European Stocks Close Slightly Higher After Cautious Session

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed higher on Tuesday, lifted by easing trade tensions, fairly buoyant German investor sentiment report and data showing a less than expected increase in U.S. consumer prices in the month of April.

Investors also digested earnings updates and other corporate news.

Still, gains in most of the markets were just modest as investors treaded a bit cautiously after previous session's fairly solid upmove following news about U.S.-China trade deal.

Investors looked ahead to U.S. - EU trade negotiations. U.S. President Donald Trump said that the European Union is 'nastier than China' and 'we've just started with them'- signaling tough trade negotiations.

The pan European Stoxx 600 edged up 0.12%. Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 climbed 0.31% and 0.3%, respectively. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 ended 0.02% down, while Switzerland's SMI closed down 0.44%.

Among other markets in Europe, Finland, Greece, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain and Sweden ended higher.

Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Iceland, Ireland and Turkiye closed weak, while Austria ended flat.

In the UK market, Entain climbed more than 6% thanks to a rating upgrade by UBS.

IAG, Anglo American Plc, Ashtead Group and St. James's Place gained 3 to 3.6%. Spirax Group, EasyJet, Polar Capital Technology Trust, Experian, Next, Rolls-Royce Holdings and Halma moved up by 2 to 3.6%.

DCC ended 6.5% down. GSK, Diageo, Segro, Severn Trent and United Utilities lost 2 to 3%.

Haleon ended nearly 2% down. British American Tobacco, National Grid, Imperial Brands, Unilever, Unite Group, Centrica and Smith & Nephew also ended notably lower.

In Germany, In Germany, Bayer AG shares ended nearly 3% up, after the company reported a smaller than expected drop in quarterly adjusted profit and confirmed 2025 targets.

Bayer's net income declined to 1.299 billion euros or 1.32 euros per share in the latest quarter, from 2 billion euros or 2.04 euros per share last year.

Volkswagen rallied nearly 4%. Adidas, BMW, Bayer, Mercedes-Benz, Zalando, Daimler Truck Holding, Infineon, Continental and Siemens gained 1.5 to 4%.

Munich RE dropped about 4.5% after the company reported lower earnings. Munich Re reported that, in first quarter, it generated a net profit of 1.09 billion euros compared to 2.11 billion euros, previous year.

Munich Re said it is aiming to generate a net result of 6.0 billion euros for fiscal 2025. The company said the targets communicated for 2025 remain unchanged.

Shares of reinsurance company Hannover Re AG closed down nearly 4.5% on lower earnings. The company said its earnings were hit considerable natural catastrophe losses mainly California wildfires. Reinsurance revenue, however, increased from last year, and the company maintained fiscal 2025 outlook with healthy underlying business.

In the first quarter, Group net income fell 13.9% to 480 million euros from last year's 558 million euros. Earnings per share came in at 3.98 euros, down from 4.63 euros a year earlier.

Vonovia, Beiersdorf, Fresenius, E.ON and Fresenius Medical Care also closed weak.

In the French market, Stellantis climbed nearly 5%. STMicroElectronics, Renault, Hermes International and Essilor gained 2.2 to 2.7%.

Accor, Teleperformance, Airbus, Vivendi, Legrand and Kering also closed with strong gains.

L'Oreal, Edenred, Veolia, Eurofins Scientific, Pernod Ricard and Sanofi lost 1.6 to 2.4%.

Data from the British Retail Consortium showed U.K. retail sales grew strongly in April largely due to the timing of the Easter and good weather conditions. Total retail sales increased 7% on a yearly basis in April in contrast to the 4% decline in the same period last year.

Data released by the Office for National Statistics showed the U.K. unemployment rate rose to 4.5% in the three months to March, in line with expectations, from 4.4% in the preceding period.

A survey published by the think tank ZEW showed German investor confidence rebounded in May as the formation of new government as well as the progress in the tariff disputes strengthened expectations.

The ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment climbed sharply by 39.2 points to 25.2 in May. The reading was well above economists' forecast of 9.8.

However, the assessment about the current economic situation remained deep in the negative territory. The current situation index dropped unexpectedly by 0.8 points to -82.0. The score was forecast to improve to -77.0.