12:09 PM EDT, 10/22/2024 (MT Newswires) -- The European stock markets closed lower in Tuesday trading as The Stoxx Europe 600 was off 0.21%, the Swiss Market Index fell 0.76%, the FTSE in London was down 0.14%, Germany's DAX declined 0.20%, and France's CAC nudged 0.01% lower.

The International Monetary Fund lowered its euro area GDP growth forecasts for 2024 and 2025 in its latest World Economic Outlook released Tuesday. The IMF said it now expects Euro area GDP growth of 0.8% and 1.2% respectively for 2024 and 2025, compared with its July forecast of 0.9% and 1.5% respectively. However, the IMF raised its 2024 outlook for the UK to 1.1% growth, compared with its previous guidance of 0.7%, while maintaining its outlook for 2025 at 1.5%.

Meanwhile, the euro area government deficit to GDP ratio rose to 3.6% in 2023 from 3.5% in 2022, and to 3.5% in 2023 from 3.2% in 2022 in the EU, according to Eurostat, the statistical office of the EU. In the euro area, the government debt to GDP ratio decreased to 87.4% at the end of 2023 from 89.5% at the end of 2022, and in the EU it fell to 80.8% from 82.5%.

And in corporate news, Dutch semiconductor company ASML's Chief Executive Christophe Fouquet said he expects the US to increase the pressure to further restrict the sale of semiconductor technology to China, Bloomberg reported Tuesday, citing an interview with the company's CEO. Shares of ASML rose 1.4% in Amsterdam.

British financial services company HSBC said Tuesday it named Pam Kaur group chief financial officer, effective Jan. 1. Kaur joined the bank in 2013 and is currently the group chief risk and compliance officer, HSBC added. Meanwhile, HSBC's French life insurance business is considering bids and has attracted interest from BNP Paribas, BPCE, and Matmut, Bloomberg reported Monday.

HSBC and BPCE declined to comment on the matter when contacted by MT Newswires, while BNP Paribas, Credit Mutuel Arkea, Groupama, and Cerberus Capital did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Matmut could not be reached for comment. Shares of HSBC closed 0.9% higher in London

Spanish biopharmaceutical company Grifols said Tuesday it has launched a partnership with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, or BARDA, to assess investigational ocular surface immunoglobulin eye drops to treat damage from exposure to sulfur mustard, a chemical warfare agent. Shares of the company were up 1.7% in Madrid.

And Carlyle Group has withdrawn from the bidding process for the warship division of German steelmaker Thyssenkrupp, Reuters reported Tuesday, citing an email from the German industrial engineering and steel production company. Neither Carlyle nor Thyssenkrupp immediately replied to requests for comment from MT Newswires. Shares of Thyssenkrupp dropped closed more than 4% lower in Frankfurt.