European Markets Pulled Back On Profit Taking

(RTTNews) - The European markets finished in the red Tuesday, retreating from their highest level in seven weeks. The move was largely attributed to profit taking following the recent run up in equities. The strong performance of the mining stocks helped to limit the downside move.

Regional economic data was solid Tuesday. U.K. consumer inflation hit its highest level in nearly two years last month, while the ZEW Institute's economic sentiment indicator for Germany partly recovered from the Brexit shock in August. The Eurozone trade surplus also grew by more than expected in June.

The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index surrendered 0.60 percent. The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks decreased 1.00 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, lost 0.56 percent.

The DAX of Germany dropped 0.58 percent and the CAC 40 of France fell 0.83 percent. The FTSE 100 of the U.K. declined 0.68 percent and the SMI of Switzerland finished lower by 1.08 percent.

In Frankfurt, Linde AG soared 11.09 percent on a report that U.S. industrial gas supplier Praxair Inc. has held merger talks with its German peer to create the world's largest supplier of industrial gases. French rival Air Liquide also gained 2.35 percent.

Shopping center investor Deutsche EuroShop fell 1.74 percent after its first-half consolidated profit declined 2.0 percent from last year.

A stronger euro weighed on automakers. Daimler decreased 1.01 percent and BMW lost 1.06 percent. Renault weakened by 3.20 percent in Paris and Peugeot was also down 2.21 percent.

Volkswagen fell 1.70 percent. The company and U.S. prosecutors are negotiating a settlement to resolve a criminal probe into the automaker's diesel emissions scandal, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

In Paris, Technip climbed 0.37 percent. The oil services firm and DOF Subsea announced that their 50/50 owned affiliate TechDof Brasil AS has chartered out a pipe-lay support vessel to Petrobras.

In London, miner Antofagasta soared 8.85 percent after reaffirming its expectations for higher output this year.

BHP Billiton rose 0.67 percent despite reporting its worst-ever annual loss.

Hochschild Mining jumped 6.17 percent after posting turnaround results for the six months ended June 30. Oil & gas firm Cairn Energy gained 3.5 percent after its first-half loss narrowed from last year on lower expenses.

Elevator manufacturer Schindler dropped 4.39 percent in Zurich after cutting its revenue outlook for 2016, citing increasing uncertainty in the Chinese construction market and the recession in Brazil.

Sanitary technology solutions provider Geberit Group soared 4.61 percent on robust second-quarter results.

The euro area trade surplus decreased unexpectedly in June, as imports grew faster than exports, figures from Eurostat showed Tuesday. The seasonally adjusted trade surplus fell to EUR 23.4 billion in June from EUR 24.6 billion in May. Meanwhile, economists had expected the surplus to grow to EUR 25.3 billion.

Germany's investor sentiment partly recovered in August from a 'Brexit'-driven fall in the previous month despite the persistence of political and financial sector concerns, results of a closely watched survey showed Tuesday.

The ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment climbed to 0.5 from -6.8 in July, which was the lowest since late 2012, survey data from the Mannheim-based Centre for European Economic Research/ZEW revealed. Economists had forecast a higher score of 2. The latest reading was also well below the long-term average of 24.2 points.

U.K. inflation reached a 20-month high in July and factory gate prices increased for the first time since mid-2014 as weak sterling after "Brexit" vote pushed import prices higher. Consumer prices climbed 0.6 percent year-on-year in July, following a 0.5 percent rise in June, the Office for National Statistics reported Tuesday.

The latest inflation figure was the highest since November 2014. Economists had forecast the rate to remain at 0.5 percent.

U.K. house price inflation accelerated for a second straight month in June to its highest level in twenty months, figures from the Office for National Statistics and the Land Registry showed Tuesday. The house price index climbed 8.7 percent following 8.5 percent increase in May. The latest figure was the highest since October 2014, when prices rose 9.4 percent. House prices continued the strong growth seen since the end of 2013, the report said.

The U.S. Commerce Department said housing starts rose 2.1 percent to an annual rate of 1.21 million units in July. Economists had expected the measure to come in at 1.180 million.

Also, building permits, which had been on the rise three months in a row, were down 0.1 percent.

The U.S. Department of Labor revealed that its consumer price index was unchanged in July. This followed an increase of 0.2 percent in June. Economists had expected prices to come in unchanged for the month.

Output at the nation's mines, utilities and factories rose more than expected in July, according new government data released Tuesday. A strong showing from each of the major industries contributed to the overall gain.

A report from the U.S. Federal Reserve showed that industrial production rose by 0.7 percent in July. This followed a revised 0.4 percent increase for the previous month. Economists had expected the measure to rise by 0.3 percent. July's increase was the biggest advance of 2016.