12:14 PM EDT, 09/18/2023 (MT Newswires) -- European stock markets closed sharply lower in Monday trading as the Stoxx Europe 600 fell 1.13%, the Swiss Market Index was down 0.96%, France's CAC lost 1.39%, the FTSE in London dropped 0.76%, and Germany's DAX closed 1.05% lower.

In Germany, producer prices for services were down 0.6% in Q2 from the previous quarter and 2.8% compared with the same quarter last year, according to the Federal Statistical Office. The decline was attributed exclusively to falling freight rates and lower fuel surcharges as prices rose in all other service areas.

In the UK, average new seller asking prices for homes increased a marginal 0.4% to 366,281 pounds ($454,139) in August, according to a report from real estate company Rightmove, which said the gain was lower than normal for this time of year.

In Italy, the Italian National Institute of Statistics estimates that its House Price Index rose 2.0% in Q2 compared with the previous quarter, and 0.7% compared with the year-earlier quarter.

In Ireland, the headline seasonally adjusted BNP Paribas Real Estate Ireland Construction Total Activity Index from S&P Global fell to 44.9 in August from 45.6 in July. Although the decline was broad-based, the decline in commercial activity was the sharpest in more than two years.

And in corporate news, real estate and homebuilder stocks tumbled in Monday trading as Persimmon and British Land led the decliners on the FTSE in London falling 4.6% each, while Land Securities and Berkeley dropped 3.1% and 3% respectively, and Barratt Developments closes 2.9% lower.

Bank stocks also moved lower in trading as Societe Generale shed more than 12% on the CAC in Paris, followed by Credit Agricole and BNP Paribas, which lost 2.4% and 2.2% respectively. Lloyds Banking and NatWest were down 2.4% and 1.9% respectively on the FTSE, while Deutsche Bank was also down 1.9% on the DAX.

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