European Stocks Tumble As Geopolitical Tensions, Rate Uncertainty Weigh

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed lower on Tuesday as concerns about tensions in the Middle East, and continued uncertainty about possible timing of interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve rendered the mood cautious and prompted investors to exit counters.

Israel is reportedly weighing possible response actions to Iran's aggression, but it is not clear if a decision has been made.

The pan European Stoxx 600 dropped 1.53%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 ended down by 1.82%, while Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 drifted down 1.44% and 1.4%, respectively. Switzerland's SMI ended 1.75% down.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Turkiye closed with sharp to moderate losses.

Iceland and Russia ended modestly lower.

In the UK market, Ocado Group, Phoenix Holdings, Standard Chartered, Beazley, IMI, Scottish Mortgage, DS Smith, Anglo American Plc, Glencore, Lloyds Banking, HSBC Holdings and Rio Tinto ended down 3 to 5%.

Superdry shares tanked 23.5% after the struggling retailer said it would delist from the London Stock Exchange as part of a far-reaching restructuring plan.

Shares of shoemaker Dr Martens plunged 30% after the company flagged a challenging 2025 outlook and announced the departure of chief executive Kenny Wilson.

Croda International, Centrica and Intermediate Capital ended notably higher.

In the German market, Porsche, BMW, BASF, HeidelbergCement, Daimler Truck Holding, E.ON, Deutsche Boerse, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen and Deutsche Bank ended lower by 2 to 3.5%.

Fresenius rallied nearly 5%. Beiersdorf and Covestro ended with moderate gains.

In Paris, ArcelorMittal dropped nearly 7%. Renault ended nearly 4% down. BNP Paribas, Alstom, Stellantis, Kering, Airbus Group, Societe Generale, Eurofins Scientific, STMicroElectronics and Veolia drifted down 2 to 3%.

Orange and Teleperformance closed notably higher.

Sweden's Ericsson gained more than 1.5% after posting better-than-expected first-quarter earnings.

In economic news, data from the Office for National Statistics showed the unemployment rate in the UK rose in three months to February. The ILO jobless rate rose to 4.2% from 3.9% in three months to January. The rate was seen at 4%.

Germany's wholesale prices continued to decline in March, and at a steady pace, data from Destatis showed. Wholesale prices dropped 3% on a yearly basis, the same as in February. Wholesale prices have been falling since April 2023.

Month-on-month, wholesale prices rebounded 0.2% in March, following a 0.1% drop in the prior month. Prices were expected to grow 0.1%.

The euro area trade surplus increased sharply in February on falling imports, data published by Eurostat showed. The trade surplus registered a surplus of EUR 23.6 billion in February, up sharply from EUR 3.6 billion in the same period last year.

On a yearly basis, exports gained 0.3%. By contrast, imports declined 8.4% from the previous year.

Germany's economic confidence strengthened more-than-expected to hit the highest in more than two years in April as investors anticipate the economy to pick up over the coming months amid the global recovery, survey results from the think tank ZEW showed.

The ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment surged to 42.9 in April from 31.7 in the previous month. The reading was seen at 35.1.