Major European Markets Close Roughly Flat

(RTTNews) - European markets closed somewhat flat on Thursday as investors largely stayed cautious and refrained from making significant moves due to a lack of fresh triggers.

Continued optimism about potential coronavirus vaccines and hopes about a U.S. fiscal stimulus sometime soon provided some support to the markets, although worries on the Brexit front and surging coronavirus cases proved a dampener.

According to reports, new coronavirus cases rose by over 18,000 in the U.K. on Wednesday, the highest figure since early May. France saw an over 16,000 new cases of infections on Wednesday, and Germany too reported a surge in new cases.

The pan European Stoxx 600 ended lower by 0.12%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 slid 0.44%, Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 edged down by 0.02% and 0.08%, respectively, while Switzerland's SMI advanced 0.09%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, Iceland, Poland, Portugal and Spain drifted lower.

Denmark, Greece, Netherlands, Norway, Russia and Turkey ended higher, while Sweden and Ireland closed flat.

In the UK market, Persimmon, Intermediate Capital Group, Imperial Brands, Melrose, IAG, National Grid, CRH, BT Group, Standard Life, Rolls-Royce Holdings, Lloyds Banking, Standard Chartered and Natwest Group lost 2 to 5%.

Among the gainers, Flutter Entertainment advanced more than 4%. DCC, Polymental International, Reckitt Benckiser, HomeServe, Avast, Bunzl, Scottish Mortgage and Ocado Group moved up 2 to 3%.

In the German market, Thyssenkrupp, Volkswagen, Daimler, BMW and Lufthansa ended sharply lower.

Wirecard rallied more than 4%. Merck gained more than 1.5%, while SAP and Infineon Technologies posted modest gains.

In France, Renault shed more than 2%. Carrefour, Airbus, Capgemini, Accor, Safran and Michelin were among the other prominent losers, while Sodexo, STMicroElectronics, Essilor, Valeo, Sanofi, Orange, Air Liquide, Atos and Veolia closed on positive note.

On the economic front, French consumer confidence weakened to the lowest in nearly two years in November, survey results from the statistical office Insee showed.

The consumer confidence index fell more-than-expected to 90 in November from 94 in October. This was the lowest since December 2018, when the score was 88. The expected score was 92.0.

Survey results from the market research group GfK showed German consumer sentiment deteriorated notably due to the partial lockdown. The forward-looking consumer sentiment index fell to -6.7 in December from revised -3.2 in October. The expected reading was -5.0.

UK car production logged a double-digit decline in October amid the auto sector eagerly awaits Brexit agreement, the Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders said Thursday.

Car production plunged 18.2% on year in October. Only 110,179 units left factory gates in October, data showed.