Major European Markets Close Slightly Up

(RTTNews) - After spending much of the day's trading session in negative territory, the major European markets closed slightly higher on Tuesday thanks largely to some brisk buying at select counters during the final hour.

While rising oil prices amid escalating tensions in the Middle East hurt sentiment, weaker-than-expected inflation data from the U.S. helped pull stocks off their lows.

Oil prices rose as supply concerns returned to the fore after U.S. President Donald Trump reimposed a blockade on Iranian ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz and proposed to impose a 20% fee on all cargo passing through the vital waterway for guarding it.

In a post on X, Iranian foreign minister Seyed Abbas Araghci mocked Trump over his proposal and said Iran has always been the GUARDIAN of the Strait and will remain so FOREVER. "20 percent is of course too much. We will be fair," Araghchi wrote.

Meanwhile, after the United States launched fresh strikes on Iran for the third consecutive night, Tehran responded with attacks targeting Bahrain, Jordan and two tankers associated with the United Arab Emirates.

The pan European Stoxx 600 closed up by 0.17%. The UK's FTSE 100 climbed 0.3%, Germany's DAX ended 0.13% up, and France's CAC 40 edged up 0.03%. Switzerland's SMI settled 0.17% down.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Spain ended higher.

Denmark, Greece, Iceland, Russia and Sweden closed weak, while Ireland, Portugal and Türkiye ended flat.

In the UK market, miners and bank stocks moved higher, contributing notably to the positive close.

Rio Tinto, Glencore and Anglo American Plc gained 3.3%, 3.05% and 2.8%, respectively. Antofagasta added 1.8% and Fresnillo moved up nearly 1.5%.

Barclays and HSBC Holdings climbed nearly 2%. Standard Chartered gained 1.7%.

Airtel Africa advanced 3.4%. Centrica gained 2.8%, while BP climbed 2.3%. Metlen Energy & Materials, IMI, Tesco, Standard Life, Aberdeen Group, SSE, Kingfisher, M&G and St. James's Place ended higher by 1.3%-2%.

Pearson ended down by 6.75%. Intercontinental Hotels Group, Smith & Nephew, Barratt Redrow, Convatec Group, AstraZeneca, Diageo, Compass Group, GSK, Relx, Haleon, Melrose Industries and Informa lost 1%-4%.

In the German market, Brenntag, Siemens Energy, Zalando, Infineon, E.ON, Mercedes-Benz, RWE, Rheinmetall, Daimler Truck Holding, Deutsche Bank and BASF gained 1%-2.5%.

Siemens Healthineers drifted lower by about 3.6%. SAP shed 2.8%, while Henkel, Scout24, Adidas, Fresenius, Bayer, Continental, Gea Group, Fresenius Medical Care, Beiersdorf, Symrise and BMW lost 1%-2%.

In the French market, Legrand, Schneider Electric, Credit Agricole, STMicroelectronics, BNP Paribas, Veolia Environment, Orange, Edenred, ArcelorMittal, TotalEnergies and Air Liquide moved up 1%-2%.

Teleperformance dropped down by about 3.7%. EssilorLuxottica, Kering, Accor, Sanofi, LVMH, Capgemini, Michelin, Dassault Systemes, Renault, Pernod Ricard, Publicis Groupe and Stellantis lost 1%-2.5%.

In economic news, UK retail sales rose by 1.7% year-on-year on a like-for-like basis in June, falling short of market expectations for a 2.9% gain, slowing from a 3.4% increase in May and marking the softest growth since February, data from British Retail Consortium showed.

Data from Destatis showed Germany's wholesale prices rose 4.9% year-on-year in June, easing from a 5.9% increase in May. On a monthly basis, wholesale prices fell 0.7% in June, following a 0.6% drop in May, marking the second consecutive monthly decline and contrasted with market expectations for a 0.5% rise.