European Shares Struggle For Direction As Investors Weigh Earnings

(RTTNews) - European stocks struggled for direction on Wednesday as investors weighed mixed earnings results and braced for a new round of in-person talks between the United States and Iran expected to be held as early as this weekend.

The United States has reportedly set out two new conditions before restarting negotiations.

Washington wants full and unrestricted reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, Israel Hayom reported, adding the Americans are sticking to a position of reciprocity.

In economic releases, France's harmonized consumer price inflation accelerated slightly more than initially estimated in March, final data from the statistical office INSEE revealed.

EU harmonized inflation hit 2 percent in March, which was up from the initial estimate of 1.9 percent and exceeded the 1.1 percent rise in February.

At the same time, consumer price inflation rose to 1.7 percent, as previously estimated, from 0.9 percent in February. This was the sharpest rise since August 2024.

Separately, Eurostat revealed in a report that Eurozone industrial production increased by 0.4 percent in February, compared to the month prior.

The pan-European STOXX 600 was marginally higher at 620.21 after rallying 1 percent in the previous session.

The German DAX and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 were little changed with a positive bias, while France's CAC 40 dropped half a percent.

French luxury goods company Hermes International slumped 10 percent after reporting a slowdown in sales growth for the first quarter.

Stellantis rallied 3.4 percent. The Franco-Italian automaker reported a 12 percent rise in global shipments in the first quarter.

Dutch chipmaking equipment giant ASML gained 1.7 percent. The company raised its 2026 sales guidance after beating first-quarter revenue and profit expectations.

Financial group Aegon fell nearly 2 percent after it agreed to sell its U.K. operations to Standard Life in a transaction valued at GBP 2 billion.

Rank Group surged 11 percent in London. The gambling operator raised its full-year underlying operating profit guidance after reporting a 5 percent year-on-year increase in fiscal Q3 2025-26 net gaming revenue.

Antofagasta jumped 3.2 percent. After posting a drop in Q1 copper production, the miner said it expects output to rise steadily through the remainder of the year.