FX.co ★ European Stocks Close Mixed After Choppy Session

On Monday, European stocks ended on a mixed note after a volatile session, as investors monitored political developments and anticipated imminent interest rate decisions from the Bank of England and the Swiss National Bank, as well as new economic data to gain insights into global economic growth.

French government bonds experienced a temporary relief after Marine Le Pen, the leader of the French far-right, pledged cooperation with President Emmanuel Macron in the event she wins the upcoming snap parliamentary election. Simultaneously, European Central Bank policymakers indicated no immediate plans to initiate emergency purchases of French bonds to stabilize the market.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 saw a slight increase of 0.09%. Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 rose by 0.37% and 0.91%, respectively. Conversely, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 dipped by 0.06%, while Switzerland's SMI fell by 0.34%.

Additional European markets displayed varied performances: Austria, Finland, Netherlands, Norway, and Poland closed higher, while Belgium, Denmark, Greece, Iceland, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden experienced declines.

Within the UK market, Beazley led gains with an almost 3% increase. Other notable gainers included B&M European Value Retail, Hargreaves Lansdown, Entain, St. James's Place, Intermediate Capital Group, Ashtead, Airtel Africa, Barclays Group, Admiral Group, Vodafone, Legal & General, and HSBC Holdings, all climbing between 1% and 2.5%. Conversely, Convatec Group, Melrose Industries, and Severn Trent posted declines between 3.6% and 3.8%, while Ocado Group, United Utilities, Croda International Group, SSE, Glencore, Aviva, and Tesco dropped by 1% to 2.8%.

In Germany, Zalando surged about 2.8%. Deutsche Börse, Qiagen, Deutsche Bank, Siemens, BMW, Hannover Rück, HeidelbergCement, Continental, Daimler Truck Holding, and Symrise gained between 1% and 2%. Meanwhile, Fresenius Medical Care, Bayer, Adidas, Vonovia, and Siemens Healthineers saw losses ranging from 2% to 4%, with Sartorius, Covestro, and Infineon also ending significantly lower.

In Paris, Teleperformance advanced by 3.7%, and Essilor increased by approximately 2.6%. AXA, Safran, L'Oreal, Sanofi, Airbus Group, Saint Gobain, BNP Paribas, Société Générale, Publicis Groupe, and Renault registered gains between 1% and 2%. Thales rose following an announcement to quadruple its ammunition production capacity at a local facility, backed by a substantial army order. Stellantis enjoyed moderate gains amid reports of a Stellantis-led joint venture commencing electric vehicle production for China's Leapmotor at the Tychy plant in Poland. However, Unibail-Rodamco, Edenred, Dassault Systèmes, Veolia, and Legrand recorded sharp to moderate losses.

From an economic perspective, survey data from Rightmove revealed that asking prices for British homes entering the market remained flat this month. Additionally, the Make UK Q2 Manufacturing Outlook Survey indicated that output and orders at UK manufacturers have improved in Q2 in anticipation of the forthcoming election.

Lastly, data published by Eurostat showed that the euro area hourly labor cost increased at a faster pace in the first quarter, rising by 5.1% year-over-year, compared to a 3.4% increase in the fourth quarter of 2023.