European stocks close lower except for Germany, Spain

By Ovunc Kutlu

ISTANBUL (AA) – European stocks closed lower on Thursday except for exchanges in Germany and Spain.

The STOXX Europe 600, which includes around 90% of the market capitalization of the European market in 17 countries, fell 3.25 points, or 0.72%, to finish at 451.27.

The UK's FTSE 100 was the worst performer of the day, plummeting almost 76 points, or 1.01%, to 7,410.

Italy's FTSE MIB lost 208 points, or 0.71%, to end the session at 29,258. France's CAC 40 declined 41 points, or 0.57%, to close at 7,168.

Germany's DAX 30, on the other hand, rose 38 points, or 0.24%, to finish the day flat at 15,786.

Spain's IBEX 35, meanwhile, increased 26 points, or 0.28%, to end the day at 9,667.