European Markets Fell On Disappointing Data

(RTTNews) - The European markets ended Tuesday's session in negative territory. Following the sharp gains of the previous trading week, markets in Europe have been struggling since the start of the current week. Holidays in the U.S. and the U.K. kept trading activity on the light side Monday, while the impending U.S. jobs report for May at the end of this week is keeping some investors on the sidelines. Investors will also be watching for any developments from the European Central Bank meeting on Thursday.

There were a slew of economic reports from Europe today, the results of which were mixed. Eurozone consumer prices dropped in May from a year ago, marking the second consecutive month of declining prices, while unemployment in the euro area held steady at 10.2 percent in April, the same rate as seen in March.

The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks decreased 0.86 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, lost 1.07 percent.

The DAX of Germany dropped 0.68 percent and the CAC 40 of France fell 0.53 percent. The FTSE 100 of the U.K. declined 0.64 percent and the SMI of Switzerland finished lower by 0.74 percent.

In Frankfurt, embattled auto giant Volkswagen tumbled 2.61 percent after its sales and profits fell in the first three months of the year.

Deutsche Bank decreased 1.71 percent and Commerzbank surrendered 1.36 percent.

In Paris, Air France - KLM fell 1.74 percent. The airline said it is in exclusive discussions to sell a 49.99 percent stake in its airline catering unit, Servair, to China's HNA Group for an enterprise value of 475 million euros.

Peugeot lost 1.01 percent on a report the Peugeot family plans to hold informal talks with the French government to discuss the future of its stake in Peugeot PSA Citroen.

In London, easyJet dipped 1.22 percent after the budget airline imposed a new rule that stops passengers trying to pass through security barriers with less than 30 minutes before takeoff.

Inmarsat dropped 3.87 percent as the company is set to lose its place in the FTSE 100 in June.

Alliance Trust rose 2.46 percent after confirming it had received an informal merger proposal from the investment trust of British financier Jacob Rothschild.

Nestle decreased 1.01 percent in Zurich. The world's largest food company has agreed to pay DBV Technologies SA as much as 100 million euros ($111 million) to develop and market an experimental milk allergy test for infants.

Aryzta sank 4.70 percent after the bakery business reported that its third-quarter revenues declined 2.4 percent from last year to 949.8 million euros.

Insurer Delta Lloyd dropped 1.59 percent in Amsterdam after announcing it would sell up to 11.3 million depositary receipts, representing 27.4 percent of the total capital of Van Lanschot bank in a secondary offering.

Statoil declined 1.77 percent in Oslo after RBC Capital Markets downgraded its rating on the stock to "Underperform" from "Sector perform."

Eurozone consumer prices declined for the second straight month in May, despite several measures taken by the European Central Bank policymakers to lift prices to positive territory. Consumer prices dropped 0.1 percent from a year ago, as economists had expected, after easing 0.2 percent in April, the flash estimate published by Eurostat showed Tuesday.

Eurozone's jobless rate remained stable in April at the lowest level in more than four years, while the German figure slipped to a new low since the reunification, in May.

Data from the Eurostat showed that the unemployment rate came in at 10.2 percent in April, in line with expectations and the same rate as seen in March. This was the lowest rate recorded in the euro area since August 2011.

Germany's retail sales dropped unexpectedly in April, figures from Destatis revealed Tuesday. Retail turnover decreased 0.9 percent in April from March, confounding expectations for a 0.9 percent rise. This was the second consecutive drop in sales.

Germany's unemployment declined more than expected in May, the Federal Labor Agency reportedly said Tuesday. The number of people out of work decreased by 11,000 to 2.695 million in May. Economists had forecast a fall of 5,000.

Germany's unemployment rate held steady in April, after falling slightly in the previous month, preliminary figures from Destatis showed Tuesday. The adjusted jobless rate came in at 4.2 percent in April, the same rate as in the previous month. In the corresponding month last year, the unemployment rate was 4.7 percent.

French consumer prices continued to decline in May, the provisional estimate published by the statistical office Insee showed Tuesday. Consumer prices decreased 0.1 percent year-on-year in May, in line with expectations, but slower than the 0.2 percent drop seen in April. Prices have been falling since February.

Personal spending in the U.S. increased by more than expected in the month of April, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Tuesday.

The Commerce Department said personal spending jumped by 1.0 percent in April after coming in unchanged in March. Economists had expected spending to climb by 0.7 percent.

The report also said personal income rose by 0.4 percent in April, matching the increase seen in the previous month as well as economist estimates. Chicago-area business activity unexpectedly contracted in the month of May, MNI Indicators revealed in a report released on Tuesday.

MNI Indicators said its Chicago business barometer dropped to 49.3 in May from 50.4 in April, with a reading below 50 indicating a contraction. The decrease came as a surprise to economists, who had expected the index to inch up to 50.7.

After reporting a drop in consumer confidence in the previous month, the Conference Board released a report on Tuesday showing that confidence unexpectedly declined further in May. The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index dropped to 92.6 in May from 94.7 in April. The index had been expected to climb to 97.0.