European Stocks End Mostly Lower

(RTTNews) - European markets ended mostly lower on Thursday, failing to hold earlier gains, after U.S. retail sales data fell short of expectations.

Investors were also tracking the developments on U.S.-China trade talks and Brexit.

The pan European Stoxx 600 ended down 0.32%. Among major markets in the region, Germany ended notably lower, with its benchmark DAX declining 0.69%. France's CAC 40 ended down 0.23% and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 edged up by 0.09%. Switzerland's SMI settled lower by 0.23%.

Russia, Austria and Poland ended sharply lower. Spain, Norway, Italy, Netherlands, Greece, Czech Republic and Belgium also ended weak, although with less pronounced losses.

Turkey, Sweden, Portugal, Iceland and Denmark ended modestly higher.

In the French market, Airbus gained about 2.7% on strong fourth quarter results. The group also announced the scrapping of its flagship A380 plane.

Legrand, up 7.1%, was the biggest gainer in the CAC 40 index. Schneider Electric and Capgemini gained 3.7% and 3.2%, respectively. Saint Gobain, Renault, Vivendi and Atos also ended notably higher.

Unibail Rodamco declined more than 5%. Essilor, Kering, BNP Paribas, ArcelorMittal, Peugeot and Societe Generale lost 2 to 3%.

In the German market, Bayer shed about 4%. Deutsche Bank, Thyssenkrupp, Lufthansa and Continental declined 2 to 3%.

Wirecard rallied 5.3% and RWE gained about 1.5%.

In the U.K. market, Coca Cola HBC plunged 8.5% after the company warned of higher finance costs and weak consumer spending in most of its markets this year.

Convatec tumbled on disappointing results. TUI ended 2.6% down, extending recent losses. Paddy Power, Old Mutual and Capita also declined sharply.

Micro Focus soared 12.3%. AstraZeneca gained 7.5%. Mediclinic International, Intu Properties, Hikama Pharma and BAE Systems closed stronger by 1.6 to 2.7%.

On Brexit, the British lawmakers are set to debate and vote on the way forward in the Brexit process later in the day.

Investors were also following the developments on U.S.-China trade talks.

In economic releases from Europe, Germany's economy stagnated in the fourth quarter of 2018 to avoid a technical recession, preliminary data from the Federal Statistical Office showed.

GDP came in unchanged from the third quarter, when the economy contracted 0.2 percent. Economists were looking for a modest increase of 0.1%.

According to another report from the Statistical Office, Germany's wholesale price index climbed 1.1% year-on-year in January, after a 2.5% rise in December. The pace was the slowest since February 2017, when prices rose 1.1%.

Data from Eurostat showed Gross Domestic Product in Eurozone grew 0.2% in the fourth quarter, over the preceding quarter. Compared to same quarter a year ago, GDP was up 1.2% after a 1.6% increase in the three months to September.

Meanwhile, Eurozone employment grew 0.3% sequentially in the fourth quarter, after a 0.2% rise in the previous three months.

In economic news from U.S., a report from the Commerce Department showed an unexpected substantial decrease in retail sales in the month of December. The report said retail sales tumbled by 1.2% in December after inching up by a revised 0.1% in November. Economists had expected retail sales to rise by 0.2%.