BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European stocks closed broadly lower on Tuesday with investors largely staying cautious, following political and geopolitical developments, digesting economic and earnings updates, and awaiting the monetary policy announcements from the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England, due later in the week.
The German market, which started off on a very weak note amid political uncertainty, recovered well and trimmed its losses as the day progressed after the leader of Christian Democratic and Christian Social Union bloc Friedrich Merz was elected chancellor in second parliamentary vote in Bundestag, after failing to secure the necessary support at first.
The pan European Stoxx 600 closed down 0.18%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 edged up 0.01%, Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 ended lower by 0.41% and 0.4%, respectively. Switzerland's SMI edged down 0.02%.
Among other markets in Europe, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Norway, Poland and Sweden closed weak.
Czech Republic, Portugal, Russia and Turkiye ended higher, while Austria, Ireland, Netherlands and Spain closed flat.
In the UK market, Marks & Spencer closed more than 5% down. Standard Chartered ended lower by about 3.3%. Anglo American closed more than 3% down, afterPeabody notified the company that the issues involving the Moranbah North Mine constituted a Material Adverse Change as per the deal terms.
Mondi ended lower by about 2.5%. WPP, Shell, Pearson, Vistry Group, The Sage Group, Melrose Industries, Associated British Foods, Scottish Mortgage and Natwest Group also ended sharply lower.
Endeavour Mining, Fresnillo, J. Sainsbury, Entain, British American Tobacco, Admiral Group, Beazley, Frasers Group, Compass Group and JD Sports Fashion gained 2 to 5%.
Deliveroo gained nearly 2% after the company agreed to be acquired by US food delivery major DoorDash in a deal valuing the company at 2.9 billion pounds.
AstraZeneca ended flat. The company announced that is has received EU approval for Calquence (acalabrutinib) in combination with bendamustine and rituximab.
In the German market, Beiersdorf lost more than 4%. Porsche, Infineon and Zalando closed lower by 2.3 to 2.6%. Puma, Adidas, SAP, Siemens, Deutsche Bank and Qiagen also ended notably lower.
Fresenius Medical Care climbed more than 5% on strong results. Continental gained about 2.5%. The company reported a net income of 68 million euros in its first quarter, compared to a loss of 53 million euros a year ago. Earnings per share were 0.34 euro, compared to loss of 0.27 euro last year.
E.ON, Commerzbank, Rheinmetall and Allianz posted moderate gains. HUGO BOSS gained nearly 6%. The company reported an 8% drop in net income at 35 million euros in the first-quarter, compared to a year ago. Earnings per share was 0.51 euros compared to 0.55 euros. The stock is up more than 4.5%.
In the French market, Societe Generale, L'Oreal, STMicroElectronics, Essilor, Hermes International, ArcelorMittal, Legrand and Airbus ended lower by 1 to 2.5%.
Teleperformance climbed more than 3%. Renault, Vivendi, TotalEnergies, Capgemini, Orange, Pernod Ricard and Engie gained 0.8 to 1.3%.
On the economic front, the HCOB Germany Composite PMI was revised higher to 50.1 in April 2025 from a preliminary of 49.7, and compared to 51.3 in March.
The services sector slipped into contraction with the PMI falling to 49 in April from a reading of 50.9 9 in March. Meanwhile, manufacturing activity remained depressed with the manufacturing PMI coming in at 48.4 in April, compared to 48.3 in March.
The HCOB France Composite PMI for April was revised slightly up to 47.8, from the flash estimate of 47.3, but below March's 48. The latest survey pointed to a continued downturn in economic activity in France for the eighth consecutive month.
The Services Sector PMI dropped to 47.3 in April from 47.9 a month earlier, while the manufacturing sector remained sluggish despite a slight improvement. The manufacturing PMI came in at 48.7, compared to 48.5 in March.
France's industrial production growth eased more than expected in March, figures from the statistical office INSEE showed. Industrial output grew only 0.2% in March from February, when production expanded 1%. Production was expected to climb 0.4%.
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