European Markets Close Mixed On Thursday

(RTTNews) - The major European stock markets closed in mixed fashion on Thursday, trying to shrug off a soft open that carried over the previous day's weakness.

Investors were concerned about rising interest rates and slowing economic growth after the Bank of Canada's unexpected rate hike, ahead of key monetary policy reviews next week. Soft Eurozone GDP added to the cautious sentiment.

The DAX in Germany added 29.40 points or 0.18 percent to finish at 15,989.96, while London's FTSE slumped 24.60 points or 0.32 percent to close at 7,599.74 and the CAC 40 in France gained 19.36 points or 0.27 percent to end at 7,222.15.

In Germany, Daimler Truck Holding surged 2.37 percent, while Heidelberg Materials spiked 2.17 percent, Volkswagen rallied 1.14 percent, Deutsche Post climbed 0.87 percent, Deutsche Telekom dropped 0.75 percent, Deutsche Borse added 0.58 percent, Deutsche Bank collected 0.52 percent, Vonovia lost 0.47 percent, RWE was down 0.20 percent and Infineon rose 0.20 percent.

In London, Vodafone plummeted 5.52 percent, while Scottish Mortgage tumbled 1.44 percent, Entain jumped 1.41 percent, M&G slumped 1.37 percent, Rightmove dropped 1.14 percent, Prudential sank 0.97 percent, Airtel Africa advanced 0.95 percent, BAE gained 0.88 percent, Rentokil fell 0.70 percent, Centrica dipped 0.59 percent and Rolls-Royce eased 0.47 percent.

In France, Atos jumped 2.07 percent, while Societe Generale climbed 1.17 percent, Orange declined 0.84 percent, Credit Agricole improved 0.76 percent, Compagnie de Saint-Gobain added 0.54 percent, BNP Paribas collected 0.44 percent, Engie gained 0.34 percent, Vivendi shed 0.14 percent and Veolia Environment rose 0.11 percent.

In economic news, the euro area economy slipped into a recession in the first quarter, revised data from Eurostat showed on Thursday. Gross domestic product shrank 0.1 percent sequentially after posting a similar fall in the fourth quarter. The first quarter GDP figure was revised down from the 0.1 percent expansion estimated initially. On a yearly basis, economic growth eased to 1.0 percent from 1.8 percent in the preceding period.

Romania's economic growth was unrevised in the first quarter, the statistical office said Thursday. On an unadjusted basis, GDP expanded 2.3 percent annually in the March quarter, slower than the 4.5 percent rise in the three months prior and in line with last month's flash data. Seasonally adjusted GDP growth slowed to 2.8 percent from 4.3 percent in the previous quarter, as estimated.

France's payroll employment increased in the first quarter, reflecting the improvement in private sector job creation, final data from the statistical office INSEE showed Thursday. Overall payroll employment grew 0.3 percent, or 92,400, in Q1 - slightly faster than the 0.2 percent, or 55,400 jobs, created in the previous quarter.