BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European stocks ended a bit weak on Thursday despite recovering from early lows and even staying up for a brief while during the session.
Investors, reacting to the latest batch of economic data and earnings reports, and closely following news on U.S. stimulus talks and coronavirus updates, made cautious moves and activity was mostly stock specific during the day.
Coronavirus cases continued to surge in several parts of Europe. Spain and France reportedly saw steep spikes in new cases, with infections rising past the 1 million mark.
The pan European Stoxx 600 declined 0.14%. Germany's DAX ended down 0.12% and France's CAC 40 edged down 0.05%, while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 advanced 0.16%, aided by a new coronavirus relief package announced by chancellor Rishi Sunak. Switzerland's SMI eked out a gain of 0.09%.
Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Turkey closed weak.
Iceland, Ireland and Russia moved higher, while Belgium, Czech Republic and Poland ended flat.
In the UK market, Hargreaves Lansdown, IAG and GVC Holdings moved up 4 to 5% and Rentokil Initial surged up nearly 4%.
Lloyds Banking Group, Whitbread, Natwest Group, Persimmon, Vodafone Group and RSA Insurance gained 2 to 3%. Standard Chartered, Barclays Group, Aveva and HSBC Holdings also ended notably higher.
Among the losers, BAE Systems shed nearly 5%, Fresnillo and Ocado Group lost 3.7% and 3.4%, respectively, while Smith Ds, Homeserve, Rightmove and GlaxoSmithKline declined 1.5 to 2%.
In the German market, Continental, Infineon Technologies, RWE, Bayer, SAP and Beiersdorf ended weak. Adidas, Lufthansa, MTU Aero and Merck ended stronger by 2 to 3%.
In France, Unibail Rodamco, Atos, Dassault Systemes, Carrefour, AXA, Capgemini and Engie declined 1.5 to 4%.
Pernod Ricard ended nearly 4% up after saying sales would return to growth in the second of the current financial year. Schneider Electric shares gained more than 2% after the energy-management company said it now expects sales for 2020 to fall between 5% and 7% as against previous guidance of a drop between 7% and 10%.
Peugeot, Renault, Hermes International, Publicis Groupe, Michelin, Legrand and Valeo also ended with strong gains.
In the Swiss market, Sika moved up sharply after confirming its 2023 targets.
In economic releases, market research group Gfk said its forward-looking consumer sentiment index for Germany fell more-than-expected to -3.1 from -1.7 in October.
All three sub components, namely economic and income expectations and the propensity to buy declined in October. After five rises in a row, the economic sentiment decreased seventeen points to 7.1 points in October.
French business confidence weakened in October, monthly survey data from the statistical office Insee showed. The manufacturing confidence index fell unexpectedly to 93 in October from September's revised score of 94. The expected reading was 96.0.
According to preliminary figures from the European Commission, Eurozone consumer confidence weakened more-than-expected to its lowest level in five months in October. The flash consumer confidence index for the euro area dropped to -15.5 from -13.9 in September, the report said. Economists had expected a fall to -15.0.
The consumer confidence index for the EU also fell to a five-month low, down to -16.5 from -14.9 in the previous month. Both readings were below their long-term averages of -11.2 and -10.6, respectively.
Meanwhile, on the U.S. stimulus front, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi indicated Democrats and the White House continue to make progress toward a deal in remarks to reporters today but noted 'it'll take a while to write the bill.'
The latest comments from Pelosi come after her deputy chief of staff Drew Hammill revealed the Democratic leader spoke with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin again on Wednesday, saying the conversation brought the two sides closer to being able to put pen to paper to write legislation.
Hammill said Pelosi and Mnuchin plan to speak again later today.
A tweet from President Donald Trump also led to continued uncertainty about whether an agreement will ultimately be reached.
'Just don't see any way Nancy Pelosi and Cryin' Chuck Schumer will be willing to do what is right for our great American workers, or our wonderful USA itself, on Stimulus,' Trump tweeted.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX