12:28 PM EDT, 07/29/2024 (MT Newswires) -- European stock markets closed mostly lower Monday as the Stoxx Europe 600 eased 0.18%, the Swiss Market Index fell 0.22%, France's CAC lost 0.98%, Germany's DAX dropped 0.49% and the FTSE in London gained 0.1%.

In Italy, seasonally adjusted exports in June decreased 0.8% from May, while imports fell 3.5%, according to the Italian National Institute of Statistics.

In Austria, the seasonally adjusted UniCredit Bank Austria Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index declined to the lowest since March, falling to 43.1 in July from 43.6 in June as declines in new orders, employment and stocks of inputs accelerated.

In corporate news, Germany's competition regulator approved Volkswagen's acquisition of a minority stake in Rivian Automotive and a joint venture between the companies.

Shares of British consumer goods company Reckitt Benckiser fell 8.1% in London after Abbott Laboratories, another maker of baby formula, was ordered by a jury to pay $495 million over claims it failed to disclose the risk that its Similac premature infant formula can cause a dangerous bowel disease.

Almost 1,000 lawsuits have been filed against Abbott Labs, Reckitt, or both, in US federal or state courts, Reuters reported.

"We will continue to vigorously defend ourselves against plaintiff lawyers' allegations in the interest of safeguarding the health of premature babies," Reckitt Benckiser said in a statement.

Shares of pharmaceutical company Merck rose 3.1%, the biggest gain on the DAX, after a European Medicines Agency committee recommended approval of Keytruda combined with Pfizer and Astellas Pharma's Padcev to treat adults with unresectable or metastatic urothelial carcinoma.

Stellantis' shares dropped 3.3% in Paris after Deutsche Bank dowgraded the European automaker's stock to hold from buy and slashed the price target to $24.92 from $37.91.

Shares of Entain fell 7.6% in London after the British gambling company reported its BetMGM joint venture with MGM Resorts International lost $123 million in H1. The company also said it expects similar losses for BetMGM in H2.