European Stocks Retreat After Positive Start, Close Broadly Lower

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed lower on Thursday as investors chose to take some profits after recent gains, following the signing of a funding bill by U.S. President Donald Trump paving the way for the end of the government shutdown in the world's largest economy.

The mood turned cautious today amid uncertainty whether key U.S. economic will be released following the end of the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. Investors also digested the latest batch of earnings updates and economic data.

The pan European Stoxx 600 fell 0.61%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 closed down by 1.05%, Germany's DAX lost 1.39% and France's CAC 40 edged down 0.11%. Switzerland's SMI slid 0.41%.

Among other markets in Europe, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden and Turkiye closed weak.

Greece, Portugal and Russia ended higher, while Czech Republic and Norway settled flat.

In the UK market, 3i Group shares tumbled 17.5% despite a sharp surge in first-half earnings. The stock tanked as the company warned of a challenging environment ahead and of soft recent trading at the discount retailer that makes up most of its portfolio.

The company's first-half profit climbed to £3.287 billion, up from £2.048 billion last year. Earnings per share rose to 339.8 pence, compared with 211.6 pence a year earlier.

Aviva closed down 6.1%. Sainsbury (J), WPP, Entain, Weir Group, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners and Rolls-Royce Holdings lost 2.7 to 4.1%

Halma, British American Tobacco, RightMove, ICG, Admiral Group, Diageo, SSE and Barratt Redrow also ended sharply lower.

Burberry Group shares moved higher after the company said that its first half loss before tax narrowed to 48 million pounds from a loss of 80 million pounds a year ago. However, the stock pared gains and ended the session on a weak note.

Endeavour Mining surged nearly 6% on strong third-quarter performance thanks to high gold prices, firm output and higher cash generation.

Convatec Group rallied 5.1%. Metlen Energy & Metals, Fresnillo, DCC, Crod International, Spirax Group, Experian, Land Securities, IAG and BAE Systems posted sharp to moderate gains.

In the German market, Siemens tanked more than 9% after reporting a drop in fourth-quarter earnings. The company's bottom line came in at EUR1.619 billion, or EUR2.05 per share in the fourth quarter, compared with EUR1.900 billion, or EUR2.38 per share, last year.

Siemens Energy and Siemens Healthineers lost about 5.5% and 3.6%, respectively. RWE, Fresenius Medical Care, Beiersdorf, E.ON, Fresenius and Deutsche Post also ended sharply lower.

Merck climbed 5.5% after strong third-quarter earnings. Merck's net profit in the third quarter increased to €898 million or €2.07 per share from €812 million or €1.86 per share in the prior year. Excluding one-time items, earnings per share pre edged up 0.9% to €2.32 from €2.30.

Bayer gained about 2.75%. Brenntag, Munich RE, Porsche Automobil Holding, Hannover Rueck and BASF also posted impressive gains.

In the French market, Edenred, Legrand, Schneider Electric, Pernod Ricard, Hermes International, LVMH and Airbus ended lower by 1 to 3%.

Carrefour gained more than 2% after the Saadé family acquired a 4% stake in the company and becoming the group's new majority shareholder.

Credit Agricole, TotalEnergies, Bouygues, Kering, Engie, Teleperformance, Veolia Environment, Thales and AXA gained 1 to 2.2%.

In economic news, data from Eurostat showed Eurozone industrial production rose 0.2% month-on-month in September 2025, after a 1.1% decline in August. On an annual basis, industrial output grew 1.2%, the same pace as in the previous month and below forecasts of 2.1%.

France's unemployment rate increased in the third quarter, data from the statistical office INSEE showed. The ILO jobless rate rose to 7.7% in the third quarter from revised 7.6% in the second quarter. The unemployment rate was forecast to rise to 7.6% from the second quarter's initial estimate of 7.5%.

The UK economy expanded marginally in the third quarter, the Office for National Statistics said in its report.

Gross domestic product grew 0.1% sequentially, following the prior quarter's 0.3% expansion. This was also slower than forecast of 0.2%. On a yearly basis, the economy logged a growth of 1.3% in the third quarter, as expected.

Month-on-month, GDP fell 0.1% following no growth in August and a 0.1% fall in July.

Another report from the ONS showed that the visible trade deficit narrowed to GBP 18.89 billion from GBP 19.53 billion in August. The total trade gap was GBP 1.09 billion compared to a GBP 1.27 billion shortfall in the prior month.