Casper Hedberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
LONDON — European stocks closed lower Tuesday afternoon as market uncertainty over the economic outlook lingers.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index provisionally closed 0.46% lower, with all but one sector — autos — and all major bourses trading in the red. Banks shed 1.25%, while oil and gas stocks fell 2.09%.
Shares in British telecommunications company BT tumbled, closing 6.39% lower, after rival network provider CityFibre said it had struck a deal to launch Sky broadband services on its network.
In central bank news, Sweden’s Riksbank cut interest rates by 25 basis points to 3.5% from 3.75% and signaled two to three more rate cuts this year.
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Sweden central bank governor: ‘We are confident about the inflation outlook’
Jens Magnusson, chief economist at financial services group SEB, said the central bank was likely to look to the Federal Reserve for direction on the pace of policy easing.
“They don’t …