BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - The major European markets ended mostly lower on Tuesday with investors largely making cautious moves as they closely followed the developments over U.S. stimulus talks and updates on virus cases, and reacting to earnings reports and other corporate news.
Parts of the U.K. and Spain went into lockdown while France is imposing curfews after seeing a massive increase in the number of people hospitalized.
Ireland announced some of Europe's strictest constraints, telling people not to travel more than five kilometers from home in a bid to combat a rise in infections. New restrictions were also approved in Italy's northern Lombardy region.
On the Brexit front, The U.K. government said that talks with Chief EU Negotiator Michel Barnier were constructive, but there was still no basis to resume official negotiations. The official British position remains that the EU first needs to make concessions.
The pan European Stoxx 600 slid 0.35%. Germany's DAX shed 0.92%, France's CAC 40 ended down 0.27%, while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 edged up 0.08%. Switzerland's SMI declined 0.37%.
Among other markets in Europe, Czech Republic, Finland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal and Ukraine ended weak.
Austria, Belgium, Denmark and Sweden edged down marginally, while Greece, Iceland, Poland, Russia, Spain and Turkey closed higher.
In the UK market, Hargreaves Lansdown, Taylor Wimpey, Avast, Bunzl, Just Eat Takeaway.Com, Pearson, Berkeley Group, GlaxoSmithKline and Barratt Developments lost 1 to 2%.
Among the gainers, IAG shares spurted nearly 7%. Informa moved up 4.7%, Melrose surged up 3.7%, Intercontinental Hotel Group advanced 3.6% and Rolls-Royce Holdings climbed 3.2%. Whitbread, Segro, Next, Coca-Cola and Kingfisher also ended sharply higher.
Reckitt Benckiser attracted buyers after the company lifted its FY20 revenue growth view.
In Germany, Wirecard and Fresenius Medical Care both ended lower by over 5%. Fresenius, SAP, Deutsche Telekom, Bayer and Infineon Technologies lost 1 to 3%.
Thyssenkrupp gained about 5%, rebounding well after losses in the previous session. MTU Aero moved up 3.5%, while Lufthansa and Deutsche Bank gained more than 2.5% and 2.2%, respectively.
In the French market, Danone, Cap Gemini, Veolia, Unibail Rodamco, Valeo, Teleperformance, Dassault Systemes, Air Liquide and STMicroElectronics lost 1 to 2.5%.
Among the gainers, Saint Gobain climbed more than 8%. Accor ended nearly 4% up, while Societe Generale gained nearly 3% and Technip surged up 2.5%. Sodexo, Safran, BNP Paribas, Renault, Airbus and Hermes International also ended notably higher.
In the Swiss market, UBS Group shares moved up sharply after the bank said its quarterly profit nearly doubled and pledged to boost payouts.
Logitech soared after reporting a sharp 75% jump in quarterly sales. Dufry moved higher after Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group said it is taking a 6.1% stake in the company as part of a roughly $900 million capital increase.
In economic news, The euro area current account surplus increased in August, rising to EUR 20 billion from EUR 17 billion in July, the European Central Bank said.
The surplus on trade in goods climbed to EUR 32 billion from EUR 30 billion, while the surplus on services fell to EUR 2 billion from EUR 4 billion.
Data from Destatis showed Germany's producer prices continued to decline in September, falling by 1% year-on-year. That was slower than the 1.2% drop seen in August. Prices have decreased for the eighth consecutive month.
On a monthly basis, producer prices gained 0.4% after staying flat in August.
Data from the Federal Customs Administration said Swiss exports grew at a faster rate in the third quarter, rising by a real 9.9% sequentially, after a 12.2% decrease in the second quarter. Imports increased 9% in the third quarter, after a 13% decline in the previous quarter.
The trade surplus fell to CHF 8.165 billion in the third quarter from CHF 9.565 billion in the previous quarter. In the third quarter of 2019, the trade surplus was CHF 6.166 billion.
In September, exports fell 2.1% monthly, after a 3% rise in August, while imports increased 2.1% month-on-month, after a 0.5% fall in the prior month.
According to the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry, watch exports declined 12% year-on-year in September, broadly the same as in August.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX