BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European stocks closed notably lower on Monday as concerns about rising unrest in France and a few other countries across Europe, escalating Russia-Ukraine tensions and persisting worries about Middle East situation rendered the mood bearish.
Despite languishing in negative territory, oil prices remained at elevated levels and bond yields edged up as well, hurting sentiment.
France was rocked by violent riots over the weekend as student protests snowballed into a nationwide revolt over living costs and public services. As hundreds of thousands joined the protest, the situation turned chaotic with cars set alight, shops ransacked and an iconic town hall completely destroyed on Saturday.
'Nothing justifies it, nothing explains it, nothing excuses it. Tonight, we all fell anger and shame,' French President Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday, a day after France suffered one of its worst days of unrest in years.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian attacks set an oil export terminal ablaze in St Petersburg on Sunday, as Kyiv launched more than 1,000 drones at Russia in one of the war's largest aerial assaults.
The pan European Stoxx 600 fell 0.8%. The UK's FTSE 100 ended 1.08% down, Germany's DAX closed lower by 1.18% and France's CAC 40 shed 1.11%, while Switzerland's SMI settled with a loss of 0.16%.
Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Türkiye closed notably lower.
Netherlands and Norway edged down marginally, while Iceland and Russia ended higher.
In the UK market, miners and banks were among the major losers. Miners Anglo American Plc and Glencore shed 4% and 3.3%, respectively. Rio Tinto ended 1.48% down, and Endeavour Mining settled lower by 1.3%.
Barclays ended 3.5% down. Natwest Group drifted down 2.7% and Standard Chartered closed 2.25% down. HSBC Holdings settled lower by 2.1%. Lloyds Banking Group ended with a loss of 1.7%.
3i Group, SSE, WPP, National Grid, IG Group Holdings, Airtel Africa, Investec, Informa, JD Sports Fashion, Segro, Weir, Imperial Brands, Games Workshop, Severn Trent, Reckitt Benckiser, Metlen Energy & Metals, Prudential, Diageo and BAE Systems declined sharply.
Marks & Spencer moved up 2.2%. Sainsbury (J), Coca-Cola HBC, The Sage Group, Compass Group and Scottish Mortgage gained 1%-2%. Melrose Industries, Land Securities, Relx and Tesco posted moderate gains.
In the German market, Rheinmetall tumbled 3.7% and RWE closed 3.1% down. Deutsche Bank, Bayer, Daimler Truck Holding, Commerzbank, E.ON, Allianz, MTU Aero Engines, Siemens, Continental and Vonovia ended down 1.4%-3%.
Fresenius Medical Care, Deutsche Telekom, BASF and Siemens Healthineers also ended notably lower.
Zalando moved up 2.7%. Symrise, Volkswagen, Porsche Automobil Holding and Qiagen also closed higher.
In the French market, Stellantis, Societe Generale, Accor, Engie, Credit Agricole, Orange, BNP Paribas, Airbus, Carrefour, Michelin, Unibail Rodamco and Legrand lost 2%-3.7%.
LVMH, Bouygues, Danone, Veolia Environment, EssilorLuxottica, Vinci, Sanofi, AXA, Renault and Pernod Ricard also ended weak.
Teleperformance climbed 2.3% and Capgemini gained 1.5%. Eurofins Scientific, Dassault Systemes and Bureau Veritas also closed on firm note.
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