BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European stocks closed on a somewhat mixed note on Monday after a choppy ride as investors tracked the developments on the political front, and awaited interest rate decisions from the Bank of England and the Swiss National Bank, and more economic data for clues about global economic growth.
French government bonds won some respite after Marine Le Pen, the leader of the French far-right, said she would co-operate with President Emmanuel Macron if she wins the snap parliamentary election that begins later this month.
Also, European Central Bank policymakers reportedly said they had no plans to launch emergency purchases of French bonds to stabilize the market.
The pan European Stoxx 600 edged up 0.09%. Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 climbed 0.37% and 0.91%, respectively. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 ended down 0.06%, while Switzerland's SMI ended lower by 0.34%.
Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Finland, Netherlands, Norway and Poland ended higher.
Belgium, Denmark, Greece, Iceland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden closed weak.
In the UK market, Beazley gained nearly 3%. B&M European Value Retail, Hargreaves Lansdown, Entain, St. James's Place, Intermediate Capital Group, Ashtead, Airtel Africa, Barclays Group, Admiral Group, Vodafone, Legal & General and HSBC Holdings gained 1 to 2.5%.
Convatec Group, Melrose Industries and Severn Trent lost 3.6 to 3.8%. Ocado Group, United Utilities, Croda International Group, SSE, Glencore, Aviva and Tesco ended lower by 1 to 2.8%.
In the German market, Zalando rallied about 2.8%. Deutsche Boerse, Qiagen, Deutsche Bank, Siemens, BMW, Hannover Rueck, HeidelbergCement, Continental, Daimler Truck Holding and Symrise gained 1 to 2%.
Fresenius Medical Care, Bayer, Adidas, Vonovia and Siemens Healthineers lost 2 to 4%. Sartorius, Covestro and Infineon also ended notably lower.
In Paris, Teleperformance climbed 3.7%. Essilor gained about 2.6%. AXA, Safran, L'Oreal, Sanofi, Airbus Group, Saint Gobain, BNP Paribas, Societe Generale, Publicis Groupe and Renault advanced 1 to 2%.
Thales gained, lifted by an announcement that the company is planning to quadruple its ammunition production capacity at a domestic facility, securing a significant order from the army.
Stellantis ended moderately higher after a report that a Stellantis-led joint venture had commenced production of electric vehicles for China's Leapmotor at the Tychy plant in Poland.
Unibail Rodamco, Edenred, Dassault Systmes, Veolia and Legrand ended with sharp to moderate losses.
In economic releases, survey data from property market website Rightmove showed asking prices for British homes coming to the market were flat this month.
Separately, the Make UK Q2 Manufacturing Outlook Survey revealed that output and orders at the U.K.'s manufacturers have picked up in Q2 ahead of the forthcoming election.
The euro area hourly labor cost increased at a faster pace in the first quarter, data published by Eurostat showed. Hourly labor cost grew at a faster pace of 5.1% on a yearly basis, which was faster than the 3.4% increase seen in the fourth quarter of 2023.
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