BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European markets ended mostly lower on Monday, with investors making cautious moves as they continued to track geopolitical news and looked ahead to the upcoming meeting between the U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese Premier Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 summit later this week.
Amid rising tensions between the U.S. and China following the downing of a U.S. drone by the Iranian revolutionary force last week, there are reports that the U.S. is likely to impose new sanctions on Iran.
(Recent reports say Trump has signed an executive order imposing 'hard-hitting' new sanctions on Iran and said 'We will continue to increase pressure on Tehran, until the regime abandons its dangerous activities' including its nuclear ambitions.)
The pan European Stoxx 600 ended down 0.25%. Among the major markets in Europe, Germany and France ended lower with their indices DAX and CAC 40 declining 0.53% and 0.12%, respectively. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 edged up 0.12%. Switzerland's SMI ended lower by 0.24%.
Austria, Belgium, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Ukrain ended weak.
Czech Republic, Greece, Poland and Turkey closed higher, while Russia ended flat.
Shares of automobile makers were under pressure after Daimler lowered its 2019 earnings outlook. Daimler shares tumbled by about 4%.
Peugeot and Renault lost about 1.3% and 1%, respectively. Volkswagen edged down marginally
Societe Genarale, BNP Paribas and Credit Agricole ended weak. Deutsche Bank closed weak as well on reports that U.S. regulators have sought explanation from the lender about its 'bad bank' proposal and its impact on U.S. operations.
Shares of retailer Metro AG declined sharply after the company rejected a takeover offer made by EP Global Commerce.
Airliners Lufthansa, IAG and EasyJet closed on a weak note.
In economic news, Germany's business sentiment weakened in June, according to survey data from the Munich-based Ifo Institute.
The ifo business confidence index dropped to 97.4 in June from 97.9 in May. The score was forecast to fall to 97.5.
The current conditions index came in at 100.8, in line with economists' expectations. May's initial reading was 100.6.
The expectations index fell to 94.2 in June. Economists had forecast the score to ease moderately to 95.1 from May's originally estimated level of 95.3.
According to EY ITEM Club special report, UK consumer spending will likely grow at the slowest pace in six years. However, spending is seen continuing to outperform the economy as a whole.
The think tank forecast consumer spending to grow 1.6% in 2019 and 1.7% in 2020. The economy is expected to log 1.3% growth and 1.5% expansion in 2019, 2020, respectively.
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