European Stocks Close Weak Despite Late Recovery

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed lower on Tuesday and most of the markets in the region dropped to multi-week lows before regaining some lost ground, as worries about the potential impact of U.S. government shutdown and growth concerns due to tariffs forced investors to tread cautiously with regard to riskier assets.

Rising possibility of the European Central Bank holding interest rates at current levels, and slightly fading enthusiasm for AI also appeared to be rendering the mood cautious.

Investors awaited the Bank of England's monetary policy announcement this week. The BoE is widely expected to hold interest rate at 4%.

The pan European Stoxx 600 closed down by 0.3%. Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 lost 0.76% and 0.52%, respectively. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 edged up 0.14%, and Switzerland's SMI climbed 0.58%.

Among other markets in Europe, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Sweden and Turkiye closed weak.

Belgium, Ireland and Russia ended higher, while Austria and Spain closed flat.

In the UK market, JD Sports Fashion, Burberry Group, Entain, Hikma Pharmaceuticals, Antofagasta, Whitbread, Endeavour Mining, Easyjet and Howeden Joinery Group lost 2 to 5%.

Associated British Foods closed lower by about 3%. The company's full-year attributable profit was also down 29.6% to 1.03 billion pounds for the 52 weeks ended Sept. 13. Group revenue fell 2% to 19.46 billion pounds sterling.

Metlen Energy & Metals climbed 3.65%. Convatec Group ended with a gain of 2.6%, while Land Securities, GSK, Segro, Smith & Nephew, Tesco, LSE, AstraZeneca, BP, Informa, Reckitt Benckiser, Intertek Group and Coca-Cola Europacific Partners gained 1 to 2%.

In the German market, Fresenius Medical Care tanked more than 9% after the dialysis specialist maintained its 2025 targets after reporting better-than-expected third-quarter results, helped by cost cuts.

Zalando, Adidas, BASF, Rheinmetall, Mercedes-Benz, Brenntag, Deutsche Post, BMW, Volkswagen, SAP, Infineon Technologies, Porsche Automobil, Fresenius and Siemens ended notably lower.

Beiersdorf, Commerzbank, Henkel, Bayer, Merck, Siemens Healthineers and Qiagen closed notably higher.

In the French market, Edenred tumbled nearly 8%. The French vouchers and benefit cards provider lowered its medium-term earnings growth targets. The company expects like-for-like EBITDA growth of between 2% and 4% in 2026, down from at least 10% in the 2025 fiscal year.

The company also forecasts an annual EBITDA like-for-like growth of between 8% and 12% in 2027 and 2028.

STMicroElectronics closed lower by more than 3%. Stellantis, Saint-Gobain, Renault, Schneider Electric, ArcelorMittal, Legrand, Hermes International and Dassault Systemes also settled notably lower.

Unibail Rodamco and Teleperformance closed sharply higher. Engie, Bureau Veritas, Vinci, L'Oreal and Air Liquide posted moderate gains.

In economic news, data showed France's central government budget deficit narrowed to EUR 155.4 billion at the end of September 2025, from EUR 173.8 billion in the same month last year.