By Carla Mozee and Victor Reklaitis, MarketWatch

Akzo Nobel climbs; U.K. inflation jumps by a faster-than-anticipated pace

European stocks finished with losses Tuesday, with French equities surrendering gains that came after respondents in a poll viewed center-right politician Emmanuel Macron as the winner of the first presidential debate ahead of this spring's elections.

France's CAC 40 fell 0.2% to end at 5,002.43. That still was better than the Stoxx Europe 600's drop of 0.5% to 375.67.

The French stock benchmark had gained in morning action, but then a broad selloff took hold, with the major European and U.S. equity gauges (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-stock-futures-edge-up-as-nasdaq-tries-for-another-record-2017-03-21) all down solidly as Europe's trading session came to an end.

"They aren't exactly in free fall, but the quick turn lower this afternoon has certainly spooked an investment community that had become accustomed, however reluctantly, to a steady, attritional grind higher," said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG, in a note.

"Valuations, a sudden spike in volatility, worries about the ongoing FBI-Trump spat and others can all be cited, but whatever the 'real' reason, we should not get overexcited just yet," Beauchamp added. "Already buyers are coming in to pick up some easy points from the S&P 500, an indication that it is still too early to give this rally the last rites."

The Macron effect: The French poll result spurred the euro to shoot up to a six-week high against the U.S. dollar (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/euro-jumps-vs-dollar-hitting-6-week-high-of-108-after-french-presidential-debate-2017-03-21).

The euro was buying $1.0816, trading around its highest since early February, compared with $1.0741 late Monday in New York.

The moves came after an Elabe poll (https://twitter.com/elabe_fr/status/843978193161932800) showed 29% of viewers who watched Monday's night debate thought Macron was the most convincing candidate (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/frances-presidential-upstart-macron-clashes-with-le-pen-fillon-in-tv-debate-2017-03-21) to become the next president. Far-right National Front party leader Marine Le Pen was favored by 19% of viewers and conservative François Fillon landed 20% approval. Many investors are concerned about Le Pen as she wants France to leave the European Union and ditch the euro.

"The fight between populism and globalism was live in yesterday's French presidential debate. The [euro] declared that centrist and former investment banker, Emmanuel Macron, won this round," said FXTM chief market strategist Hussein Sayed, in a note.

"However, I suggest not to jump into conclusions given that 40% of voters have not decided whom to back yet, and we already learned a lesson from the Brexit vote and U.S. presidential elections," he added.

See:France ETF rises in heavy volume after presidential debate (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/france-etf-rises-on-heavy-volume-after-first-presidential-debate-2017-03-21)

Other national indexes: Germany's DAX 30 index finished down 0.8% at 11,962.13. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 fell 0.7% to end at 7,378.34 (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ftse-100-edges-up-with-banks-higher-ahead-of-inflation-data-2017-03-21), turning lower as the pound jumped after U.K. inflation rose a faster-than-expected rate of 2.3% in February.

Movers: Akzo Nobel NV (AKZOY) (AKZOY) closed 2% higher as PPG Industries Inc. (PPG) is said to be preparing another bid for the Dutch paints and chemicals company (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ppg-prepares-new-bid-for-akzo-nobel-after-first-offer-failed-bloomberg-2017-03-21) after its first attempt failed earlier in March, according to Bloomberg.

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 21, 2017 13:11 ET (17:11 GMT)

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