ROME: Stocks across Europe finished in the red Tuesday, with declines among commodity producers helping to pull the region’s benchmark away from its best level since late August.
The Stoxx Europe 600 SXXP, -0.43% fell 0.4% to close at 362.67, hurt in part by pullbacks in oil and gas SXEP, -0.74% and basic materials SXPP, -0.29% shares.
Industrials also struggled, paced by a 3.3% drop in Compagnie de Saint-Gobain SA SGO, -3.32% The French construction-materials company was downgraded to sell from neutral at UBS, which said some risks from emerging markets and the U.S. will potentially pressure the company in the coming quarters.
On the country indexes, Germany’s DAX 30 DAX, -0.16% dropped 0.2% to end at 10,147.68, and France’s CAC 40 PX1, -0.64% fell 0.6% to close at 4,673.81. The FTSE 100 UKX, -0.11% lost 0.1% to finish at 6,345.13.
The Stoxx 600 ended lower for the first time in four sessions. On Monday, it closed at 364.25, the best settlement since Aug. 20, according to FactSet data.
Steel slump: Commodity shares on Tuesday extended losses from Monday, when data showed economic activity in China slowed to its lowest rate since 2009. Oil prices CLX5, -0.11% on Monday fell to their lowest in more than two weeks on concerns about weaker demand from China, the world’s second-largest oil consumer. Crude again moved lower in recent trading on Tuesday, and oil stocks remained in the red. Tullow Oil PLC TLW, -3.89% closed down 3.9%, Spain’s Repsol SA REP, -1.53% fell 1.5% and BP PLC BP., -0.19% BP, +0.09% gave up 0.2%.
Steel and mining producer ArcelorMittal MT, -2.89% MT, -2.89% and steel tube supplier Tenaris SA TEN, -2.83% were down 2.9% and 2.8%, respectively. The steel industry was in focus Tuesday as India’s Tata Steel 500470, -3.19% TATLY, -14.33% said it’s laying off roughly 1,200 workers in the U.K. as it plans to stop making steel plate in the country.
“This comes in response to a shift in market conditions caused by a flood of cheap imports, particularly from China, a strong pound and high electricity costs,” Tata Steel said in a statement.
