European Stocks Close Lower On War Jitters

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed broadly lower on Monday as the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, and reports about an emerging subvariant of omicron strain of the coronavirus in Europe weighed on sentiment and rendered the mood cautious.

According to reports, the Ukrainian government rejected an ultimatum by Russia to surrender the port city of Mariupol or face the consequences.

The pan European Stoxx 600 edged up 0.04%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 moved up 0.51%, while Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 ended lower by 0.6% and 0.57%, respectively. Switzerland's SMI edged down 0.11%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Poland and Spain ended weak.

Czech Republic, Finland, Netherlands, Norway and Turkey closed higher, while Denmark, Portugal and Sweden ended flat.

Energy stocks moved higher as crude oil prices jumped after Houthi rebels targeted various Saudi Aramco oil and gas sites across the kingdom over the weekend.

In the UK market, Antofagasta surged up more than 8% after it agreed a deal with Canadian partner Barrick Gold Corp and authorities in Pakistan to exit the Reko Diq mine.

Airtel Africa and Anglo American Plc ended stronger by 6.3% and 6.12%, respectively. Shell, BP, Glencore, Polymetal International, Rio Tinto, Smiths Group and BT Group gained 2 to 4.1%.

DCC, Fresnillo, Prudential, BAE Systems, WPP, AstraZeneca and Aviva also ended notably higher.

Ocado Group plunged nearly 8%. Flutter Entertainment, ICP, Entain, Spirax-Sarco Engineering, Aveva, ABRDN, Segro, Hargreaves Lansdown, Smurfit Kappa Group, Berkeley Group Holdings, Experian and Sage Group lost 2 to 4%.

In the French market, Atos, Veolia, Safran, Danone, LO'real, Unibail Rodamco, Kering, Accor, Faurecia and Dassault Systemes lost 1.4 to 4%.

ArcelorMittal rallied nearly 5.5%. Thales climbed up 2.65%, while Publicis Groupe and Vivendi gained 1.25% and 1.1%, respectively.

In Germany, Vonovia, Deutsche Wohnen and Puma lost 3 to 4.3%. Zalando, Siemens, Fresenius, SAP, Adidas, Fresenius Medical Care, Siemens Healthineers and HeidelbergCement lost 1 to 2.3%.

BMW gained about 2.3%. Bayer advanced 1.3%, while BASF, MTU Aero Engines, Deutsche Bank and Munich RE gained 0.8 to 1%.

In economic releases, Germany's producer prices continued to accelerate on energy prices in February, data published by Destatis showed earlier today.

Producer price inflation accelerated further to 25.9% in February from 25% in January. Nonetheless, this was slightly slower than the expected growth of 26.2%.

On a monthly basis, producer prices gained 1.4%, slower than the 2.2% increase in the previous month and also the economists' forecast of 1.7%.