European Stocks Close Mixed As Markets React To Earnings, U.S.-Iran Conflict News

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed on a mixed note Monday as U.S.-Iran peace talks stalled after U.S. President Donald Trump rejected Iran's latest proposal to end the conflict, calling it "totally unacceptable."

Iran said it would continue using both "the weapon of diplomacy" and military resistance whenever it considers necessary to protect national interests.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said the U.S. has committed a breach of trust in every diplomatic process it has participated in over the past 20 years.

Investors also reacted to a slew of corporate earnings updates.

The pan European Stoxx 600 edged up 0.11%. Germany's DAX crept up 0.07% and U.K.'s FTSE 100 gained 0.36%, while France's CAC 40 drifted down 0.69%. Switzerland's SMI settled flat.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Sweden and Türkiye closed higher.

Czech Republic, Ireland, Netherlands and Spain ended weak.

In the UK market, Airtel Africa soared nearly 15% after the company's majority shareholder said it was considering increasing its shareholding in the group. Bharti Airtel, which owns around 63% of the company, said on Sunday that it was calling a meeting for May 13 to consider a reorganization of its subsidiary companies' shareholding frameworks, including Airtel Africa.

IAG climbed about 6.5% after reporting a 77% jump in first-quarter operating profit.

Miners Anglo American Plc, Antofagasta, Fresnillo and Endeavour Mining gained 3.2%-4%. Rio Tinto and Glencore moved up 2.9% and 2.25%, respectively.

Compass Group moved up sharply after reporting a 77% jump in first-quarter operating profit.

British American Tobacco, St. James's Place, Aviva, Vodafone Group, Intertek Group, BT Group, AstraZeneca, ICG, M&G and Halma also closed notably higher.

JD Sports Fashion ended more than 4.5% down. Entain, Burberry Group, Whitbread, British Land, Reckitt Benckiser, 3i Group, Diageo, Marks & Spencer, Howden Joinery Group, Next, Melrose Industries, Bunzl and Hind Unilever lost 2%-4%.

In the German market, BASF climbed 3.5% and Brenntag moved up 32%. Deutsche Boerse, E.ON, Zalando, Siemens, Commerzbank, RWE, Deutsche Post and Deutsche Telekom gained 1%-2.2%.

Gea Group slid nearly 5% despite the company reporting a surge in earnings. The company's bottom line in the first quarter totaled EUR99.73 million, or EUR0.61 per share, compared with EUR94.34 million, or EUR0.57 per share, last year.

Hannover RE ended weak after the group's earnings fell short of expectations. Hannover Re's net income in the first quarter climbed 48% to 710.6 million euros from last year's 480.5 million euros. Earnings per share reached 5.89 euros, higher than 3.98 euros a year ago.

Rheinmetall declined sharply, extending recent decline following JP Morgan lowering the stock's target price by about 30%.

Adidas, MTU Aero Engines, Beiersdorf, Fresenius, Rheinmetall, Henkel and Continental ended lower by 2%-3.5%.

In the French market, Teleperformance jumped nearly 8%. STMicroelectronics climbed 3.1% and Orange gained nearly 2.5%.

Engie, TotalEnergies, ArcelorMittal, Bouygues and BNP Paribas gained 1.3%-1.75%.

LVMH, AXA, Pernod Ricard, Veolia Environment, Publicis Groupe, Hermes International and Kering lost 3%-4.5%.

EssilorLuxottica, L'Oreal, Renault, Airbus, Stellantis, Capgemini, Danone and Saint-Gobain also ended sharply lower.