European equities markets ended the day relatively even as the FTSE Eurofirst 300 closed at 1,192.46 as a number of markets were closed for the observance of Assumption Day.

In the banking sector, Commerzbank lost some of its recent gains on the news that its chief executive has come under investigation in an ongoing money laundering inquiry involving the bank, losing 0.8 percent to €20.93.

The automobile manufacturing sector was down on the day as well, as BMW fell by 0.9 percent to €36.42 and Peugeot lost 0.8 percent to €51.90. Michelin was down 0.9 percent to €51.40. In the chemicals sector, Bayer lost 1 percent to €29.36 and specialty chemicals group Clariant declined by 0.8 percent to SFr18.70.

The largest pharmaceuticals wholesaler in Europe, Celesio, lost 2.9 percent to €69.01 on profit-taking after recent gains. In mergers and acquisitions, Philips Electronics was up 0.6 percent to €21.64 after it announced that it would pay around €765 million to buy a 47 percent stake in LED company Lumileds from Agilent Technologies. Philips also announced that it would buy back around €1.5 billion of its own shares in the next year.