Major European Markets Close Weak Amid Profit Taking, Geopolitical Tensions

(RTTNews) - The major European markets closed weak on Wednesday, due largely to profit taking after recent gains. U.S.-Iran tensions and continued uncertainty about the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz hurt as well. Investors digested a somewhat soft inflation data that helped raise hopes the Fed will not hike interest rates for now.

The pan European Stoxx 600 ended down by 0.16%. The UK's FTSE 100, Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 closed lower by 0.1%, 0.23% and 0.46%, respectively. Switzerland's SMI settled 0.86% down.

Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal and Türkiye closed higher.

Netherlands, Russia and Sweden ended weak, while Belgium, Greece and Spain closed flat.

In the UK market, Admiral Group, 3i Group, Intercontinental Hotels Group, Endeavour Mining, Fresnillo, Polar Capital Technology Trust, BAE Systems, Coca-Cola Europacifc Partners and United Utilities gained 1.5%- 3%.

SSE, Standard Life, Halma, Lloyds Banking Group, Babcock International, Weir Group, Hiscox, Natwest Group and Aviva also ended notably higher.

Burberry Group and Marks & Spencer shed 4.2% and 4%, respectively. Reckitt Benckiser, IG Group Holdings, Relx, Tesco, Diageo, Sainsbury (J), The Sage Group, Bunzl and Next lost 1.6%-2.8%.

In the German market, E.ON weakened despite the company reporting an increase in net income. In the first half, adjusted net income rose 5% to 1.9 billion euros from 1.8 billion euros last year. Looking ahead for fiscal 2026, E.ON expects adjusted Group net income of 2.7 billion euros to 2.9 billion euros, corresponding to adjusted earnings per share of 1.03 euros to 1.11 euros.

Brenntag shed 2.1%. Profit attributable to Brenntag shareholders climbed to €179 million or €1.23 per share in the second-quarter, from €42 million or €0.30 per share a year ago. Operating gross profit rose 17.7% to €1.146 billion.

SAP, Adidas, Volkswagen, Bayer, Fresenius Medical Care, Porsche Automobil Holding, Daimler Truck Holding, Deutsche Telekom, Henkel, Siemens Healthineers, Symrise, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Beiersdorf lost 1%-2.6%.

Rheinmetall climbed 2.8%. Siemens Energy gained about 2%. Allianz, Siemens, Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank posted moderate gains.

In the French market, Schneider Electric, STMicroelectronics, Thales and Legrand moved up 1.4%-1.8%. Credit Agricole, Safran, Airbus, Bouygues and Carrefour gained 0.4%-0.75%.

EssilorLuxottica, Kering, Capgemini, Dassault Systemes, LVMH, Stellantis, Hermes International, Pernod Ricard, Teleperformance, Bureau Veritas, TotalEnergies, Edenred and Engie closed down by 1%-4.4%.

Final data from Destatis showed consumer prices in Germany grew 2.8% year-on-year in July, faster than the 2.3% increase seen in June. The rate was the highest since April when inflation stood at 2.9%. The statistical office confirmed the provisional estimate published on July 30.

Likewise, EU harmonized inflation accelerated to a three-month high of 2.8% in July, as estimated, from 2.4% in June.

Month-on-month, the consumer price index moved up 0.8%, in contrast to the 0.3% fall in June.

The harmonized index of consumer prices rebounded 0.9%, following ax 0.2% fall in June. This was the first increase in three months. Both CPI and HICP figures matched the preliminary estimates.

Core inflation that excludes food and energy prices eased marginally to 2.4% from 2.5% in June.