European Markets Dropped Ahead Of ECB Meeting

(RTTNews) - The majority of the European markets ended Tuesday's session in negative territory. Investor concerns over the situation in Greece weighed on the markets. Traders also exercised caution ahead of Wednesday's European Central Bank meeting. Sentiment was also impacted by the disappointing U.S. retail sales report and some mixed U.S. corporate results.

The European Central bank will announce its interest rate decision tomorrow and economists expect the bank to retain interest rates unchanged at 0.05 percent. With inflation staying well below the target and the economic recovery just taking hold, ECB President Mario Draghi is expected to quash talk of wrapping up the quantitative easing program early at a press conference after the scheduled Governing Council meeting.

Investors also continue to monitor the situation in Greece. Greece has until April 24 to present a list of reforms which, if found acceptable, would unlock the final tranche of aid to keep the Greek economy afloat.

The Greek government denied reports that it is planning to default on its loan repayment to the IMF. Greece also denied reports that it is considering early elections.

The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks decreased by 1.19 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, lost 0.51 percent.

The DAX of Germany declined by 0.90 percent and the CAC 40 of France fell by 0.69 percent. The FTSE of the U.K. climbed by 0.16 percent, but the SMI of Switzerland finished lower by 0.16 percent.

In Frankfurt, Fraport dipped by 0.30 percent, after reporting passenger data for the month of March.

Gerresheimer climbed by 5.83 percent. The company reported increased profit for the first quarter.

Commerzbank declined by 2.33 percent and Deutsche Bank fell by 1.49 percent.

Daimler decreased by 1.46 percent and BMW lost 0.99 percent. Volkswagen also finished down by 0.92 percent.

In Paris, Societe Generale dropped by 1.92 percent. BNP Paribas decreased by 1.42 percent and Credit Agricole lost 1.20 percent.

LVMH fell by 2.49 percent. The company's first quarter revenue rose 16% to €8.32 billion from €7.21 billion in the same quarter last year.

Alcatel Lucent surged by 16 percent after Nokia confirmed talks to acquire the telecom equipment maker. Nokia dropped by 3.60 percent in Helsinki.

At the same time, Ericsson advanced by 0.37 percent in Stockholm. A combination of Nokia and Alcatel Lucent is expected to enable the Finnish networking company compete better against Ericsson.

In London, Aberdeen Asset Management declined by 2.51 percent. RBC Capital Markets downgraded its rating on the stock to "Underperform" from "Sector Perform."

BP finished down by 0.01 percent. Citigroup downgraded its rating on the stock to "Neutral" from "Buy."

Tullow Oil gained 8.57 percent, after Citigroup upgraded it to "Buy" from "Neutral."

Mining stocks were among the best performing stocks. Anglo American increased by 4.09 percent and BHP Billiton gained 3.07 percent. Antofagasta advanced by 2.91 percent and Rio Tinto added 2.79 percent. Glencore also finished higher by 2.88 percent.

Eurozone industrial production grew the most in seven months in February and exceeded economists' expectations, figures from Eurostat showed Tuesday. Industrial production rose a working-day adjusted 1.6 percent year-on-year following 0.4 percent growth in January, which was revised from 1.2 percent. Economists had expected 0.8 percent growth.

Germany's wholesale prices continued to fall in March but the pace of decline slowed for the second straight month, data from Destatis showed Tuesday. Wholesale prices fell 1.1 percent year-on-year in March, following a 2.1 percent drop in February. The wholesale price index has been declining since July 2013.

British inflation remained at a record low for the second straight month in March as declines in clothing and gas prices were offset by higher motor fuel costs. Inflation remained at zero in March after easing to that level for the first time on record in February, the Office for National Statistics reported Tuesday. The annual rate matched economists' expectations.

House price inflation in the U.K. eased for a fifth consecutive month in February, data from the Office for National Statistics showed Tuesday. Average house prices rose 7.2 percent annually following 8.4 percent in January. It was the slowest rate of growth since September's 12.1 percent.

U.K. retail sales grew more than expected in March, as food sales posted its strongest expansion since July 2013 due to the timing of Easter, survey data published by the British Retail Consortium and KPMG showed Tuesday. Retail sales advanced 3.2 percent on a like-for-like basis in March from last year, when it decreased 1.7 percent. Sales were expected to rise by a more modest 0.5 percent.

While the Commerce Department released a report on Tuesday showing that U.S. retail sales rebounded in March following three straight monthly declines, the increase fell short of economist estimates. The report said retail sales climbed by 0.9 percent in March following a revised 0.5 percent decrease in February.

However, economists had been expecting sales to surge up by 1.1 percent compared to the 0.6 percent drop originally reported for the previous month. With a jump in energy prices offsetting a continued drop in food prices, the Labor Department released a report on Tuesday showing that U.S. producer prices rose for the first time in five months in March.

The Labor Department said its producer price index for final demand rose by 0.2 percent in March after falling by 0.5 percent in February. The increase by the index, the first since last October, matched economist estimates.

Business inventories in the U.S. increased by slightly more than expected in the month of February, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Tuesday. The report showed that business inventories rose by 0.3 percent in February after coming in unchanged in January. Economists had expected inventories to edge up by 0.2 percent.