European markets

European markets markets weak

Frankfurt — Despite opening on a bright note, European stocks retreated and settled mostly lower on Monday, as initial buoyancy over an EU-US trade deal faded and investors looked ahead to earnings updates, some crucial economic data and policy announcements from the Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan this week.

US President Donald Trump announced on Sunday that and EU have “reached a deal” as per which America will impose a 15% tariff on products coming into the country from EU.

“We have reached a deal. It’s a good deal for everybody,” Trump said. EU chief Ursula von der Leyen also hailed a “good deal” with America.

In an interaction with media in Scotland, Trump announced that the EU had pledged additional investments of $600 billion in the US, alongside energy purchases amounting to $750 billion.

However, several European leaders have criticised the draft trade agreement between the US and EU, warning that the deal could undermine the bloc’s economic stability and job security.

The pan European Stoxx 600 ended down 0.22. The UK’s FTSE 100 and France’s CAC 40, both closed down 0.43%, and Germany’s DAX ended 1.02% down. Switzerland’s SMI drifted down 0.34%.

Among other markets in Europe, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden and Turkey closed weak.Czech Republic, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands and Norway ended higher.

In the UK market, BT Group tumbled more than 5%. Babcock International closed 2.7% down. Marks & Spencer, Rentokil Initial, BAE Systems, Games Workshop, WPP, Schroders, Experian, Coca-Cola HBC, Informa and Whitbread also ended notably lower. BP climbed 2.2%.

Tesco drifted down. The UK groceries and general merchandise retailer announced today that it has launched the second tranche of its 1.45 billion pounds share buyback programme, committing up to £500 million ($668 million) for additional repurchases.

The move follows the completion of the first tranche on July 25, during which the company bought back 182,303,915 shares for a total market value of approximately 700 million pounds.

In the German market, Porsche closed more than 4% down. Volkswagen, Rheinmetall, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Daimler Truck Holding, Zalando, Siemens Energy, Deautsche Boerse, BASF, Puma, Heidelberg Materials and Adidas lost 1 to 3.7%. Infineon, Vonovia, MTU Aero Engines, Sartorius and Merck closed higher.

In the French market, Eurofins Scientific and Thales ended lower by about 4.8% and 4.3%, respectively. Pernod Ricard closed 3.4% down. Stellantis, Kering, Carrefour, Orange, Vivendi, Publicis Groupe, BNP Paribas and Saint Gobain also declined sharply. TotalEnergies, STMicroElectronics, Legrand, Michelin, Capgemini, Unibail Rodamco, Sanofi and Air Liquide closed with sharp to moderate gains.