12:18 PM EST, 11/06/2024 (MT Newswires) -- The European stock markets closed lower in Wednesday trading as the FTSE in London was down 0.07%, Germany's DAX retreated 1.14%, France's CAC slid 0.51%, the Stoxx Europe 600 dropped 0.59% and the Swiss Market Index slipped 0.16%.

The euro area's industrial producer prices fell 0.6% month over month and 3.4% year over year in September, based on first estimates from Eurostat.

Private sector business activity in the euro area stagnated in October as contraction in its two biggest economies, Germany and France, offset expansion in other economies, according to S&P Global and Hamburg Commercial Bank. The final HCOB Eurozone Composite PMI Output Index improved to 50 in October from 49.6 in September. The reading marks no change in private sector output levels when compared with the prior month. On the services side, the final PMI increased to 51.6 from the prior 51.4.

And in corporate news, Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk reported that its earnings and net sales increased in Q3.

German medical technology company Siemens Healthineers led the gainers on the DAX after it said that its net income and revenue rose year over year in fiscal 2024.

Auto companies, such as Mercedes Benz, BMW, Volkswagen and Porsche, were among the biggest decliners on the German exchange.

BMW Group reported that its Q3 profit attributable to shareholders of the company fell to 389 million euros ($417.5 million) from 2.68 billion euros and its revenue dropped to 32.41 billion euros from 38.46 billion euros a year earlier.

On the CAC, Credit Agricole led the decliners after the French lender said that its Q3 net income and revenue fell year over year.

On the FTSE, Persimmon led the decliners after the British housebuilding company said that it logged 1,416 new home completions in Q3, compared with 1,439 homes a year earlier.