European Stocks Close On Firm Note On Positive Regional Economic Data

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed on a firm note on Tuesday, riding on encouraging regional economic data and hopes the European Central Bank will not hike interest rates anytime soon. Renewed optimism surrounding Artificial Intelligence helped keep the mood positive.

Investors also focused on the developments on the geopolitical front, and followed the speeches at the ECB Forum in Sintra.

ECB Chief Economist Philip Lane said in Sintra, Portugal, today that the second-round effect from higher energy prices is probably going to take some time to show up and that policymakers won't lock themselves into a path for interest rates in the meantime.

Oil prices drifted lower despite clear divergences emerging in the statements from both sides regarding whether the U.S. and Iran would hold talks in Qatar today.

The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.88%. The UK's FTSE 100 ended 0.12% up and France's CAC 40 gained 0.44%, while Germany's DAX jumped 1.5%. Switzerland's SMI drifted lower by 0.21%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Sweden ended with sharp to moderate gains. Ireland and Norway edged up marginally.

Czech Republic, Greece, Portugal, Russia and Türkiye closed weak.

In the UK market, mining stocks were among the impressive gainers.

Polar Capital Technology Trust gained about 4%. Babcock International and Scottish Mortgage moved up 3.4% and 3.3%, respectively.

Melrose Industries, St. James's Place, Lloyds Banking Group, Rolls-Royce Holdings, BAE Systems, Lion Finance, Antofagasta, Anglo American Plc, Natwest Group, Halma, IMI and Croda International moved up 1.5%-3%.

Entain ended lower by about 5.5%. Smith & Nephew shed 4.7% and Vodafone Group drifted down 3.7%. BT Group, Burberry Group, Persimmon, Diageo, Metlen Energy & Metals, Airtel Africa, Kingfisher, Centrica, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, Fresnillo, AstraZeneca, BP and Unilever also ended notably lower.

In the German market, Siemens Energy climbed more than 5.5% following the energy technology group's optimistic tone about orders during its third-quarter pre-closing conference call on Monday.

Bayer gained about 5.2%. Siemens, Infineon and Daimler Truck Holding gained 4.5%, 4.4% and 3.9%, respectively.

Rheinmetall, Mercedes-Benz, Continental, Vonovia, Gea Group, Deutsche Post, Fresenius, MTU Aero Engines, Allianz and RWE also closed with notable gains.

Deutsche Telekom dropped nearly 4%. Qiagen, SAP and Volkswagen lost 1.7%-2%. Porsche Automobil Holding and Henkel also closed weak.

In the French market, Schneider Electric, Safran, ArcelorMittal, Legrand and Saint-Gobain gained 2%-2.7%. Thales, Stellantis, Qiagen, BNP Paribas, Bureau Veritas, Airbus, Accor, AXA and STMicroelectronics also closed with strong gains.

Teleperformane tanked 11.5%. Kering closed nearly 7% down. Capgemini, Publicis Groupe, LVMH, Orange, Pernod Ricard, Dassault Systemes, TotalEnergies, Carrefour and Hermes International also ended weak.

Data from Destatis showed Germany's retail sales increased 1.1% on a monthly basis in May, reversing a 0.4% drop in April. Sales in the food sector grew 1.1% and the non-food sector sales gained 1%. Online and mail-order sales increased 3.4% in real terms, data showed.

On a yearly basis, retail sales logged an increase of 1.8% after falling 0.6% in the previous month. In nominal terms, retail sales moved up 1% from the previous month and grew 1.3% from the last year.

Data from the statistical office INSEE showed the annual inflation rate in France slowed to 1.8% in June from 2.4% in May, and below expectations of 2.1%, according to preliminary estimates.

Compared to the previous month, the CPI declined 0.2% in June, the first fall in five months, led by a sharp decline in energy prices. Considering the EU-harmonised CPI, prices rose 2% yoy (vs 2.8% in May) and dropped 0.3% on the month.

Producer prices in France rose 0.3% month-on-month in May, after dropping by 2% in April.

Final data from the Office for National Statistics showed the UK economy expanded as initially estimated in the first quarter, growing 0.6% sequentially, following a revised 0.1% expansion seen in the fourth quarter. Increased services activity contributed to the expansion.

The production-side of GDP showed that output increased in all three sectors, with the largest contribution from the services activity, which advanced 0.8%. Industrial production climbed 0.2% and construction grew 0.2%.

On the expenditure-side, household spending moved up 0.6% and government spending gained 1.3%.

In 2025, GDP increased 1.3%, which was revised down from 1.4%. This followed an unrevised growth of 1% in 2024.