European Equities Close Lower in Thursday Trading; Eurozone Construction Downturn Deepens

12:28 PM EST, 11/06/2025 (MT Newswires) -- The European stock markets closed lower in Thursday trading as the Stoxx Europe fell 0.72%, Germany's DAX lost 1.27%, the FTSE 100 dropped 0.42%, France's CAC declined 1.36%, and the Swiss Market Index was down 0.52%.

The eurozone construction sector activity continued to decline in October as the HCOB Eurozone Construction PMI Total Activity Index fell to 44.0 in October from 46.0 in September.

"One thing seems pretty clear: the construction sector won't be driving growth in the Eurozone anytime soon," Cyrus de la Rubia, chief economist at Hamburg Commercial Bank, said in a statement. "Quite the opposite, the sector has slowed down expansion across the currency union since 2022, and things got even tougher for construction firms in October."

Meanwhile, construction activity in the UK fell at its fastest rate in more than five years, according to the S&P Global UK Construction Purchasing Managers' Index, which declined to 44.1 in October, from 46.2 in September. It was the 10th straight month the index was below the 50.0 no-change mark, which is the longest continuous decline since the global financial crisis, S&P said.

In the euro area, seasonally adjusted retail trade volume decreased 0.1% in September, while it was unchanged in the EU, according to preliminary estimates from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. Compared with a year earlier, the calendar-adjusted retail sales index gained 1.0% in the euro area, and 1.3% in the EU.

The largest monthly decreases in the total retail trade volume were in Lithuania (1.1%), Latvia and Slovenia (0.7% each), and Italy (0.6%). The largest increases were in Luxembourg and Malta (1.7% each), Estonia (1.5%) and Slovakia (1.4%).

In Germany, price-adjusted output for the manufacturing industry rose 1.3% in September, compared with August, according to the Federal Statistical Office. Compared with a year earlier, adjusted output was down 1.0%.

And in corporate news, UBS told clients of its O'Connor subsidiary that it is liquidating several invoice finance funds with substantial debt exposure to First Brands Group, the Financial Times reported Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. The Swiss bank is wrestling with more than $500 million of First Brands exposure across its investment and asset management arms, the report said.

UBS did not immediately reply to a request for comment from MT Newswires.

Shares of the Swiss banking giant declined 1.3% in Zurich.

And shares of medical device maker Smith & Nephew tumbled 14% on the FTSE 100 after it posted Q3 2025 revenue of $1.50 billion, missing S&P Capital IQ consensus estimates, with underlying revenue growth of 5.0% decelerating from Q2's 6.7%.

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