In This Article:
-
The pan-European Stoxx 600 was down around 0.3% during mid-morning deals, with most sectors and major bourses in negative territory.
-
Spain's ruling socialists clinched victory in the country's general election Sunday.
-
The result also saw Spain's Vox party gain 24 seats, making it the first far-right party to enter parliament since military rule ended in the 1970s.
European stocks were lower Monday morning, after weak euro zone data exacerbated fears over the outlook for the global economy.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 was down around 0.3% during mid-morning deals, with most sectors and major bourses in negative territory.
Official data published Monday showed euro zone economic sentiment slipped for the 10th consecutive month to its lowest level in more than two years in April. Sentiment in the bloc fell to 104.0 points in April, down from 105.6 in March, as managers in the industry and retail sector became more downbeat.
Utilities and oil and gas stocks led the losses shortly after 11:00 a.m. London time, both down more than 1%.
Meanwhile, Europe's banking index was one of the few sectoral gainers, up around 0.1% after S&P Global affirmed Italy's credit rating at BBB on Friday. The agency is giving more time for Rome's populist government to implement policies to address the country's economic woes. Banco BPM BAMI-IT and Intesa Sanpaolo ISP-IT were both up more than 1.5% on the news.
Looking at individual stocks, Germany's Bayer BAYN-DE slumped toward the bottom of the European benchmark. On Saturday, the firm's supervisory board said it stands behind the management after a majority of shareholders refused to ratify management's actions in 2018. Shares of Bayer slipped over 2.5%.
Sticking with Germany, chemicals maker Covestro 1COV-DE said Monday core profit tumbled 58% over the first three months of 2019, with product prices under pressure as rivals bolster their output. Shares of the company fell nearly 2%.
Spain's socialists win snap election
Market participants eagerly await a meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve and Chinese factory data for further clues on policy direction in the world's largest economies.
It comes after the U.S. reported stronger-than-anticipated growth over the first three months of the year. Official data showed gross domestic product ( GDP ) stood at an annualized rate of 3.2% in the first quarter of 2019, beating analyst expectations.
The U.S. central bank's Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) is due to announce its latest monetary policy decision on Wednesday.