European markets ended weak on Monday as persisting worries about rising coronavirus cases and uncertainty about a Brexit deal outweighed mild optimism about a U.S. fiscal stimulus ahead of November 3 elections and dragged down stock prices.
A slower than expected pace of China's economic growth in the third quarter weighed as well.
The pan European Stoxx 600 ended down 0.28%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 slid 0.59%, Germany's DAX declined 0.42% and France's CAC 40 edged down 0.13%. Switzerland's SMI ended lower by 0.22%.
Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Greece, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and Russia ended weak.
Czech Republic, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Spain, Sweden and Turkey closed higher.
In the UK market, GVC Holdings, DCC, Pennon Group, Flutter Entertainment, Imperial Brands, Reckitt Benckiser, Johnson Matthey, Smurfit Kappa and Hikma Pharma declined 1.7 to 2.4%.
On the other hand, IAG rose nearly 4.5% and Informa gained 2.7%. Standard Chartered, Next, British Land Company, Compass Group, Rightmove, Natwest and Barclays Group gained 1.5 to 2.5%.
In the German market, Fresenius, Thyssenkrupp, Daimler, Covestro and Bayer ended notably lower.
Lufthansa gained more than 5.5%, Deutsche Bank and Munich moved up 1.9% and 1.5%, respectively. Continental, Volkswagen, Allianz and BMW closed with modest gains.
In France, Saint Gobain shed about 8%. Schneider Electric and Air Liquide closed with moderate losses, while Unibail Rodamco, Airbus Group, Sodexo, Vinci, Societe Generale, Atos, Accor and Capgemini gained 1 to 3%.
Shares of Julius Baer moved up sharply in the Swiss market, after the company reported upbeat earnings in the third quarter.
Eurozone construction output rose at a faster pace in August after easing in the previous month, data form Eurostat showed. The construction output increased 2.6% month-on-month in August, following a 0.3% rise in July.
On a year-on-year basis, the construction output fell 0.9% in September, following a 3.4% decline in the prior month.
UK household finances remained under severe strain in October, survey data published by IHS Markit showed. The household finance index, which measures households' overall perceptions of financial wellbeing, held steady at 40.8 in October. The score was well below the neutral 50.0.
UK house prices increased to a record high in October as there were a record number of sales ever agreed in a month, and agents reported more properties marked as sold than available for sale, data released by the property website Rightmove revealed.
On a monthly basis, house prices increased 1.1% in October, faster than the 0.2% rise logged in September.
On the coronavirus front, Italy announced new measures after the country recorded a record daily increase of the Covid-19 cases for the fifth day in a row on October 18.
Elsewhere, Britain's government scientific adviser Jeremy Farrar said the country needs to impose a three-week period of national lockdown restrictions to prevent the continued spread of the virus.
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