Miners Lead European Stocks Lower

(RTTNews) - The European markets faded badly on Monday, erasing early gains amid weakness in mining and energy shares.

The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks lost 0.17 percent. Around the continent, the German DAX dropped 0.85 percent, the French CAC 40 was flat and the UK's FTSE 100 slipped 0.4 percent. Switzerland's SMI lost 0.29 percent.

In Paris, Bouygues rose 7.3 percent. The conglomerate seeks to sell part of its mobile phone network and a portfolio of frequencies to smaller peer Iliad SA's Free in a deal valued up to $2.5 billion. Iliad gained 12.6 percent.

In London, Rolls-Royce rose 0.8 percent on news that Daimler plans to sell a 50 percent stake in an engine joint venture to the British engine maker.

Antofagasta, Glencore Xstrata, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto moved lower in response to data out of China.

DSM, which announced a new chief financial officer, was flat in Amsterdam.

On a day of very little economic news, a survey conducted by think tank Sentix on Eurozone investor confidence showed that composite confidence index rose to 13.9 in March from 13.3 in February, while it was forecast to rise to 14. However, it was the highest score since April 2011. Assessment of current situation climbed to 4.8, the highest since July 2011, from 1.8 in February.

Meanwhile, reports indicate that a group of Russian soldiers attacked the Chernomorskoe border post and detained Ukrainian border guards amid the ongoing standoff.

China's exports unexpectedly tumbled by 18 percent last month, swinging the trade balance into deficit of $22.98 billion, official figures showed. Separately, consumer price inflation rose 2 percent in February from a year earlier, a 13-month low and down from 2.5 percent in January amid cooling demand.