European Stocks Tumble As Middle East Tensions Lift Oil

(RTTNews) - European stocks tumbled on Wednesday as escalating tensions in the Middle East pushed up oil prices sharply, raising concerns about inflation and potential interest rate hikes by central banks.

Tensions escalated in the Middle East after U.S. forces destroyed five Iranian tankers and Tehran retaliated by launching missile strikes in Jordan.

Brent crude futures climbed to $101.58 a barrel, hitting a multi-month high

Data showing an unexpected drop in French industrial production weighed as well.

The European Central Bank, which is scheduled to announce its monetary policy on Thursday, is widely expected to raise interest rates by 25 basis points.

The pan European Stoxx 600 ended 1.41% down. The UK's FTSE 100, Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 settled lower by 1.31%, 1.66% and 1.94%, respectively. Switzerland's SMI closed with a loss of 1.8%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Sweden ended notably lower. Greece and Portugal closed marginally down.

Finland, Norway, Russia and Türkiye ended modestly higher.

In the UK market, shares from mining and banking sectors were among the major losers. Anglo American Plc, Antofagasta, Rio Tinto and Fresnillo ended notably lower.

Lloyds Banking Group, Barclays, HSBC Holdings, Standard Chartered and Natwest Group declined sharply.

AutoTrader Group ended 4.7% down. Burberry Group, Melrose Industries, The Sage Group, 3i Group, M&G, Howden Joinery Group, Coca-Cola HBC, Airtel Africa, Standard Life, Smiths Group, Investec, IAG, Games Workshop, AstraZeneca and Rolls-Royce Holdings lost 2%-4%. AstraZeneca,

BP climbed 1.3%, while Shell ended just marginally up.

IG Group Holdings, Computacenter, Aberdeen Group, Pearson and GSK closed with modest gains.

Victrex, a supplier of high-performance polymers, soared more than 16% after lifting its full-year pre-tax profit guidance and appointing an interim CFO.

Energean, an international hydrocarbon exploration and production company, rallied nearly 10% as it posted a 45% jump in first-half profit.

In the German market, Rheinmetall shed more than 4%. MTU Aero Engines, Siemens, Heidelberg Materials, Hochtief, Infineon, Siemens Energy, Allianz, Deutsche Telekom, Munich RE, Daimler Truck Holding, Beiersdorf, Deutsche Boerse, Henkel, Mercedes-Benz and Deutsche Post lost 2%-4%.

RWE bucked the trend and ended with a strong gain of about 1.7%. SAP and Qiagen closed with modest gains.

In the French market, Kering dropped nearly 5%. Capgemini ended about 4% down. Legrand, Saint-Gobain, LVMH, Safran, Schneider Electric, Daone, Thales, Publicis Groupe, Air Liquide, Michelin, Vinci, Hermes International, Airbus, Bouygues and Stellantis also declined sharply.

Data released by the statistical office INSEE showed France's industrial production decreased unexpectedly in July, dropping 0.4%, against expectations for an increase of 0.2%. Industrial production dropped 0.1% in June.

With total production, manufacturing output fell 0.8% but slower than the 1% decline registered in June. Output declined in almost all major branches of the manufacturing industry, except in coke and refined petroleum products.

In the three months to July, cumulative industrial output rose 0.8% from the same period last year. However, production fell by 0.4% in the manufacturing industry.