European Stocks Close Higher Despite Trump's Fresh Tariffs

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed higher on Tuesday, and several major markets recorded fresh record highs or multi-month highs, as investors continued to focus on earnings and other corporate news.

Worries about fresh tariffs by U.S. President Donald Trump weighed a bit and limited markets' upside.

Steelmakers were under some pressure following Trump raising tariffs on steel and aluminum imports to a flat 25% "without exceptions or exemptions." Trump's move is aimed to support the struggling U.S. steel and aluminum companies, but the tariff increases the risk of a multi-front trade war.

A White House official confirmed that the measures would take effect on March 4.

The pan European Stoxx 600 gained 0.23%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 edged up 0.11%, while Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 climbed 0.58% and 0.28%, respectively. Switzerland's SMI closed higher by 0.53%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, Spain, Sweden and Turkiye closed higher.

Belgium, Denmark, Finland and Greece ended weak, while Portugal settled flat.

In the UK market, Intertek Group climbed 3.14%. Diploma, JD Sports Fashion, Shell, BAE Systems, Peshing Square Holdings and Standard Chartered closed higher by 1.9 to 2.6%.

Natwest Group, Compass Group, Hikma Pharmaceuticals, Barclays Group, Howden Joinery, Tesco, Games Workshop Group, HSBC Holdings and Relx gained 1 to 1.7%.

Entain tanked 11.1% after the betting firm's Chief Executive Officer Gavin Isaacs stepped down with immediate effect after less than six months in the role.

Legal & General closed down 3.2%. Glencore, EasyJet, Anglo American Plc, Whitbread, Barratt Redrow and Antofagasta lost 2 to 2.7%.

Taylor Wimpey, IHG, Vodafone Group, IAG, Berkeley Group Holdings, Persimmon, GSK, Coca-Cola, Fresnillo and Rio Tinto closed down 1.2 to 2%.

British oil major BP Plc closed down 0.6% after reporting a steep drop in profits for the fiscal quarter of last year. BP posted a fourth quarter loss to shareholders of $1.96 billion compared to profit of $371 million, a year ago. Loss per share in the fourth quarter was 12.33 cents.

In the German market, SAP rallied about 2.3%. Qiagen, Deutsche Telekom, Deutsche Bank, Siemens, Fresenius, Puma, Commerzbank and Infineon gained 0.8 to 1.7%.

Steel stock Thyssenkrupp closed nearly 4% down. Salzgitter ended down by about 1%.

Porsche, Bayer, Vonovia, BMW and Volkswagen lost 1 to 1.6%. BASF, Adidas, Mercedes-Benz, HeidelbergCement, Henkel, E.ON and Beiersdorf closed moderately lower.

In the French market, Societe Generale moved up 3.5%. Vivendi gained about 2.2%, while STMicroElectronics, Essilor, Saint-Gobain, Legrand, Credit Agricole, Thales, Capgemini and Teleperformance advanced 1 to 2%.

Kering, which climbed about 5% in early trades, gave up most of its gains and ended 1.3% up. The stock surged after posting better-than-expected sales in the fourth quarter.

ArcelorMittal closed down nearly 2%. Eurofins Scientific ended 1.8% down, while Carrefour, Pernod Ricard, Vinci and Accor lost 1.3 to 1.6%. Michelin, Renault and Safran also closed weak.

A report from the British Retail Consortium said UK retail sales increased in January on robust food and non-food turnover despite rising cost pressures. Retail sales grew 2.6% on a yearly basis in January. This was the second consecutive rise but the pace of growth softened from 3.2% in December.

Sales were above the three-month average growth of 1.1% and the twelve month average of 0.8%.

Growth in food sales accelerated to 2.8% in January from 1.7% in the prior month. Meanwhile, non-food sales growth slowed to 2.5% from 4.4%.

Data released by the statistical office INSEE showed France's unemployment rate dropped marginally in the fourth quarter, easing to 7.3%, from 7.4% in the year-ago quarter. The rate was forecast to rise to 7.5%.

The unemployment rate remained slightly above its lowest level since 1982, when the rate was 7.1%.

Further, data showed that the employment rate slid 0.2 points over the quarter to 68.9%. It remained 0.4 points above its level from a year ago.