BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European stocks closed mostly weak on Tuesday although several markets in the region managed to regain most of the ground they had lost early on in the session.
The weakness was due to escalating U.S.-China trade tensions, the political upheaval in France, and some disappointing regional economic data.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he still expects Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping will meet but warned that all options remain open for retaliating against China's move to tighten exports of rare earths.
China's commerce ministry said it remained open to talks, but the U.S. cannot seek dialogue while threatening new measures.
Also, Beijing reportedly said it was Washington's expansion of curbs on Chinese firms in late September that ratcheted up tensions and drove it to further tighten its grip on the critical minerals.
The pan European Stoxx 600 ended 0.37% down. Germany's DAX closed down by 0.62%, France's CAC 40 ended lower by 0.18%, and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 edged up 0.1%. Switzerland's SMI settled 0.4% down.
Among other markets in Europe, Belgium, Denmark, Greece, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia and Turkiye closed weak.
Czech Republic, Finland, Iceland, Spain and Sweden ended higher, while Portugal closed flat.
In the UK market, EasyJet soared more than 8%. Persimmon, Berkeley Group Holdings, Next, Centrica, Unilever, Entain, Barclays Group, Barratt Redrow, Prudential, Land Securities Group, Phoenix Group Holdings, Legal & General, British American Tobacco and 3i Group gained 1 to 2.6%.
Metlen Energy & Metals tumbled more than 6%. Spirax Group lost 4.1%. Anglo American Plc, Croda International and Antofagasta closed lower by 2.4 to 2.8%.
In the German market, Heidelberg Materials climbed more than 2%. Zalando, Volkswagen, Munich RE and Fresenius gained 1 to 1.5%.
Continental, Brenntag, Siemens, BASF, Siemens Energy, Mercedes-Benz, Rheinmetall and Merck lost 2 to 4.3%.
Siemens Healthineers, Bayer, Gea Group, Infineon, Symrise, Daimler Truck Holding, MTU Aero Engines and Fresenius Medical Care also ended notably lower.
In the French market, Michelin tumbled nearly 9% after the company lowered its annual targets amid worsening economic environment. The company expects operating income of 2.6 - 3 billion euros, down from previous estimate of over 3.4 billion euros.
Stellantis fell 4.7% following a rating downgrade by Moody's. Renault, Publicis Groupe, Bureau Veritas, Kering, Dassault Systemes, Teleperformance, ArcelorMittal and LVMH also closed notably lower.
Societe Generale, AXA, Bouygues, Veolia Environment and Edenred posted strong gains.
Final data from Destatis showed Germany's consumer price inflation rose for the second consecutive month in September, climbing 2.4% year-on-year following a 2.2% increase in August.
Headline inflation was the strongest since December, when it reached 2.6%.
Inflation, based on the EU measure of harmonized index of consumer prices or HICP, accelerated sharply to 2.4%, as estimated, from 2.1% in August. The HICP inflation was the highest since February, when it was 2.6%.
Core inflation, which excludes food and energy prices, climbed to 2.8% from 2.7%.
Both the CPI and HICP rose 0.2% month-on-month in September after rising 0.1% each in August, matching the initial estimates.
In the three months to August, average earnings excluding bonuses increased 4.7% from a year ago, in line with forecast.
Germany economic sentiment rose moderately in October as investors still hope for an economic upturn, a monthly survey conducted by the think tank ZEW showed.
The economic confidence index rose to 39.3 in October from 37.3 in the previous month, though it fell short of the forecast of 41.2.
A report from the British Retail Consortium said UK retail sales registered slower growth in September amid looming budget.
Retail sales grew 2.3% year-on-year in September, slower than the 3.1% increase in August. In the same period last year, retail sales had advanced 2%.
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