European Markets Tumble On Rising Middle East Tensions

(RTTNews) - European stocks tumbled on Wednesday, with several markets in the region recording their sharpest fall in several months, as escalating Middle East tensions rendered the mood bearish.

Oil prices rose more than 6% after U.S. President Donald Trump declared at the NATO Summit that the Iran ceasefire "is over," raising fears of a larger conflict with Iran and Strait of Hormuz disruptions.

U.S. President Donald Trump declared at the NATO Summit that the Iran ceasefire "is over," raising fears of a larger conflict with Iran and Strait of Hormuz disruptions.

According to reports the US carried out fresh airstrikes on Iranian targets and revoked a sanctions waiver that had allowed Iran to sell oil globally. Meanwhile, Tehran launched strikes on Bahrain and Kuwait, fueling concerns of a wider conflict in the Middle East region.

The pan European Stoxx 600 fell 1.61%. The UK's FTSE 100 ended down 1.66%, Germany's DAX lost about 2.3% and France's CAC tumbled 2.18%. Switzerland's SMI finished with a loss of 1.3%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Türkiye closed with sharp to moderate losses.

Netherlands ended modestly lower, Norway and Russia closed on a positive note, while Poland closed flat.

In the UK market, BP and Shell moved up 3.6% and 2.3%, respectively.

Centrica, Admiral Group, Pershing Square Holdings, Tesco and Sainsbury (J) were the only other gainers in the FTSE 100 index.

Miners Endeavour Mining, Antofagasta and Anglo American Plc lost 7.1%, 6.4% and 6.3%, respectively. Fresnillo ended 5.6% down, and Rio Tinto fell nearly 5%, while Glencore closed with a loss of 3.51%.

Among bank stocks, Barclays ended 3.7% down, Natwest Group closed lower by nearly 4%, Standard Chartered lost 4.2%, Lloyds Banking Group shed nearly 3%, and HSBC Holdings settled with a loss of 2.2%.

IG Group Holdings tumbled 2.2% after the British online trading firm announced a proposal to establish a new holding company in Jersey.

Vistry plummeted 7.1% after the housebuilder warned of a first-half loss and outlined plans to slim its business. The stock recovered a bit subsequently and was down 6% a little while ago.

Student accommodation provider Unite Group declined 2.8% after saying it expects its annual rental growth to be slightly down on previous expectations.

Developer and investor Hammerson dropped 3% as it announced the sale of £69m of non-core assets.

Howden Joinery Group, IAG, Persimmon, Burberry Group, Convatec Group, Smiths Group, Halma, St. James's Place, Kingfisher, Melrose Industries, Barratt Redrow, Rolls-Royce Holdings, Spirax Group, Weir Group, Coca-Cola HBC, Croda International, Metlen Energy & Metals and Informa were among the several other major losers.

In the German market, Vonovia dropped nearly 6%. Deutsche Bank, Heidelberg Materials, Adidas, Rheinmetall, Volkswagen, SAP and Mercedes-Benz lost 3%-4%.

Zalando, Porsche Automobil Holdings, Symrise, Daimler Truck Holding, BMW, MTU Aero Engines, Continental, Qiagen, Siemens Healthineers, Gea Group, Deutsche Post, Fresenius, Bayer, Commerzbank, Siemens Energy and Merck also declined sharply.

In the French market, Stellantis and Societe Generale lost about 5.8%.

Kering ended nearly 5%. The luxury goods group announced that its Italian fashion house Gucci has entered into a 50 -year exclusive beauty license agreement with French cosmetics and beauty products giant L'Oreal Co. L'Oreal lost about 2%.

ArcelorMittal, Saint-Gobain, Vinci, Hermes International, Safran and Renault fell 4%-5%.

Dassault Systemes, EssilorLuxottica, Accor, BNP Paribas, , STMicroelectronics, Capgemini, Eurofins Scientific, Pernod Ricard, Air Liquide, Michelin, Credit Agricole, LVMH, Thales and Engie also ended with sharp losses.

TotalEnergies climbed 2.3%, riding on higher oil prices.

In economic news, France's official reserve assets fell to €355.39 billion at the end of June 2026 from €381.30 billion in May, marking the lowest level since October 2025, primarily due to a sharp decline in gold reserves.