12:14 PM EDT, 07/16/2024 (MT Newswires) -- The European stock markets closed lower in Tuesday trading as The Stoxx Europe 600 declined 0.21%, the Swiss Market Index was off 0.15%, France's CAC lost 0.69%, the FTSE in London was down 0.22%, and Germany's DAX dropped 0.39%.

European banks reported a further decline in demand for loans from companies but saw demand for housing loans and credit cards increase for the first time since 2022, according to the European Central Bank.

"Higher interest rates and lower fixed investment continued to exert dampening pressure on loan demand from firms," the ECB said in its Q2 euro area bank lending survey. "At the same time, improving housing market prospects, consumer confidence and spending on durables positively supported demand from households."

In Germany, the ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment for July recorded a decline in the survey for the first time in a year.

"The fact that German exports decreased more than expected in May, the political uncertainty in France and the lack of clarity regarding the future monetary policy by the ECB have contributed to this development," ZEW President Professor Achim Wambach said.

In Italy, core inflation, which excludes energy and unprocessed food, as well as inflation excluding energy, both declined in June to 1.9% from 2.0% in May, according to the Italian National Institute of Statistics.

And in corporate news, UK regulators said Tuesday they are launching a preliminary investigation into Microsoft's hiring of AI startup Inflection's founder and some staff. The UK's Competition and Markets Authority said the probe will determine if the agreement qualifies as a merger and "whether to make a reference for a phase 2 investigation." The CMA said it will make its decision whether to refer the matter for further investigation by Sept. 11.

Deutsche Bank failed to correctly disclose its deferred tax assets of more than 2 billion euros ($2.17 billion) in its 2019 financial statement, which did not meet international accounting standards, Germany's Federal Financial Supervisory Authority, or BaFin, said Tuesday. Deutsche Bank did not immediately respond to a request for comment from MT Newswires.

Dutch immunology company Argenx and Chinese biopharmaceutical company Zai Lab said Tuesday that China's National Medical Products Administration approved a biologics license application for efgartigimod alfa injection indicated as an add-on to standard therapy for adult patients with generalized myasthenia gravis.