European Markets Finish Mixed But Little Changed On Monday

(RTTNews) - The major European stock markets saw little movement in cautious trade on Monday, largely hugging the unchanged line before finishing on opposite sides of it.

The U.S. markets were closed on Monday for Presidents Day and the mood was tentative because of recent hawkish signals from Fed Reserve and ECB officials regarding the outlook for interest rates.

This was offset by optimism around China's recovery as the country moves past the latest round of COVID-19 restrictions.

Germany's DAX eased 4.45 points or 0.03 percent to finish at 15,477.55, while the FTSE in London rose 9.95 points or 0.12 percent to close at 8,014.31 and the CAC 40 in France fell 12.11 points or 0.16 percent.

In Germany, Deutsche Bank plunged 2.09 percent, while BASF jumped 1.67 percent, Siemens Energy stumbled 1.48 percent, Volkswagen climbed 1.13 percent, Infineon dropped 0.89 percent, Deutsche Post advanced 0.74 percent, Daimler Truck Holding sank 0.43 percent, Deutsche Telekom added 0.22 percent, Deutsche Borse rose 0.12 percent and Heidelberg Cement eased 0.03 percent.

In London, Frasers Group surged 3.18 percent, while Airtel Africa tumbled 2.18 percent, Schroeders jumped 1.54 percent, Centrica slumped 1.14 percent, Compass Group declined 0.81 percent, Prudential sank 0.73 percent, Shell lost 0.67 percent, Rolls-Royce Holdings fell 0.59 percent, St. James Place added 0.28 percent, Rightmove eased 0.14 percent and British American Tobacco was up 0.13 percent.

In France, Airbus stumbled 2.24 percent, while Orange climbed 1.05 percent, Veolia Environment advanced 0.88 percent, Engie improved 0.70 percent, Vivendi shed 0.65 percent, Credit Agricole lost 0.53 percent, Societe Generale slid 0.48 percent, Carrefour rose 0.33 percent and BNP Paribas collected 0.11 percent.

In economic news, Euro area consumer sentiment strengthened for the fifth month in a row to its highest level in over a year, preliminary data from the European Commission showed Monday.

The flash consumer confidence index for Eurozone climbed to -19.0 from -20.9 in January. That was in line with economists' expectations. The latest reading was the highest since February last year, when it was at -9.4.