European Shares Mixed As US Government Shutdown Adds To Uncertainty

(RTTNews) - European stocks were mixed on Wednesday as the United States plunged into a government shutdown, a few hours after the Senate failed to pass a short-term spending bill.

The pan European Stoxx 600 was up 0.2 percent at 559.42 after rising half a percent on Tuesday to conclude September on a positive note.

The German DAX slipped 0.2 percent and France's CAC 40 was marginally lower while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 climbed 0.7 percent after a survey showed U.K. house prices growth accelerated in September amid easing borrowing costs.

House prices logged an annual growth of 2.2 percent in September, slightly faster than the prior month's 2.1 percent rise, according to data from the mortgage lender Nationwide Building Society. The annual increase was forecast to ease to 1.8 percent.

On a monthly basis, house prices rebounded 0.5 percent after a 0.1 percent drop in August. This was also faster than economists' forecast of 0.2 percent.

Pharma stocks were rising after Pfizer reached a deal with the U.S. government to lower prescription drug prices in exchange for tariff relief. Sartorius surged 6.7 percent, Merck added 5.2 percent and Roche jumped 5.3 percent.

Tate & Lyle, Plc, one of the world's biggest producers of sweeteners, plunged almost 10 percent after lowering its revenue and Ebitda outlook for the year ending March 31.

Vallourec, a provider of tubular solutions for the energy sector, rallied 2.2 percent on securing a new order from Petrobras for over 30 units of Submagnetic Free Flow, its Oil Country Tubular Goods (OCTG) solution designed to prevent scaling in production pipes.

British baker and fast-food chain Greggs soared 8.2 percent as it reported 6.1 percent sales growth over the third quarter of 2025.

French engineering & technology company Technip Energies gained 1 percent on receiving two engineering services contracts from Repsol for the development of the Ecoplanta Molecular Recycling Solutions (Ecoplanta) project.

Spirits major Diageo rose about 2 percent after pricing €1 billion of fixed rate bonds under its European Debt Issuance Program.

Dutch engineering consultancy Arcadis surged 8 percent on share buyback news.