European Stocks Close Weak On Trade Deal Concerns, Weak Earnings Updates

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed weak on Tuesday, extending previous session's losses, amid growing uncertainty over U.S.- EU trade talks, and some disappointing earnings updates.

Investors were largely cautious, assessing the possible move of the U.S. and the European Union in the event of the ongoing trade negotiations failing to result in any meaningful solution to the tariff issues.

The European Union is reportedly preparing to respond with a suite of retaliatory measures under its Anti-Coercion Instrument (ACI) following U.S. President Donald Trump's threat to impose a 30 percent tariff on EU goods from 1 August.

Elsewhere, the prospect of an interim trade deal between the U.S. and India before the August 1 deadline have dimmed due to persistent disagreements over key agricultural and dairy products.

The pan European Stoxx 600 closed down 0.53%. Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 lost 1.05% and 0.72%, respectively. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 edged down 0.06%, and Switzerland's SMI ended 0.36% down.

Among other markets in Europe, Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland and Sweden closed weak.

Denmark, Norway and Portugal ended higher, while Russia, Spain and Turkiye closed flat.

In the UK market, Easyjet, ICG, Melrose Industries, IAG, Games Workshop, BAE Systems, Legal & General and Fresnillo closed down 2 to 3%.

Diploma, Babcock International Group, Rolls-Royce Holdings, Scottish Mortgage, Croda International, M&G and Barratt Redrow also ended notably lower.

Compass Group rallied 5.4%, buoyed by an upward revision in the company;s revenue growth forecast. The company has also announced that it has acquired Dutch firm Vermaat for 1.5 billion euros.

Centrica gained about 4.8% after the company confirmed a 15% stake in the Sizewell C nuclear project. The deal is expected to boost Centrica's earnings.

Glencore, WPP, Entain, United Utilities, Rio Tinto, Severn Trent, Rentokil Initial, SSE, Endeavour Mining, Diageo, Antofagasta, Anglo American Plc, AstraZeneca, Sainsbury (J), Pershing Square Holdings and Coca-Cola Europacific Partners gained 1 to 3.2%.

In the German market, Sartorius ended more than 5% down, despite reporting a jump in first-half bottomline. The company announced that its bottomline came in at EUR 81 million or EUR 2.44 per share in the first-half, compared with EUR 60.9 million or EUR 2.15 per share in last year.

The company's revenue for the period rose 5.2% to EUR 1.767 billion from EUR 1.680 billion last year.

Sartorius reported a 6.1% increase in group sales revenue for the first six months of 2025. The company confirmed its guidance for 2025 but noted that its sales revenue and margin forecast does not include possible effects of tariffs or related mitigating and corrective measures.

Infineon lost about 3.7% after NXP reported disappointing quarterly numbers.

Rheinmetall ended more than 3% down. Siemens Energy, MTU Aero Engines, Siemens, Symrise, SAP, BMW, Porsche, Heidelberg Materials, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen and Continental lost 1 to 3%.

Puma rallied nearly 3%. Fresenius gained about 2.2%. RWE, Daimler Truck Holding, Beiersdorf, Qiagen, Bayer, Commerzbank, Fresenius Medical Care and Brenntag also ended notably higher.

In the French market, Airbus, Saint Gobain, Safran, Stellantis, Schneider Electric, Legrand, Societe Generale, Renault, Vinci, Hermes International, Michelin and Capgemini closed lower by 1 to 2.5%.

Kering, Eurofins Scientific, Pernod Ricard, Engie, Publicis Groupe, L'Oreal, Edenred and Orange gained 1 to 2.5%.

In economic news, the UK budget deficit widened sharply in June, data from the Office for National Statistics showed.

Public sector net borrowing rose by GBP 6.6 billion from the previous year to GBP 20.7 billion in June. This was bigger than the GBP 17.1 billion shortfall forecast by the Office for Budget Responsibility. Moreover, it was the second-highest borrowing in any June since monthly records began in 1993.

In the financial year to June, borrowing totaled GBP 57.8 billion, which was GBP 7.5 billion more than in the same three-month period of 2024.

At the end of June 2025, public sector net debt excluding public sector banks was provisionally estimated at 96.3% of gross domestic product.