European Markets Close Weak After Cautious Session

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed weak on Monday as investors stayed cautious and largely refrained from making significant moves, looking for fresh signals.

Markets in the U.K. and U.S. were closed today for Bank Holiday and Memorial Day, respectively. Investors, digesting euro zone inflation data and some corporate news, were reluctant to build up positions.

Germany's harmonized inflation exceeded the European Central Bank's target of 'below, but close to 2%' in May, flash data from Destatis showed.

Harmonized consumer prices grew 2.4% year-on-year in May, faster than the 2.1% increase in April. The rate came in line with economists' expectations and was the highest since 2018.

At the same time, consumer price inflation accelerated to 2.5% from 2% in April. The rate was above forecast of 2.3%.

On a monthly basis, the harmonized index of consumer prices gained 0.3% as expected in May. The consumer price index was up 0.5%, bigger than the expected rate of 0.3%.

Markets are awaiting a slew of economic data, including euro zone manufacturing PMI, service sector activity report, unemployment rate and retails sales.

The pan European Stoxx 600 declined 0.49%. Germany's DAX slid 0.64%, France's CAC 40 ended lower by 0.57% and Switzerland's SMI shed 0.55%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Spain and Sweden ended with sharp to moderate losses.

Czech Republic, Poland and Turkey edged down marginally, while Greece and Iceland closed higher.

In France, all adults in the country became eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine today.

In the French market, Faurecia, Safran, Unibail Rodamco, Airbus Group, Sanofi and BNP Paribas lost 1 to 2%.

ArcelorMittal gained about 1.5%. Hermes International, Accor and Michelin posted modest gains.

In Germany, Deutsche Bank shares lost about 1.25% upon reports of anti-money laundering concerns raised by the U.S. Federal Reserve.

SAP, Bayer, SAP, Fresenius, MTU Aero Engines, RWE and Allianz shed 1 to 2%. Volkswagen gained about 1%.