FTSE down 0.41%; DAX up 0.94%; CAC 40 up 0.57% (Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - London, 25 Jun - European shares closed lower as investors remained on the sidles after yesterday's losses on Wall Street as they looked ahead to the first US presidential debate on Thursday and the first round of voting in the French election this weekend.

Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally (Rassemblement National) party and its allies were seen leading the first round of the country's elections with 35.5% of the vote, according to a poll published on Sunday.

On the data front, Spanish gross domestic product rose 0.8% in the first quarter, climbing 2.5% on the year and slightly beating estimates.

Traders also braced for fresh economic data and interest rate decisions from Sweden's and Turkey's central banks this week.

Last week the Bank of England's left interest rates unchanged at a 16-year high of 5.25%, as widely expected, while the the Swiss National Bank cut rates by 25 basis points to 1.25%.

The Norges Bank, Norway's central bank, said it decided to keep the policy rate unchanged at 4.5% and is likely to keep it at this level until the end of the year, before gradually reducing it.

The London FTSE 100 closed down 0.41% at 8,247.79 points, the Frankfurt DAX fell 0.94% at 18,169.95 points, the Paris CAC 40 dipped 0.57% at 7,662.30 points, while in Milan the FTSE MIB lost 0.38% at 33,707.21 points, and in Madrid the IBEX 35 closed 0.52% lower at 11,114.00 points.

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(RADIOCOR) 25-06-24 18:00:47 (0611) 5 NNNN