marking its 13th straight rate rise.

Fed Chair Powell's congressional testimonies this Wednesday and Thursday are eyed for clues on the monetary policy ahead.

Fading hopes about a major stimulus in China weighed as well. The Chinese central bank is scheduled to announce its loan prime rate on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has visited Beijing on a diplomatic mission to repair strained ties between the U.S. and China.

The pan European Stoxx 600 fell 1.02%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 dropped 0.71%, Germany's DAX ended 0.96% down, and France's CAC 40 shed 1.01%, while Switzerland's SMI lost 0.7%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Turkiye ended with sharp to moderate losses.

Czech Republic and Russia bucked the trend and closed modestly higher.

In the UK market, Spirax-Sarco Engineering dropped 6.8% and Ocado Group ended nearly 6% down.

Croda International, Johnson Matthey, Weir Group, Halma, Anglo American Plc, Experian, Smiths Group, Fresnillo, CRH, Antofagasta and Land Securities lost 2 to 3%.

Next rallied about 4.75%. Frasers Group, Standard Chartered, Rolls-Royce Holdings, Entain and Associated British Foods ended higher by 1 to 2.15%.

In the German market, Sartorius tumbled 14.8% after the company cut its 2023 revenue and margin forecasts on Friday.

Merck drifted down more than 6%. BASF, Covestro, Deutsche Boerse, Puma and Qiagen lost 2 to 3.6%.

Symrise, Daimler Truck Holding, Zalando, Vonovia, Fresenius, Adidas, Bayer, Deutsche Bank, RWE and Fresenius Medical Care ended lower by 1 to 2%, while MTU Aero Engines surged 4.2%.

In Paris, Vinci and Air Liquide ended lower by about 4% and 3.8%, respectively. WorldLine, Eurofins Scientific and Veolia lost 2.2 to 2.7%.

LVMH, Carrefour, Kering, Teleperformance, Bouygues, Essilor, ArcelorMittal, Saint Gobai, Alstom, STMicroelectronics, Hermes International and Sanofi lost 1 to 2%. Safran surged about 1.75%.

Societe Generale, BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole, Renault and Airbus posted modest gains.

On the economic front, property website Rightmove said British housing affordability constraints as well as fading price expectations among sellers brought forward the usual summer slowdown.

House prices dropped only GBP 82 in June, Rightmove said. This marked the first monthly decrease in asking prices this year and also the first drop in June since 2017.

Over the previous ten years, average house prices posted an increase of 0.6% at this time of year.

House prices posted an annual growth of 1.1% in June after rising 1.5% in May.