European Stocks Close Mixed After Cautious Session

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed mixed on Tuesday as concerns about geopolitical tensions and U.S. President Donald Trump's new tariff threat rendered the mood cautious, forcing traders to refrain from making big moves. Some corporate updates provided a bit of direction.

The latest inflation data from the U.S. came in line with expectations, but raised expectations of more monetary easing in the coming months.

The pan European Stoxx 600 edged down marginally. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 slipped 0.03%, Germany's DAX edged up 0.06%, and France's CAC 40 closed down by 0.14%. Switzerland's SMI ended down by 0.46%.

Among other markets in Europe, Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal and Turkiye closed higher.

Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Poland and Russia ended weak, while Czech Republic, Finland, Spain and Sweden closed flat.

In the UK market, Whitbread surged more than 7% as pressure on margins eased after the company said the impact of the UK budget on costs would be lower than previously expected.

Pershing Square Holdings climbed 2.7%. BP, Shell, Melrose Industries and British American Foods gained 2 to 2.7%.

JD Sports Fashion, Rolls-Royce Holdings, Rio Tinto, Fresnillo, Endeavour Mining, Beazley and Polar Capital Technology Trust also ended notably higher.

Smith & Nephew, Kingfisher, Convatec Group, Entain, Rentokil Initial, Vodafone Group, Admiral Group, Severn Trent, Persimmon, ICG, National Grid and 3i Group lost 2 to 4%.

In the German market, Symrise moved up more than 5%. Symrise AG shares surged nearly 7% after the company announced that it is in advanced discussions with potential buyers regarding the divestment of its terpenes business.

Zalando gained about 4.75% after Barclays upgraded the stock from equalweight to overweight and raised its price target to EUR 35.00, an increas of EUR 7.00.

Infineon and MTU Aero Engines both gained about 2%. Siemens gained nearly 1.5%, while Siemens Energy, Fresenius, Rheinmetall, Brenntag, Daimler Truck Holding and Commerzbank also closed on positive note.

Fresenius Medical Care, Heidelberg Materials, Continental, Deutsche Telekom, BMW and Deutsche Boerse lost 2 to 3%.

Hannover Rueck, Bayer, Merck, E.ON, Adidas, Qiagen and Munich RE also ended notably lower.

In the French market, TotalEnergies, Safran, Airbus, Capgemini, Eurofins Scientific, Pernod Ricard and STMicroElectronics gained 1 to 2.3%.

Vinci, TP, Saint Gobain, Stellantis, Veolia Environment, Carrefour, Edenred, Sanofi and Thales lost 2 to 4.3%.

AXA, Kering, Engie, Bouygues, Unibail Rodamco, Dassault Systemes and Publicis Groupe also closed weak.

In economic news, UK retail sales grew at a slower pace in December despite festive season as consumers cut back spending on higher household bills, the British Retail Consortium said Tuesday.

Total retail sales increased 1.2% in December from the previous year compared to an annual growth of 3.2% in the same period last year.

Food sales rose 3.1% on a yearly basis, while non-food sales decreased 0.3%. In-store non-food sales dropped 0.5% and online non-food sales fell 0.1%.

The online penetration rate increased to 38.6% in December from 38.5% in the last year.

Data showed France's central government budget deficit narrowed to EUR 155.4 billion at the end of November 2025, from EUR 172.5 billion in the same month a year earlier.