Europe close: Late burst of selling sends shares lower
A late burst of selling just before the end of the session sufficed to send Europe's main equity indices lower given the thin trading volumes in stockmarkets on account of the 4 July holiday in the States.
At the closing bell, the benchmark Stoxx 600 was down by 0.29% or 1.11 points to 382.30, alongside a dip of 0.31% in Germany's Dax to 12,437.13 while the Cac-40 was slipping 0.40% to 5,174.90.
The day's main event was a speech from European Central Bank chief economist Peter Praet in which he called for patience and persistence in order to ensure that inflation was heading higher in a sustained manner.
Some analysts had been keen to hear if he might in any manner toughen his stance, validating the more hawkish views in the market.
On a related note, on Tuesday morning rate-setters in Sweden chose to keep their main policy rate, the repurchase rate unchanged at -0.50%.
However, unlike policymakers at various of the world's largest central banks, the Riksbank kept the door open to further interest rate cuts if needed, although it did strike a more confident note on the world economy.
"The risk of setbacks has declined, although there is still economic and political uncertainty in many parts of the world. Global inflationary pressures are still subdued and monetary policy abroad is expansionary," they said.
Overnight, Australia's Reserve Bank also kept its own policy lever, the cash rate, unchanged at 1.50%. Like their colleagues, they sounded a more upbeat note on the global outlook but said indicators for the domestic job and housing markets were mixed.
French prime minister Edouard Philippe was also set to deliver a speech to lawmakers, which was expected to include details about the next budget.
Acting as a backdrop, overnight the North Korean regime launched an intermediate-range ballistic missile into Japan's exclusive economic zone, trigerring an immediate condemnation of South Korea, Japanese and US officials.
Factory gate prices in the euro area slipped by 0.4% month-on-month in May (consensus: 0.2%).
US private equity outfits Bain Capital and Cinven may seek regulatory approval to launch a new takeover offer for the drugmaker.
Shares in the main German carmakers were all lower after they reported their latest monthly sales figures the day before.