European Stocks Close Lower As Markets Monitor Virus Updates, Look Ahead To Economic Data

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed lower on Thursday with investors largely making cautious moves as they continued to track news about the Omicron coronavirus variant and looked ahead to some crucial economic data from the U.S.

Markets had moved higher in recent sessions, riding on reports that the Omicron variant of the coronavirus is unlikely to impact global economic recovery. However, with several countries imposing stricter restrictions on movements to curb the spread of the variant, the mood in global markets has turned quite cautious since Wednesday.

Amid rising cocerns about inflation, traders looked ahead to Friday's report of U.S. consumer inflation in November for additional clues on the Federal Reserve's next policy move.

The pan European Stoxx 600 edged down 0.08%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 ended down 0.22%, Germany's DAX declined 0.3% and France's CAC 40 edged lower by 0.09%, while Switzerland's SMI closed with a small gain of 0.08%.

Among other markets in Europe, Finland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Spain ended with moderate losses, while Austria, Belgium, Iceland and Sweden edged down marginally.

Czech Republic, Denmark, Greece, Portugal, Russia and Turkey closed higher.

Travel-related stocks declined amid worries about the impact of tougher Covid-19 restrictions in several countries.

In the UK market, Rolls-Royce Holdings ended 3.3% down after a warning that international travel is recovering more slowly than expected, which is dragging down on its core jet engine business.

IAG also ended lower by about 3.3%. Entain Plc, Schrodders, M&G, Intermediate Capital Group, ABRDN, Barclays, Intercontinetal Hotels Group, Melrose Industries, Ashtead Group, BP, Royal Dutch Shell, Lloyds Banking Group and Smiths Group shed 1.2 to 2.1%.

BT Group surged up 2.8% and B&M European Value Retail gained 2.25%, while Intertek Group, Pershing Square Holdings, Halma, Rentokil Initial and Ferguson gained 1.4 to 2.25%.

Smith (DS) shares closed on a firm note after the company posted an 80% surge in first-half profit and declared a higher interim dividend.

Experian, Sage Group, Darktrace and National Grid also closed notably higher. AstraZeneca advanced after US health regulators approved its antibody cocktail to prevent COVID-19 disease in immuno-suppressed patients.

In the French market, Unibail Rodamco, Air France-KLM, Airbus, ArcelorMittal, Accor, Technip, Safran, Faurecia, Kering and BNP Paribas lost 1 to 2.8%.

Veolia climbed more than 2%. Carrefour, Teleperformance, Pernod Ricard, Legrand and Michelin gained 1 to 1.5%.

In Germany, Deutsche Bank declined more than 3% after a Wall Street Journal report said the lender might have violated a criminal settlement.

Deutsche Post, Adidas, HeidelbergCement, Fresenius Medical Care, Fresenius, MTU Aero Engines, Continental and Infineon Technologies shed 1 to 1.6%.

HelloFresh, which suffered a hefty loss in the previous session, rebounded and closed more than 2.5% up today. E.ON, Merck and Sartorius gained 1.2 to 1.6%.

Shares of Italian lender UniCredit soared nearly 11% after the company announced that it plans to pay out about 16 billion euros ($18.11 billion) in share buybacks and dividends to shareholders by 2024.

Finnish oil company Neste declined sharply after the resignation of its chief executive officer.

In economic releases, German exports grew by adjusted 4.1% on a monthly basis in October, reversing a 0.7% fall in September, Destatis reported.

Economists had forecast an increase of 0.9%. On a yearly basis, exports growth improved to 8.1% from 7.2%.

U.K. recruiters reported a robust expansion in hiring activity in November, with both permanent placement and temp billing rising strongly, the latest KPMG and REC, U.K. Report on Jobs survey showed.

UK house prices are expected to increase next year at the national level, the residential market survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, or RICS, showed. A net 66% of contributors said prices will likely increase over the next year.

Switzerland's State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, or SECO, on Thursday lowered the country's economic growth forecast for next year, but raised the inflation outlook.

The SECO cut the GDP growth forecast, with adjustments for sport events, for next year to 3% from 3.4% predicted in September.

The GDP growth forecast without adjustments was lowered to 3.2%from 3.6%, while the inflation forecast for this year was raised to 0.6% from 0.5%. The price growth outlook for next year was lifted to 1.1% from 0.8%.