Poor economic data and uncertainty ahead of next week’s French elections weighed heavily on European markets on Thursday, with the Stoxx 600 index falling 0.4% by the close to its lowest level in eight sessions.
However, the decline in the benchmark index masked a mixed performance across the continent, with indices in Paris and Milan dropped more than 1%, falling 0.5% in London but rising 0.3% in Frankfurt – with the latter helped by gains from some heavyweight blue chips.
The Stoxx 600 finished at 512.72 – its lowest…