Europe close: Stocks finish mostly lower as data disappoints

European stock markets finished in mixed fashion on Thursday with the regional Stoxx 600 slipping into the red by the close as investors were met with weak economic data as they returned to their desks following the Labour Day holiday.

The Stoxx 600 closed down 0.2%, with gains in London, Milan and Madrid outweighed by falls in Frankfurt and Paris. The Cac 40 in particular fell sharply, down 0.8%.

In economic news, the malaise in eurozone manufacturing activity worsened last month on the back of anaemic demand despite price cuts at the factory gate, with companies axing more jobs as a result, a survey showed on Thursday. HCOB's final eurozone manufacturing purchasing managers' index, fell to 45.7 in April from March's 46.1, and below the 50 mark denoting growth in activity. The figure was just ahead of a 45.6 preliminary estimate.

"What is going to rescue the eurozone economy? While this is a difficult question, one thing is clear: It's not the manufacturing sector. Instead, this sector is prolonging its drawn out recession into April," said Cyrus de la Rubia, chief economist at Hamburg Commercial Bank.

Investors were also still absorbing comments from Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell on Wednesday, who said that while interest rates are unlikely to rise further, there was a "lack of further progress" in bringing down inflation to target levels. “It’s likely to take longer for us to gain confidence that we are on a sustainable path to 2% inflation," he said.

Market movers

Luxembourg-based steel titan ArcelorMittal was a high riser after beating forecasts with its first-quarter profits as it painted a positive outlook for global steel demand. Revenues were broadly in line with forecasts in the first three months of 2024 at $16.3bn, down from $18.5bn the year before, but EPS smashed estimates, falling to 116 cents from 128 cents a year earlier but well ahead of the 83 cents expected by analysts.

Shares in Hugo Boss tanked nearly 7% despite first-quarter results beating forecasts at the headline level, as the German fashion group reported falling sales in the key market of China. The company reported 4% sales growth in Asia Pacific, missing the 5.5% increase expected, as sales in China remained below last year's levels which it said reflected "overall muted local demand".

Danish shipping and logistics giant A.P. Møller – Mærsk fell 4% despite raising its 2024 profit guidance, saying that Red Sea disruptions are likely to continue for the rest of the year. It said that container volume growth is now expected to be towards the upper end of the 2.5% to 4.5% range.

Dutch lender ING Groep surged nearly 7% after announcing it will return €2.5bn to shareholders following a "very strong" first quarter. The bank, the Netherlands’ biggest by assets, said total income was largely flat in the three months to March end, edging up 0.3% year-on-year to €5.58bn.

Standard Chartered also gained 7% after the UK-listed lender backed its full-year guidance and posted a jump in first-quarter profit as it continued to benefit from higher interest rates.