12:04 PM EDT, 06/10/2024 (MT Newswires) -- The European bourses closed lower in Monday trading as the markets were caught off guard by surprise gains among right-wing parties in Sunday's EU parliament elections, as well as an unexpected call by French President Emmanuel Macron for a snap election.

The Stoxx Europe 600 was down 0.27%, the Swiss Market Index dropped 0.95%, France's CAC lost 1.35%, the FTSE in London was off 0.20%, and Germany's DAX fell 0.34%.

In Italy, the index measuring the monthly change in industrial production volume decreased 1.0% in April from March, according to the Italian National Institute of Statistics. Compared with April 2023, the calendar adjusted industrial production index decreased 2.9%.

In Ireland, the headline seasonally adjusted BNP Paribas Real Estate Ireland Construction Total Activity Index declined to 49.8 in May from 53.2 in April, ending two consecutive months of expansion.

And in corporate news, UK bank Barclays' branches in England and Scotland were targeted by a pro-Palestine campaign group and climate change activists. The groups are calling for divestment from companies supplying arms to Israel and those linked to fossil fuels, they said Monday in posts on social media platform X.

French bank stocks were moving sharply lower after President Emmanuel Macron called a snap election following his party's defeat by the far right in EU elections. Societe Generale and BNP Paribas led the CAC sharply lower in Paris, falling 7.5% and 4.8% respectively, while Credit Agricole dropped 3.6%.

British oil and gas giant BP said it has updated its personnel and ethics policies in the wake of the departure of Chief Executive Bernard Looney last year for failing to disclose relationships with employees. Shares closed 1.8% higher in London.

AstraZeneca said Monday that its supplemental new-drug application for Tagrisso has been accepted and granted priority review in the US to treat adult patients with unresectable, stage III epidermal growth factor receptor-mutated non-small cell lung cancer after chemoradiotherapy. Shares were up 0.4% on the FTSE.

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