European Stocks Close Higher As Trump Delays Tariffs On Canada, Mexico

(RTTNews) - As worries about U.S. tariffs eased following U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to delay levies on Canada and Mexico, investors shifted their focus on quarterly earnings, and most of the markets across Europe had a positive session on Tuesday.

Trump's decision to hold off tariff imposition on Canada and Mexico has raised some hopes that the U.K. and the EU will likely avoid duties.

The pan European Stoxx 600 gained 0.22%. Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 climbed 0.36% and 0.66%, respectively, while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 closed lower by 0.15%. Switzerland's SMI settled lower by 0.57%.

Among other markets in Europe, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Turkiye closed higher. Belgium edged up marginally.

Denmark, Finland and Russia closed weak, while Austrial ended flat.

In the UK market, Entain climbed 5.8%. Marks & Spencer closed 3.3% up and Scottish Mortgage gained 2.5%. IAG, Glencore, J Sainsbury and Endeavour Mining closed higher by 1.6 to 2%.

Shell, Tesco, HSBC Holdings, Barclays Group, Schrodders, Rio Tinto, Fresnillo and F&C Investment Trust posted moderate gains.

Vodafone closed lower by about 7% after the telecom operator reported another revenue decline in its key German market in the third quarter.

Vodafone reported that its third quarter adjusted EBITDAaL increased by 2.2% on an organic basis to 2.8 billion euros. Total revenue increased by 5.0% to 9.8 billion euros. Service revenue grew by 5.6% to 7.9 billion euros, and on an organic basis increased 5.2%.

Diageo, the world's top spirits maker, tumbled 4% in early trades, after scrapping its long-standing sales growth guidance. However, the stock recovered some lost ground as the day progressed and eventually ended with a 1.3% loss.

Vistry Group, Ashtead, AstraZeneca, GSK, BAE Systems, Severn Trent, BT, Convatec Group, Reckitt Benckiser and Compass Group lost 1.2 to 2.2%.

In the German market, Infineon soared nearly 10% following the chipmaker upgrading its full-year revenue outlook a bit. The company's quarterly results have come in stronger-than-expected, easing concerns about continued deterioration in automotive demand. Infineon expects fiscal second-quarter revenue of 3.6 billion euros.

SAP and Brenntag both closed more than 1.5% up. Hannover Rueck, Porsche, Bayer, BASF, Munich RE, BMW and Volkswagen gained 0.4 to 1.1%.

Sartorius, Merck, Siemens Energy, Symrise, Qiagen, Beiersdorf, Deutsche Bank and MTU Aero Engines lost 1 to 2.6%.

In the French market, Dassault Systemes climbed about 8.5% on stronger-than-expected quarterly earnings. Dassault reported that its fourth quarter net Income to equity holders of the parent increased to 412.0 million euros from 330.0 million euros, a year ago.

BNP Paribas gained 3.75% after announcing a new share buyback and higher-than-expected dividend.

STMicroElectronics, Publicis Groupe, TotalEnergies, Teleperformance, Kering, ArcelorMittal, Essilor, AXA, Stellantis and Capgemini gained 1.8 to 2.7%.

Vinci, Thales, Societe Generale, Engie, Bouygues, Veolia, Credit Agricole and Saint-Gobain also closed on firm note.

Pernod Ricard, Sanofi, Danone, Eurofins Scientific, Legrand, Edenred, Michelin and L'Oreal lost 1 to 2%.

On the economic front, France's government budget deficit narrowed to Euro 156.30 billion in the January-December period of 2024, down from Euro 173.26 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year.

New passenger car registrations in France decreased to -6.2% (y-o-y) in January 2025 from 1.5% in December of 2024.