European Shares Decline Ahead Of Easter Break

European stocks traded flat to slightly lower on Tuesday as traders looked ahead to the Easter break and the release of key European and U.S. inflation readings for directional cues.

Geopolitical tensions also remained in focus after Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged for the first time that "radical Islamists" were responsible for last week's attack on a concert hall outside Moscow and that Ukraine was also somehow involved.

"We know that the crime was committed by the hands of radical Islamists, whose ideology the Islamic world itself has been fighting for centuries", Putin said in a televised meeting.

In economic releases, a survey showed German consumer confidence is set to improve in April.

The forward-looking consumer confidence index rose to -27.4 in April from revised -28.8 in March, according to a survey conducted by the market research group GfK and the Nuremberg Institute for Market Decisions (NIM).

Elsewhere, Spain's economic growth improved at the end of the year, as initially estimated, final data from the statistical office INE showed.

Gross domestic product grew 0.6 percent from the third quarter, when output was up 0.4 percent. The rate came in line with the estimate published on January 30.

On a yearly basis, economic growth improved to 2.0 percent, as estimated, from 1.9 percent in the preceding period.

The pan European STOXX 600 was down 0.2 percent at 508.93 after ending flat with a positive bias on Monday.

The German DAX was marginally lower while France's CAC 40 slipped 0.2 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was little changed with a negative bias.

Grocery delivery service Ocado rose about 2 percent in London after the company reported strong Q1 performance with 10.6 percent revenue growth year-on-year.

Flutter Entertainment was also up nearly 2 percent after announcing strong financial results for 2023.

Smiths Group jumped 3 percent. The engineering group has launched a £100m share buyback after posting strong half-year earnings results.

Housebuilder Bellway dropped 1 percent after pretax profit fell for the first half.

Wacker Neuson SE, a German construction equipment and machinery maker, fell 1.2 percent after saying it is facing high levels of uncertainty due to volatile political and economic developments.

For the full year, the company expects growth to be either flat or a tad lower in all its regions and segments.

Wind turbines maker Nordex SE gained 1 percent after it won an order to supply and install 57 N163/5.X turbines from the Delta4000 series in South Africa to an unnamed customer.

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