European stocks close: stocks closed lower on the weak economic data from the Eurozone

Stock indices closed lower on the weak economic data from the Eurozone. Markit Economics released final services purchasing managers' index (PMI) for the Eurozone on Tuesday. Eurozone's final services PMI declined to 53.1 in March from 53.3 in February, down from the preliminary reading of 54.0.

The downward revision was mainly driven by France and Italy.

The index was mainly driven by a softer growth in new business and output.

Eurozone's final composite output index rose to 53.1 in March from 53.0 in February, down from the preliminary reading of 54.0.

The downward revision was mainly driven by France and Italy.

"The Eurozone economy failed to show any significant gain in momentum in March. With the PMI barely rising from February's 13-month low, the region looks to have grown by just 0.3% again in the first quarter," Chief Economist at Markit Chris Williamson said.

Germany's final services PMI fell to 55.1 in March from 55.3 in February, down from the preliminary reading of 55.5. The index was mainly driven by a slower growth in new orders.

France's final services PMI increased to 49.9 in March from 49.2 in February, down from the preliminary reading of 51.2. The index was mainly driven by rises in backlogs of work and input prices.

Destatis released its factory orders data for Germany on Tuesday. German seasonal adjusted factory orders declined 1.2% in February, missing expectations for a 0.2% increase, after a 0.5% rise in January. January's figure was revised up from a 0.1% drop.

The drop was driven by a decrease in foreign orders. Foreign orders decreased by 2.7% in February, while domestic orders rose by 0.9%.

Markit's and the Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply's services PMI for the U.K. rose to 53.7 in March from 52.7 in February, in line with expectations. The increase was driven by a faster growth in output. Employment continued to rise in March.

"An upturn in the pace of service sector growth in March was insufficient to prevent the PMI surveys from collectively indicating a slowdown in economic growth in the first quarter. The surveys point to a 0.4% increase in GDP, down from 0.6% in the closing quarter of last year," the Chief Economist at Markit Chris Williamson said.

Indexes on the close:

Name Price Change Change %

FTSE 100 6,091.23 -73.49 -1.19 %

DAX 9,563.36 -258.72 -2.63 %

CAC 40 4,250.28 -94.94 -2.18 %