European Stocks Close Mixed As Investors React To Earnings, Economic Data

(RTTNews) - European stocks turned in a mixed performance on Wednesday with investors largely reacting to earnings announcements, and awaiting the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement later in the day.

Investors also continued to follow the developments on the trade front ahead of the deadline.

The pan European Stoxx 600 edged up 0.12%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 closed down 0.2%, Germany's DAX crept up 0.12% and France's CAC 40 climbed 0.58%. Switzerland's SMI ended down 0.23%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Portugal and Russia ended weak.

Belgium, Czech Republic, Poland, Spain, Sweden and Turkiye closed higher, while Greece and Netherlands settled flat.

In the UK market, GSK climbed about 4.7% on strong earnings. The drug major said its profit before tax climbed 26% to 1.89 billion pounds in the second quarter, up from last year's 1.50 billion pounds. Earnings per share were 35.5 pence, up 23% from 28.5 pence a year ago.

GSK now expects core earnings per share and core operating profit to increase towards the top end of previous range of 6% to 8%, and turnover to grow towards the top end of range of previous range of 3% to 5%, all at constant exchange rates.

Pershing Square Holdings and AstraZeneca gained 3.2% and 3.05%, respectively. Spirax Group, Intercontinental Hotels Group, Glencore, Informa, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, British American Tobacco, Entain and Airtel Africa gained 1.2 to 2.2%.

BAE Systems gained despite the company raising its sales and earnings guidance.

HSBC Holdings closed lower by about 4.5% after reporting a drop in second quarter earnings. The lender said its preofit before tax dropped 29% year-over-year to $6.3 billion, primarily due to the recognition of dilution and impairment losses of $2.1 billion in BoCom.

Taylor Wimpey closed down 6.25%. Convatec Group, The Sage Group, JD Sports Fashion, Kingfisher, Croda International, Rolls-Royce Holdings, Melrose Industries and Beazley lost 1.6 to 5.5%.

In the German market, Adidas plunged more than 11% after warning that it could take a double-digit million euro hit from U.S. tariffs in the second quarter. The company reported a 77% jump (year-over-year) in net income from continuing operations in its second quarter at 375 million euros. EPS from continuing operations was 2.03 euros compared to 1.09 euros. Operating profit was up 58% to 546 million euros.

Despite reporting higher earnings in the first-half, Symrise lost more than 9% after the company lowered its guidance for the full-year. Symrise now anticipates organic growth of 3% to 5% in 2025 against the prior expectation of 5% to 7%.

Mercedes-Benz lost around 3.4% after reporting lower earnings. The luxury vehicle major reported a net profit of 915 million euros, or 0.95 euros per share, for the second quarter of 2025, down from 3.016 billion euros, or 2.95 euros per share, in the year-ago quarter. Second-quarter revenue was 33.153 billion euros, down from 36.743 billion euros (adjusted) in the same period last year.

The group has adjusted forecasts for 2025 due to the challenging market environment and additional tariffs. The company now expects a significant decrease in revenue. Mercedes-Benz Cars expects unit sales for the full year to be significantly below the previous year's level.

Puma closed lower by about 3.4%. Volkswagen, BMW, Puma, Brenntag, Sartorius, Merck, Continental, Bayer and Henkel lost 1 to 2%.

Siemens Healthineers climbed about 2%. The company reported an 18% jump in net income to 556 million euros in the third-quarter, from last year's 472 million euros. Looking ahead, for fiscal 2025, the company now expects adjusted basic earnings per share of between 2.30 euros and 2.45 euros, compared to previously expected 2.20 euros and 2.50 euros.

Commerzbank rallied 4.5%. Siemens Energy gained about 4.2%. Deutsche Bank, SAP, Porsche, Infineon and Heidelberg Materials advanced 1 to 2%.

In the French market, Hermes International closed down 4.5% after reporting a decline in first-half profit. The company reported that its net income attributable to owners of the parent for the first-half of 2025 declined to 2.246 billion euros or 21.39 euros per share from 2.368 billion euros or 22.58 euros per share last year.

Stellantis lost 4.2%. Renault, Teleperformance, Publicis Groupe, Essilor, Dassault Systemes, Edenred and Capgemini closed lower by 1 to 3%.

Danone surged nearly 7.5% after posting second-quarter comparable sales growth ahead of views. The French food company behind Activia yogurt and Evian water posted sales growth on a like-for-like basis of 4.1% in the second quarter.

L'Oreal climbed about 4%. Kering, Unibail Rodamco, Societe Generale, Societe Generale, LVMH and Credit Agricole gained 1 to 1.7%.

Data from INSEE showed France's GDP grew 0.3% in the second-quarter from the previous quarter, according to preliminary estimates. The economy was expected to grow at a steady pace of 0.1% in the second quarter.

Gross domestic product grew 0.1% sequentially, after rising 0.6% in the first quarter. GDP was expected to remain flat.

On a yearly basis, economic growth softened to 1.4% from 1.5% in the prior quarter. Nonetheless, the growth rate was better than forecast of 1.2%.

The EU27 GDP grew 0.2% from the previous quarter and expanded 1.5% from the prior year.

The German economy shrank slightly as expected in the second quarter, preliminary figures from Destatis revealed. Gross domestic product fell 0.1% sequentially, in line with forecast, and reversed the downwardly revised 0.3% growth in the first quarter.

On a yearly basis, the economy logged a calendar-adjusted growth of 0.4% after rising 0.3% in the first quarter. At the same time, price-adjusted GDP remained flat in the second quarter.

Retail sales posted a stronger-than-expected monthly growth of 1%, in contrast to the revised 0.6% drop in May, a separate data from Destatis showed. Sales were expected to rise 0.5% in June.

On a yearly basis, retail sales increased 4.9% in June after rising 2.6% in the previous month.