PRAG (dpa-AFX) - European stocks swung between gains and losses for much of the trading session on Wednesday, with investors largely making cautious moves amid concerns about global growth and uncertainty over Brexit and U.S.-China trade talks.
The pan European Stoxx 600 index ended 0.06% down. Among the major markets in the region, the U.K. ended notably lower, with its benchmark FTSE 100 sliding by about 0.85%. Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 edged lower by 0.17% and 0.15%, respectively, while Switzerland's SMI ended 0.1% down.
Poland ended sharply higher with its benchmark rising over 2%. Turkey, Spain, Russia, Portugal, Romania, Ireland and Czech Republic ended higher by 0.25 to 1%. Netherlands, Hungary, Greece edged up slightly.
Sweden and Norway closed modestly lower, while Italy and Finland edged down marginally.
U.K.'s Metro Bank was the most prominent loser today as the stock plunged almost 40% after the bank said its growth declined in the fourth quarter.
A rating upgrade by JP Morgan lifted Logitech shares by about 6%.
In the French market, Carrefour rallied sharply thanks to a buoyant earnings report.
After declining sharply early on in the session on reports that the U.S. Federal Reserve is probing the bank's role in a Danske Bank money laundering scheme, Deutsche Bank bounced back and moved into positive territory.
In economic news from Europe, Turkey's consumer confidence eases for the second straight month in January, figures from the Turkish Statistical Institute showed on Wednesday. The consumer confidence index declined to 58.2 in January from 58.7 in December. The reading was the lowest in three months.
The indicator measuring the financial situation expectation of households for the next 12 months rose to 77.1 from 75.3 a month ago.
Likewise, the index for general economic situation expectations for the coming year rose marginally to 76.5 from 76 in the previous month.
Investors were closely tracking news on Brexit, U.S.-China trade deal and on the U.S. government shutdown, and largely refrained from making significant moves ahead of the European Central Bank's monetary policy announcement, due on Thursday.
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