European stocks close: stocks closed lower on concerns over a slowdown in the global economy

Stock indices closed lower on concerns over a slowdown in the global economy. China's economic data added to concerns over the situation around the Chinese economy. China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Monday that profits of industrial companies in China declined 8.8% in August from a year earlier. It was the biggest drop October 2011.

Profits in the coal mining sector dropped 64.9%, while oil and gas profits slid 67.3%.

For the first eight months of 2015, industrial profits fell 1.9% from a year earlier.

International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde in an interview with Les Echos that the IMF is likely to cut its global growth forecasts due to a slowdown in emerging economies.

According to official results, the secessionist party "Junts pel Si" (Together for Yes) won 62 of 135 seats in Catalonia's parliament in an election on Sunday, while the leftist pro-independence Popular Unity Candidacy (CUP) party won 10 seats.

Pro-independence parties have an absolute majority in the parliament.

"Catalans have voted yes to independence," the Catalan President Artur Mas said.

Indexes on the close:

Name Price Change Change %

FTSE 100 5,958.86 -150.15 -2.46 %

DAX 9,483.55 -204.98 -2.12 %

CAC 40 4,357.05 -123.61 -2.76 %