European Stocks Close On Mixed Note

(RTTNews) - European stocks turned in a mixed performance on Tuesday with investors reacting to earnings updates and other corporate news. U.S. President Donald Trump's confirmation about tariffs on Canada and Mexico from early March, and threats about reciprocal tariffs on Chinese investments in the U.S. weighed.

Investors also closely followed the developments in Germany, where Conservative leader Friedrich Merz is said to be negotiating for a new coalition government.

The pan European Stoxx 600 gained 0.15%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 ended 0.11% up, while Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 closed lower by 0.07% and 0.49%, respectively. Switzerland's SMI climbed 0.55%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain and Sweden closed higher.

Belgium, Greece, Netherlands, Norway and Turkiye ended weak.

In the UK market, Smith & Nephew surged about 6.15%. The medical equipment manufacturing company reported attributable profit for the year of $412 million, higher than last year's $263 million. Earnings per share rose to 47.0 cents from 30.1 cents a year ago.

Looking ahead, for fiscal 2025, the company expects underlying revenue growth of around 5% and reported revenue growth of around 4.8% respectively. First-quarter underlying revenue growth is expected to be in the range of 1-2%. The company also expects trading profit margin in the range of 19-20% for fiscal 2025.

BAE Systems gained 4.7% on reports Germany's chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz has opened talks with the Social Democrats to quickly approve as much as €200 billion ($210 billion) in special defense spending. Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer outlined plans for a significant rise in UK defense spending to 3% of GDP over the next decade.

HSBC Holdings, Natwest Group, Standard Chartered and Lloyds Banking Group gained 1.9 to 2.5%. Barclays Group ended nearly 1% down.

GSK climbed 2.15%. Hiscox, Rolls-Royce Holdings, AstraZeneca, Vodafone Group, Airtel Africa, Aviva, Severn Trent, Experian and BT Group gained 1 to 1.8%.

Polar Capital Technology ended 4.27% down. Rio Tinto, Endeavour Mining, Scottish Mortgage, Ashtead Group, Associated British Foods, Anglo American Plc, Spirax Group, Fresnillo, Antofagasta, BP, and F&C Investment Trust lost 2 to 3.4%.

In the German market, HeidelbergCement climbed about 3.75%. Volkswagen rallied 3.55%, while BMW and Mercedes-Benz gained 2.7% and 1.8%, respectively.

Bayer, Deutsche Bank, Commerzbank, Allianz, Zalando, Puma, Deutsche Telekom, Deutsche Bowerse, Rheinmetall and Daimler Truck Holding posted sharp to moderate gains.

Siemens Energy fell 7.4%. Infineon, Beiersdorf, Brenntag, Qiagen, Continental, Sartorius, Henkel and Fresenius Medical Care lost 1 to 2.5%.

In the French market, Societe Generale gained about 2.3%. Orange, Thales, BNP Paribas, Bouygues, AXA and Unibail Rodamco climbed 1 to 2%. Safran and Engie posted modest gains.

Despite good quarterly results, Schneider Electric closed lower by about 4%, weighed down by concerns about U.S. trade policies and energy efficient AI models.

Michelin, Publicis Groupe, Essilor, Capgemini, STMicroElectronics and Legrand lost 2 to 3%. Eurofins Scientific, Dassault Systemes, ArcelorMittal and LVMH also closed notably lower.

Renault closed down by about 0.7% after data showed a drop in automobile registrations in Europe in January. A downward revision in the company's rating by Jefferies is also weighing on the stock.

Data from Destatis showed Germany's gross domestic product declined 0.2% in the fourth-quarter from a quarter ago, reversing a 0.1% sequential growth in the third quarter. On a yearly basis, GDP dropped by calendar-adjusted 0.2%, as estimated, after falling 0.3% a quarter ago.

Exports of goods and services were down 2.2% sequentially, while imports of goods and services grew 0.5%.

Final consumption expenditure registered a quarterly increase of 0.2%, with the 0.4% rise in government spending outpacing household final consumption expenditure growth of 0.1%. For the whole year of 2024, the statistical office confirmed the year-on-year decline of 0.2%.

According to the data released by the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association, new car registrations in Europe declined in January as sales weakened across three major markets.

New car sales in January decreased 2.6% from a year ago, in contrast to the 5.1% increase in December.

Car registrations declined 6.2% in France and by 5.8% in Italy. Germany reported a moderate fall of 2.8%, while Spain recorded a 5.3% increase.