European Stocks Close Broadly Higher On Fed Rate Cut Hopes, Easing Trading Tensions

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed broadly higher on Tuesday amid easing trade tensions after the U.S. extended its pause on higher tariffs for Chinese goods until November 10, averting an immediate escalation in the trade war.

Expectations of a rate cut by the Federal Reserve in September contributed as well to the positive show by most of the markets in Europe.

The pan European Stoxx 600 gained 0.21%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 climbed 0.2% and France's CAC 40 advanced 0.71%, while Germany's DAX closed down 0.23%. Switzerland's SMI ended 0.14% up.

Among other markets in Europe, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain and Sweden ended higher.

Austria and Turkiye closed weak, while Belgium and Iceland ended flat.

In the UK market, Spirax Group soared nearly 13%. The British industrial thermal energy and fluid technology company posted first-half 2025 earnings that beat expectations.

Ashtead Group gained about 4%. IAG, Airtel Africa, Melrose Industries, JD Sports Fashion, Intercontinental Hotels Group, Pershing Square Holdings, Standard Chartered, Mondi and Antofagasta climbed 2 to 3.1%.

Property investor and developer Derwent London declined sharply after announcing the retirement of Executive Director Nigel George.

Ladbrokes owner Entain closed with a sharp loss, despite reporting strong first-half results and lifting its full-year expectations.

The Sage Group shares closed down 4.7%. National Grid, United Utilities, Land Securities, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, Pearson, SSE, Relx and Croda International also closed notably lower.

In Germany, Sartorius ralied more than 7%, lifted by a rating upgrade by Jefferies. Infineon and Siemens Energy, both gained more than 4%.

Merck, Deutsche Post, MTU Aero Engines, Henkel, Continental, Commerzbank, Adidas, Qiagen, Siemens, Rheinmetall, Deutsche Telekom and Volkswagen gained 1 to 3%.

SAP ended lower by about 7%. Hannover Rueck ended down by about 3.4% despite reporting higher net income and reinsurance revenue in the first half of the year.

Deutsche Boerse and Munich RE also ended sharply lower. Vonovia closed lower by about 1.25%.

In the French market, STMicroElectronics rallied about 4.3%. Stellantis and Airbus gained 3.1% and 2.9%, respectively.

Saint Gobain, Schneider Electric, Legrand, AXA, Societe Generale, TotalEnergies, Safran, Thales and Michelin gained 1 to 1.7%. Valneva climbed about 8% as the specialty vaccine firm announced a sharp 37.8% increase in revenue for the first six months of the year.

Publicis Groupe, Dassault Systemes, Vivendi and Capgemini ended sharply lower.

Data from the Office for National Statistics showed the UK unemployment rate remained unchanged in three months to June, with the ILO jobless rate holding steady at 4.7%, in line with expectations.

Payroll employees for July decreased 164,000 from the previous year, and by 8,000 from June, to 30.3 million.

Separate set of data revealed that retail sales in the U.K. rose by 2.5% year on year in July.

The ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment for Germany decreased for the first time in four months to 34.7 in August 2025, compared to 52.7 in July which was the highest since 2022.

The assessment of the current economic situation has also deteriorated, with the Current Conditions index declining to -68.6 from -59.5 and worse than forecasts of -65. source.