European Markets Close Weak On U.S.-Iran Tensions

(RTTNews) - European markets closed weak on Thursday as concerns about U.S.-Iran conflict and continued uncertainty over the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz rendered the mood cautious. Lower oil prices and easing concerns about interest rates helped limit markets' downside.

Inflation data from the U.S. has raised hopes the Fed will not hike interest rates for now.

Brent crude futures, which dropped to $85.85 a barrel, recovered to $87.70 later on but still remained nearly 1.5% down from previous close.

Investors continued to focus on earnings updates and activity in most of the markets was stock specific.

The pan European Stoxx 600 edged down 0.04%. The UK's FTSE 100 dropped 0.56%, Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 ended lower by 0.12% and 0.28%, respectively. Switzerland's SMI closed 0.18% up.

Among other markets in Europe, Belgium, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain and Sweden ended weak.

Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Netherlands, Norway and Türkiye closed higher.

In the UK market, mining and energy stocks declined sharply.

Antofagasta ended down 6.8% as the Chilean copper miner delivered mixed first-half results. The company posted a sharp rise in first-half profit but trimmed its 2026 copper output forecast.

Rio Tinto, Fresnillo, Endeavour Mining and Anglo American Plc ended lower by 3.5%-4.8%. Glencore declined 2.1%.

Metlen Energy & Metals and Weir Group lost 4.1% and 3.7%, respectively. Aberdeen Group, Entain, Rentokil Initial, LSEG and Burberry Group ended down by 2%-3%.

Energy stocks BP and Shell closed lower by 1.6% and 1.1%, respectively. Bank stocks HSBC Holdings and Natwest Group also ended notably lower.

Lion Finance climbed 5.2%. British American Tobacco moved up 2.75%. Barratt Redrow, Computacenter, Persimmon and Sainsbury (J) gained 2%-2.5%.

JD Sports Fashion, Tesco, Imperial Brands, Admiral Group, Scottish Mortgage, Kingfisher, Aviva, Investec, Unilever, Marks & Spencer, Informa and Polar Capital Technology Trust also posted impressive gains.

Costain Group shares rallied 4.5%. The infrastructure group reaffirmed annual guidance after posting strong half-year results.

Rank Group, the company behind the Grosvenor Casinos and Mecca Bingo brands, surged more than 6% after reporting a 21% increase in underlying profit for the year ended June 30, 2026. The stock pared some gains subsequently, and was up by about 1.5% a little while ago.

In the German market, BASF, Porsche Automobil Holding, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen and Daimler Truck Holding lost 1%-2.2%.

BMW, Infineon, E.ON, Brenntag, Munich RE, Deutsche Bank, Siemens Energy and Rheinmetall also ended weak.

RWE gained 2.7% after first-half core profit topped forecasts.

Continental climbed nearly 3%. Fresenius ended more than 2.5% up. Qiagen, Commerzbank, Deutsche Telekom, Siemens and Henkel also closed on firm note.

Shares of car rental company Sixt gained more than 3% thanks to the group posting record first-half revenue.

Steel and industrial technology group Thyssenkrupp soared 9% as it raised the lower end of its profit outlook for 2026.

In the French market, Dassault Systemes, STMicroelectronics, Safran, Bureau Veritas, Thales, Vinci and LVMH lost 1%-2.2%.

Danone, Publicis Groupe, Sanofi, Edenred, Orange, L'Oreal, Michelin, Eurofins Scientific and Engie closed on firm note.

In economic news, data from the Office for National Statistics showed U.K.'s real gross domestic product grew 0.4% from a quarter, following first quarter's 0.6% expansion. But the pace of growth matched expectations.

On the production side of GDP, services growth weakened to 0.5% from 0.8%. Construction output climbed 0.3%.

At the same time, industrial production showed no growth after a 0.2% rise. Within production, there was an increase of 1% in manufacturing and a 0.2% gain in mining and quarrying.

On a yearly basis, GDP advanced 1.2% in the second quarter compared to economists' forecast of 1.1% expansion.

Further, data showed that GDP posted a monthly growth of 0.3% in June after showing no growth in May.

In a separate communiqué, the ONS said the visible trade deficit widened to GBP 23.01 billion in June from GBP 21.08 billion in May. The shortfall was seen at GBP 20.6 billion.