The European markets fell on Tuesday, as pharmaceutical stocks declined after France cut back orders for swine flu vaccine.
In economic news, the National Association of Realtors in the U.S. said its pending home sales index fell by 16.0% to 96.0 from an upwardly revised 114.3 in October. Economists had been expecting a much more modest decrease of about 2.0%.
The U.S. Commerce Department said that factory orders increased by 1.1% in November following an upwardly revised 0.8% increase in October. Economists had expected orders to increase by 0.5% compared to the 0.6% increase originally reported for the previous month.
Meanwhile, German unemployment unexpectedly decreased for a sixth consecutive month in December, official data showed Tuesday. The number of unemployed dropped 3,000 to 3.42 million in December, according to data released by the Federal Labor Agency. Economists had forecast an increase of 5,000. The jobless rate stood at 8.1% for a third straight month. The labor agency revised November's fall to just 1,000 from 7,000 reported initially.
Crude for February delivery rose $0.12 to $81.63 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, as freezing weather in the U.S., the largest energy consumer, and improving global economies bolstered the outlook for fuel demand.
The FTSEurofirst 300 index of pan-European blue chips closed 0.03% lower at 1,060.42 points, while the narrower DJ Stoxx 50 index fell 0.22% to 2,616.89 points.
Around Europe, France's CAC 40 index declined 0.03% to 4,012.91 and Germany's DAX index fell 0.27% to 6,031.86, while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 index rose 0.40% to 5,522.50.
Drugmakers featured among the biggest losers after France cancelled over half the flu vaccines it ordered to combat the H1N1 flu virus. GlaxoSmithKline, Europe's biggest drugmaker, fell 2.4%, while Swiss drugmaker Roche and French drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis both declined 1.3%.
British confectioner Cadbury slipped 3.2% after Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway said it voted "no" on Kraft' proposal to authorize the issuance of up to 370 million shares to facilitate the acquisition of Cadbury, and Nestle ruled itself out of a bid war over Cadbury. Nestle shares fell 2.4%.
CRH, the world's second biggest building-materials maker, dropped 3.9% after the company said it's unclear when there will be a recovery in construction demand in developed nations.
Next, Britain's second biggest clothing retailer, fell 2.4% after the company said it does not necessarily expect the year ahead to be as good as the previous six months.
On the other hand, British lender Barclays climbed 6.3% on market talk that the company could raise its outlook. Royal Bank of Scotland, Britain's biggest government-controlled bank, jumped 10.3%.
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June 12, 2026 17:14 ET Major central bank action was the focus this week in economic news. The European Central Bank became the first major central bank to move in response to the rising inflationary pressures in the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East. In North America, the U.S. inflation and trade data as well as Canada’s central bank decision gained attention. The Chinese trade data was the main news in Asia.