European Stocks Close Lower On U.S.-Iran Ceasefire Uncertainty

(RTTNews) - European stocks fell on Monday amid renewed concerns about Middle East tensions after Iran rejected participation in a second round of peace negotiations with the U.S., citing Washington's excessive demands, constant shifts in stance, contradictions and the continuing naval blockade.

Iran has launched drone attacks on U.S. military ships, accusing Washington of playing a "blame game" and violating international law after American forces seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship.

The pan European Stoxx 600 ended down 0.82%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 closed 0.55% down, while Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 finished lower by 1.15% and 1.12%, respectively. Switzerland's SMI slid 1.06%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Greece, Ireland, Poland, Spain, Sweden and Türkiye closed notably lower.

Iceland and Netherlands edged down marginally. Norway and Russia ended higher, while Finland and Portugal closed flat.

In the UK market, Metlen Energy & Metals fell 5.28%. Antofagasta closed lower by 4.5%. Barratt Redrow, Rolls-Royce Holdings, Fresnillo, Persimmon, Entain and Natwest Group lost 3%-4%.

Weir Group, Kingfisher, St. James's Place, Spirax Group, Howden Joinery Group, 3i Group, Segro, Informa, Lloyds Banking Group, Barclays, IAG, Marks & Spencer, British Land, Melrose Industries, Anglo American Plc and Intertek Group were among the other notable losers.

Centrica climbed 3.5%. BP and Shell moved up 3% and 2.5%, respectively, as oil prices rose sharply amid rising tensions in the Middle East.

British American Tobacco, Vodafone Group, Tesco, IG Group Holdings, Bunzl, Imperial Brands, BT Group and Severn Trent also closed higher.

In the German market, MTU Aero Engines ended down by about 4.3%. SAP drifted down nearly 4%. Volkswagen, Heidelberg Materials, Deutsche Bank, Siemens, Fresenius, Porsche Automobil Holding, Siemens Healthineers, Continental and Beiersdorf closed lower by 1.5%-2.5%.

RWE climbed more than 2.5%. Commerzbank, Deutsche Boerse, Brenntag, Hannover RE, Bayer, E.ON and Munich RE also closed higher.

In the French market, EssilorLuxottica fell more than 4%. Safran, Saint Gobain, Teleperformance, Societe Generale, Renault, Hermes International, Dassault Systemes, Accor, Kering, Publicis Groupe, Schneider Electric, BNP Paribas, LVMH, Airbus, Legrand, L'Oreal and Capgemini lost 1.7%-4%.

Orange climbed 3.5%. TotalEnergies gained about 1.8%, while Carrefour and STMicroelectronics closed up by 1.5% and 1.1%, respectively.

In economic news, Germany's producer prices declined at the slowest pace in a year in March amid energy price fluctuations caused by the war in the Middle East. Producer prices logged an annual fall of 0.2% in March, following a 3.3% decrease seen in February. On a monthly basis, producer prices showed a renewed increase of 2.5% versus a 0.5% decline in February.

Eurozone construction production contracted for the second straight month in February, data from Eurostat showed. Construction output dropped 0.2% monthly in February, slower than the 1.3% decrease in January.

The overall downturn was due to a 0.3% fall in specialized construction activities. On an annual basis, the decline in construction output eased to 1.9% from 4.1%.

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