Major European Markets Move Higher As Oil Pares Early Gains

(RTTNews) - The major European markets gained some ground in positive territory on Tuesday with investors picking up select stocks despite oil prices remaining at elevated levels and bond yields continuing to hover around multi-year highs.

Oil prices rose sharply this morning amid a lack of meaningful progress in U.S.-Iran negotiations to sort out issues and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. According to some reports, Iranian officials are not optimistic about the possibility of the two nations reaching an agreement before the US midterm elections in November.

Brent crude front-month futures, which climbed to $107.87 a barrel earlier, dropped to $104.40, down more than 1% from previous close.

The U.K.'s FTSE 100 was up 0.28% at 10,715.23, Germany's DAX was up 0.75% at 25,598.97 and France's CAC 40 was up 0.26% at 8,100.25 a little while ago. The pan European Stoxx 600 was up 0.59% at 642.44.

Miners and pharmaceuticals stocks gained in strength in the UK market, contributing significantly to the benchmark's upmove.

Miners moved higher on firm precious metals prices. Antofagasta and Anglo American Plc gained 3.3% and 3%, respectively. Glencore, Fresnillo and Rio Tinto climbed 1.7%-2.2%.

Pharma stocks GSK and AstraZeneca gained 2.5% and 1.7%, respectively.

Weir Group, Convatec Group, Intercontinental Hotels Group, Spirax Group, Halma, Diploma and Metlen Energy & Metals were among the other prominent gainers.

Energy stocks Ithaca, BP and Shell shed 4.2%, 3% and 1.8%, respectively. Among other losers, British American Tobacco, The Sage Group, Admiral Group, Unilever and Barratt Redrow shed 0.8%-1.9%.

In the German market, Infineon Technologies and Siemens Energy moved up 4.8% and 4.3%, respectively, buoyed by a report in Reuters that Anthropic is betting on AI to transform the global economy and plans to use public investors to fund its growth.

Vonovia, Siemens, Heidelberg Materials, MTU Aero Engines, BMW, Deutsche Bank, Volkswagen, Hochtief, Commerzbank and Scout24 also climbed notably higher.

Fresenius Medical Care shed nearly 2% following Berenberg slashing the stock's price target sharply and withdrawing its buy recommendation.

Bayer drifted down 2.5%. Daimler Truck Holding, Hannover RE, Munich RE and Rheinmetall also showed weakness.

In the French market, Legrand jumped nearly 8% after raising its 2030 targets, citing accelerated growth in data centers and the energy transition alongside improved profitability.

STMicroelectronics, Schneider Electric, Bureau Veritas, Safran, Accor and Stellantis gained 1%-3.5%.

TotalEnergies, Eurofins Scientific, Dassault Systemes, Vinci, Danone and Carrefour lost 1%-2.7%.

In economic news, a report from the British Retail Consortium said UK shop prices grew at a slightly slower pace in September due to promotions and strong discounting.

Shop price inflation edged down to 1.4% in September from 1.5% in August. Nonetheless, the rate remained above the three-month average of 1.3%.