European Stocks Close Lower After Cautious Session

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed lower on Monday amid thin volumes as investors largely stayed on the sidelines ahead of New Year holidays. Uncertainty about interest rates, and tariff war threats weighed on sentiment.

Trading was a bit lackluster today, the last full trading day of 2024. Most of the markets will close early on Tuesday for New Year eve, and remain shut on Wednesday.

European Central Bank Governing Council member Robert Holzmann told Austrian newspaper Kurier over the weekend that the ECB may delay its next interest rate cut due to a recent increase in inflation.

In Italy, the Senate on Saturday passed the government's deficit-cutting 2025 budget that is focused on tax cuts and debt control measures.

Elsewhere in France, the country's new finance minister said in a newspaper interview that the delayed 2025 budget bill will target a deficit of slightly above 5 percent in order to protect growth.

The pan European Stoxx 600 closed down 0.46%. France's CAC 40 ended down 0.57%, while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 and Germany's DAX closed lower by 0.35% and 0.38%, respectively. Switzerland's SMI edged up 0.1%.

Among other markets in Europe, Belgium, Denmark, Iceland, Netherlands, Poland, Sweden and Turkiye closed notably lower. Finland, Greece, Ireland and Portugal edged down marginally.

Austria and Russia ended higher, while Norway and Spain closed flat.

In the UK market, Fresnillo closed down 2.3%. St. James's Place, Antofagasta, Endeavour Mining, Rolls-Royce Holdings, Halma, JD Sports Fashion, Haleon, Informa, ICG, Rentokil Initial, Diploma and Experian lost 1 to 2%.

Whitbread, Pershing Square Holdings, Schrodders, Airtel Africa, IAG and HSBC Holdings gained 0.5 to 1.2%.

In the German market, Sartorius, Puma, Siemens Healthineers, SAP, Munich RE, Brenntag and Hannover Rueck lost 1 to 2%.

Commerzbank and Deutsche Bank posted moderate gains. Volkswagen and BMW closed modestly higher.

In the French market, L'Oreal ended lower by about 2%. Edenred, Capgemini, Pernod Ricard, Legrand, STMicroElectronics, Publicis Groupe, LVMH and Michelin closed down 1 to 1.5%.

Credit Agricole, BNP Paribas, Endie, Orange and Societe Genrale closed modestly higher.

In economic news, a measure of the turning points in Switzerland's economy declined in December after rising a month ago suggesting that the outlook has dampened, survey data from the KOF Swiss Economic Institute showed Monday.

The KOF Economic Barometer declined more-than-expected to 99.5 in December from revised 102.9 in the previous month. The reading was seen at 101.1. After rising in November, the index fell slightly below its medium-term average.

Spain consumer price inflation accelerated at the end of the year on fuel prices, the flash estimates published by the statistical office INE showed. Consumer price inflation rose more-than-expected to 2.8% in December from 2.4% in November.