European stocks close lower on Russia-Ukraine tensions

On Monday, European markets closed lower, as investors monitored the situation in relations between Russia and Ukraine and unexpectedly strong economic data from the Eurozone and the UK.

 

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was down 1.4%, initially trading higher at the start of the session. Cars fell 2.7% due to losses as all sectors and major exchanges went into the red.

 

President Joe Biden "in principle" agreed to a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, paving the way for the latest diplomatic effort to prevent an invasion of Ukraine by Russian troops.

 

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Sunday night if Moscow does not launch an invasion in the coming days, the summit will take place after a scheduled meeting between U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov later this week.

 

However, a U.S. official said Moscow had compiled lists of Ukrainians to be attacked after the invasion, according to a letter reviewed by NBC News.

 

Shares in the Asia-Pacific region mostly declined on Monday as investors continued to monitor the situation around Ukraine, while China left its benchmark lending rate unchanged.

 

Markets in the United States closed on Monday in connection with the President's Day holiday, after a sharp drop on Friday, as global markets were agitated by rising tensions in Easter n Europe.

 

In corporate news, Credit Suisse said in a statement on Sunday that it "strongly rejects" the allegations, published after a coordinated global media investigation into the massive leakage of its customers' data in previous decades. It was assumed that the leaked information contained violators of human rights and businessmen under sanctions.

 

The Swiss lender said the information published by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project and 46 other news organizations is based on "partial, inaccurate, or selective information taken out of context." Shares of Credit Suisse fell 3%.

 

Shares of Swedish real estate company SBB rose 6% topped the Stoxx 600 later in the evening, with high trading volumes causing sharp swings in stocks after Viceroy Research announced the shorts. that she had a short position on the company's shares.

 

At the bottom of the index, Polymetal International shares fell more than 8% as Russia-focused stocks took a hit.

 

As for the data, despite the record increase in consumer prices, in February, according to IHS Markit, the composite PMI index (purchasing managers' index) of the eurozone, considered a reliable indicator of the general state of the economy, reached a five-month high and amounted to 55.8.

 

This figure significantly exceeded the forecast of 52.7, made by the results of the Reuters poll, and 52.3, recorded in January.

 

The UK composite PMI hit an eight-month high of 60.2 in February, down from 54.2 in January and well above forecasts.

 

Strong indicators raise expectations that central banks will need to raise rates in the near future. That's sharper than previously expected as inflation continues to rise.