European shares posted a mixed close on Tuesday after a subdued start to the week, with investors holding back ahead of the European Central Bank's rate decision on Thursday and persistent concerns about elevated oil and gas prices fueling inflation fears.
The EuroStoxx 50 rose 0.14% to close at 6,413.17 points. The UK's FTSE 100 slipped 0.10% to 10,811.66 points, while Switzerland's SMI fell sharply 1.55% to 14,057.61 points, weighed down by pharmaceutical heavyweight Novartis.
Oil remained the key barometer for equity markets, with Brent crude for November delivery edging closer to the $100-a-barrel mark, wrote Robomarkets capital-markets expert Jürgen Molnar. Investors are now turning their attention to US inflation data due Friday, which could provide clues about the Federal Reserve's monetary-policy room for maneuver.
Novartis shares plunged more than 10% after a second consecutive day of setbacks. The stock had already dropped on disappointing data from a drug candidate on Monday, and on Tuesday it suffered a further blow from a failed clinical study of a treatment for the muscle disease myotonic dystrophy. Analysts questioned the Swiss pharma giant's longer-term growth targets following the study flop.
The Novartis slump weighed on the broader health-care sector. The Stoxx Europe 600 Health Care index fell more than 2%. Sandoz, the Swiss generic-specialty drugs maker, was also pulled lower despite trading noticeably in positive territory at one point on the back of surprisingly strong growth ambitions.
Overall, market participants appear to be stepping on the brakes, awaiting a series of key economic data releases and central-bank decisions later in the week before committing to new positions.
