European Markets Close On Positive Note

(RTTNews) - European markets closed on a positive note on Tuesday, as investors shrugged off concerns about tariffs and picked up stocks, amid hopes major European countries will strike trade deals with the U.S. before the newly announced August 1 deadline.

The Trump administration has proposed a10% tariff on all EU goods, while offering limited exceptions for certain sectors including aircraft and spirits.

Trump imposed new tariff rates on partners including Japan and South Korea but left the door open for additional negotiations, saying that the earlier notifications were "not 100 percent firm."

Following the deadline for increased duties being pushed off until at least Aug. 1, there are hopes the major economies would eventually strike some deals.

The pan European Stoxx 600 gained 0.41%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100, Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 climbed 0.54%, 0.55% and 0.56%, respectively. Switzerland's SMI edged up 0.13%.

Among other markets in Europe, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland and Sweden ended higher.

Belgium, Iceland and Turkiye closed weak, while Norway, Portugal, Russia and Spain ended flat.

In the UK market, BP, Glencore, Prudential, Standard Chartered, Schroders, Entain, Diageo, Shell, Airtel Africa, Croda International, IAG and Easyjet gained 1.3 to 3.3%.

Astrazeneca Pharma, Anglo American Plc, Rio Tinto, Informa, Intercontinental Hotels Group and GSK also ended notably higher.

Endeavour Mining tumbled 3.3%. Rentokil Initial, Coca-Cola HBC, Fresnillo, Admiral Group and British American Tobacco lost 1 to 2.7%.

In the German market, Commerzbank rallied nearly 5%. Bayer and Porsche gained 4% and 3.5%, respectively. BASF, Brenntag, BMW, Sartorius, Continental, Mercedes-Benz, Merck, Infineon, Puma, Rheinmetall, Deutsche Post and Volkswagen gained 1.3 to 2.5%.

Siemens Energy declined about 3.6%. Deutsche Boerse, Fresenius Medical Care, RWE and Vonovia lost 1 to 1.7%.

In the French market, Capgemini climbed more than 4%. Teleperformance, Pernod Ricard, Stellantis and TotalEnergies gained 2 to 3.6%. LVMH, ArcelorMittal, STMicroElectronics, Kering, Sanofi, Airbus and Essilor also closed with strong gains.

Veolia Environment, Eurofins Scientific, Thales, Danone and Engie ended weak.

In economic news, data from Destatis showed Germany's exports declined for the second straight month in May due to the sharp fall in demand from the US amid tariff threats.

Exports decreased by more-than-expected 1.4% on a monthly basis in May, following April's 1.6% fall. Economists had forecast a 0.2% drop.

Imports slid 3.8% from last month, in contrast to the 2.2% increase in April. Imports were forecast to drop only by 0.9%.

The trade surplus increased to a seasonally adjusted EUR 18.4 billion from EUR 15.7 billion in the previous month.

France's trade deficit increased to the highest level in eight months in May, data from the customs office showed.

The trade deficit rose to EUR 7.8 billion from EUR 7.7 billion in April. This was the highest since September 2024, when the shortfall was EUR 8.9 billion.

In the same period last year, the deficit totaled EUR 7.7 billion.

Exports decreased 0.3% in May from the previous month. At the same time, imports were down 0.2%. On a yearly basis, exports edged down 0.1% and imports decreased 0.3% in May.