European Stocks Close Slightly Lower

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed lower on Thursday with investors taking some profits after recent uptick. In addition to digesting the latest batch of economic data from the region and the U.S., traders also looked ahead to U.S. non-farm payroll data due on Friday.

The pan European Stoxx 600 ended down 0.27%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 edged down 0.02%, Germany's DAX closed lower by 0.16% and France's CAC 40 settled 0.1% down. Switzerland's SMI drifted down 0.3%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain and Sweden ended weak.

Finland, Iceland and Turkiye closed higher, while Greece and Netherlands settled flat.

In the UK market, Vodafone ended more than 3% down. IAG, Burberry Group, Standard Chartered, JD Sports Fashion, BT, Rentokil Initial, Next, BP, Prudential and BAE Systems lost 1 to 2.5%.

Future Plc shares plummeted 17%. The platform for specialist media announced that Penny Ladkin-Brand, Chief Financial and Strategy Officer, has informed the Board of her decision to step down later next year.

Games Workshop slumped 14% in London after releasing its half-year trading update.

TUI rallied more than 3.5%. Johnson Matthey, IHG, Barratt Developments, Severn Trent, Taylor Wimpey, Phoenix Holdings, Legal & General, Carnival, Glencore, Ds Smith and RightMove gained 1.5 to 3%.

In the German market, Puma surged 5.7%. Commerzbank climbed more than 4%. Zalando, Adidas, Porsche, Siemens Energy and Bayer ended lower by 1.7 to 3.4%.

Merck gained about 2.7%, rebounding from recent losses. HeidelbergCement and BASF gained about 1.75% and 1.5%, respectively. Deutsche Post gained nearly 1%.

In Paris, Teleperformance, Unibail Rodamco, STMicroElectronics, Sanofi and Renault ended lower by 1 to 2.5%.

Airline group Air France-KLM declined sharply after JPMorgan analysts cut their rating on the stock.

Edenred gained about 1.25%. Eurofins Scientific, AXA, BNP Paribas, Michelin, Bouygues, Danone and Credit Agricole advanced 0.6 to 1%.

On the economic front, Germany's industrial production declined unexpectedly in October driven by the fall in machinery and equipment output, reinforcing fears of a recession at the end of this year.

Industrial production logged a monthly fall of 0.4% in October, slower than the revised 1.3% decrease in September. However, production marked the fifth consecutive decrease.

UK house prices increased for the second successive month in November largely reflecting shortage of properties, results of a survey by the Lloyds Bank subsidiary Halifax and S&P Global showed. House prices grew 0.5% in November from October, when they rose 1.2%. The pace of growth also exceeded forecast of 0.3%. .

France's foreign trade deficit decreased in October as exports grew faster than imports, data from the customs office showed on Thursday.

The trade deficit dropped to EUR 8.6 billion in October from EUR 8.9 billion in the previous month. In the same month last year, the deficit was EUR 11.8 billion. Exports posted a monthly increase of 1.2% in October, and imports showed a comparatively lower rise of 0.6%.

The euro area economy contracted marginally in the third quarter as previously estimated, solely due to weaker global demand, suggesting that the currency bloc is on the verge of a recession. Gross domestic product shrunk 0.1% quarterly, offsetting the 0.1 percent expansion in the second quarter, data published by Eurostat showed.