European Stocks Decline as Industrial and Defense Sectors Weaken

Doha: European stock indices closed lower Monday. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index ended trading down 0.2 percent at 575.27 points, after posting gains for the fifth consecutive month in November.

According to Qatar News Agency, industrial stocks led the losses, falling 1.2 percent, impacted by a 5.7 percent drop in Airbus shares, marking the company's biggest single-day loss since April 7. Meanwhile, shares of French defense electronics group Thales fell 2.2 percent.

Defense stocks experienced a significant decline of 3.2 percent as investors continued to shy away from the sector amid progress toward an agreement to end the Russian-Ukrainian war. Shares of German arms manufacturers Rheinmetall, Hensoldt, and Rinke fell between 2.2 and 4.7 percent, pushing the German DAX index down 1 percent.