European Markets Fail To Hold Early Gains, Settle Weak

(RTTNews) - After trading in positive territory for much of the day's trading session, most of the markets in Europe ended weak on Tuesday, hurt by some brisk selling in the final hour.

Despite oil's retreat, investors turned cautious amid continued uncertainty about Iran and the U.S. reaching an agreement to end their conflict anytime soon. Tech stocks fared well amid hopes investment in AI will support long term demand for chips.

Brent crude front-month futures rose to $107.87 a barrel earlier in the day but dropped to around $103 a barrel later on in the session.

The pan European Stoxx 600 ended 0.09% down. The UK's FTSE 100 dropped 0.45% and France's CAC 40 ended lower by 0.53%, while Germany's DAX settled with a gain of 0.1%. Switzerland's SMI settled 0.22% down.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Türkiye closed with sharp to moderate losses. Denmark edged down marginally.

Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Russia and Sweden ended higher, while Greece closed flat.

In the UK market, Weir gained nearly 3%. Convatec Group, Metlen Energy & Metals, Intercontinental Hotels Group, Halma, Polar Capital Technology Trust, Diploma, Airtel Africa, Coca-Cola HBC, IG Group Holdings, Babcock International, Scottish Mortgage, JD Sports Fashion, Marks & Spencer and Whitbread gained 1%-2.3%.

Energy stocks Ithaca, BP and Shell ended down by 3.7%, 2.3% and 1.7%, respectively, as oil prices turned weak.

Sainsbury (J), British American Tobacco, Rentokil Initial, Experian, Howden Joinery Group, Tesco, Lion Finance, Barratt Redrow and Bunzl lost 1.3%-2%.

Admiral Group, Vodafone Group, Unilever, Kingfisher, Endeavour Mining and BAE Systems also closed notably lower.

In the German market, Infineon and Siemens Energy moved up by about 4.8% and 3.5%, respectively, buoyed by a report in Reuters that Anthropic is betting on AI to transform the global economy and plans to use public investors to fund its growth.

Vonovia climbed more than 2%. Siemens, Heidelberg Materials, MTU Aero Engines and SAP also closed notably higher.

Fresenius fell nearly 5%. Bayer shed 3.7%. Fresenius Medical Care ended lower by about 3.1% following Berenberg slashing the stock's price target sharply and withdrawing its buy recommendation.

Daimler Truck Holding, Mercedes-Benz, E.ON, Adidas, Beiersdorf, Munich RE, BMW, Hannover Rueck, Deutsche Telekom and Commerzbank also closed weak.

In the French market, Legrand surged more than 6% after raising its 2030 targets, citing accelerated growth in data centers and the energy transition alongside improved profitability.

STMicroelectronics climbed 2.3%. Pernod Ricard and Schneider Electric also gained more than 2%, while Bureau Veritas ended 1.9% up.

Stellantis, Eurofins Scientific, ArcelorMittal, Vinci, TotalEnergies, Hermes International, Dassault Systemes and Kering ended lower by 2%-3.5%.

Orange, Carrefour, Airbus, Danone, Societe Generale, Unibail Rodamco, AXA, L'Oreal, LVMH, Renault and EssilorLuxottica shed 1%-1.6%.

In economic news, a report from the British Retail Consortium said UK shop prices grew at a slightly slower pace in September due to promotions and strong discounting.

Shop price inflation edged down to 1.4% in September from 1.5% in August. Nonetheless, the rate remained above the three-month average of 1.3%.