Major European Markets Close Higher As Investors React To Earnings, Economic Data

(RTTNews) - The major European markets closed higher on Wednesday amid easing trade tensions, and on largely encouraging quarterly results from several big name companies.

Investors also digested a slew of regional economic data, and U.S. GDP report.

According to media reports, China had quietly compiled a list of U.S.-made goods exempt from its 125 percent tariffs - seeking to ease trade tensions without public concessions.

U.S. President Donald Trump said he believes the U.S. will have a deal with India on trade.

The White House has also had "substantial talks" with Japan, and "the contours of a deal" with South Korea could be coming together, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.

The pan European Stoxx 600 gained 0.46%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 and Germany's DAX climbed 0.37% and 0.32%, respectively. France's CAC 40 closed higher by 0.5% and Switzerland's SMI settled 0.42% up.

Among other markets in Europe, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal and Sweden ended higher.

Czech Republic, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Poland, Russia, Spain and Turkiye closed weak. Austria and Ireland closed flat.

In the UK market, GSK gained about 3.5%. The company reported higher first-quarter profit and sales, and lifted quarterly dividend. Looking ahead, the company said it is confident for delivery of fiscal 2025 guidance.

Smith & Nephew moved up sharply. British American Tobacco, Coca-Cola HBC, Hikma Pharmaceuticals, Pershing Square Holdings, Spirax Group, Associated British Foods, SSE and Pearson also posted strong gains.

Glencore, Lloyds Banking Group, Antofagasta, Anglo American Plc., Natwest Group and HSBC Holdings closed weak.

Barclays closed marginally up, recovering from early weakness. Barclays reported that its first quarter profit before tax increased to 2.719 billion pounds from 2.277 billion pounds in the prior year.

Haleon Plc closed marginally down. The consumer healthcare company reported that first-quarter revenues declined 2.3% to 2.85 billion pounds from last year's 2.92 billion pounds.

In the German market, Deutsche Boerse, Rheinmetall, Vonovia, Deutsche Telekom, Fresenius, Brenntag, Fresenius Medical Care, E.ON., MTU Aero Engines and Deutsche Post gained 1 to 4%.

Volkswagen ended more than 2% down. The Volkswagen Group reported earnings of 2.19 billion euros in fiscal 2024, down 40.6% from 3.68 billion euros a year earlier. Operating result declined 36.9% to 2.87 billion euros from 4.55 billion euros a year ago.

Sales revenue, however, grew 2.8% to 77.56 billion euros from prior year's 75.46 billion euros, due to higher vehicle sales in markets outside China.

Mercedes-Benz declined sharply. Mercedes-Benz Group reported a net profit attributable to shareholders of 1.678 billion euros or 1.74 euros per share in the first-quarter of 2025, down from 2.974 billion euros or 2.86 euros per share last year.

Siemens Energy, Deutsche Bank, Adidas, Zalando and Commerzbank also ended on a weak note.

In the French market, Edenred settled more than 4% up, despite parting a substantial portion of its early gains. Sanofi, Teleperfomance, Pernod Ricard, Eurofins Scientific, Airbus, Thales and Vertas also ended notably higher.

Credit Agricole declined more than 4%. The banking major reported net income of 2.17 billion euros for the first quarter of its current fiscal, down 9.2% from last year's 2.38 billion euros. Net pre-tax income, however, grew 1.6% to 3.40 billion euros from 3.35 billion euros last year.

Societe Generale gained nearly 4%. Societe Generale reported significantly higher profit in its first quarter with growth in revenues. The group's net income stood at 1.61 billion euros for the quarter, higher than prior year's 680 million euros. Adjusted Group net income was 1.42 billion euros in the quarter.

TotalEnergies ended down 2.2% on weak earnings. The company's bottom line came in at $3.851 billion, or $1.68 per share. This compares with $5.721 billion, or $2.40 per share, last year.

Air France-KLM Group gained about 2.7% after reporting narrower net loss in its first quarter, while EBITDA, a key earnings metric, increased from last year,

In the first quarter, net loss - Group part was 292 million euros, compared to loss of 522 million euros a year ago. Loss per share was 1.16 euros, narrower than prior year's loss of 2.04 euros.

On the economic front, preliminary data showed the Eurozone economy expanded by 0.4% in the three months to March of 2025 after growing by 0.2% in the fourth quarter of 2024.

The German economy recovered in the first quarter driven by higher private consumption and investment, flash data from Destatis revealed. Gross domestic product grew 0.2% sequentially, offsetting the 0.2% fall in the preceding quarter.

Germany's retail sales declined 0.2% in March, a slower than expected pace, according to preliminary data from Destatis. In February retail sales had increased by 0.2%. Sales were expected to decline 0.4% in March. Year-on-year, retail sales growth slowed to 2.2% in March from 4.3% in the previous month.

Germany's import prices increased 2.1% year-on-year in March, slowing from a 3.6% rise in February, which was the fastest pace since January 2023. On a monthly basis, import prices fell 1.0% in March, the first monthly decline in six months and the steepest fall since December 2023, reversing a 0.3% rise in February and compared to market estimates of a 0.7% drop.

Germany's consumer price inflation slowed for a second straight month in April to its lowest level in six months. The consumer price index rose 2.1% year-on-year following a 2.2% increase in March, preliminary data from the statistical office Destatis showed.

Consumer prices in France rose 0.5% month-on-month in April 2025, the largest increase since last August, and exceeding forecasts of a 0.3% rise, driven by higher prices for services, especially transport, and food, data from INSEE showed.

Producer prices in the French domestic market decreased by 0.6% month-over-month in March 2025, following a downwardly revised 0.4% fall in the previous month. On a yearly basis, producer prices dropped by 0.6% in March, easing from a downwardly revised 1.2% decline in February.

Eurozone economic growth accelerated in the first quarter, preliminary flash estimates from Eurostat showed.

Gross domestic product expanded 0.4% sequentially, faster than the 0.2% growth seen in the fourth quarter of 2024. Economists had forecast the economy to grow again by 0.2%. Year-on-year, economic growth held steady at 1.2% in the first quarter. This was also stronger than forecast of 1%.

On the economic front, UK house price declined more than expected in April following the end of stamp duty holidays, data from the Nationwide Building Society showed.

House prices logged a monthly drop of 0.6% after remaining flat in March. The decline was worse than economists' forecast of 0.1%. On a yearly basis, house price growth eased to 3.4% from 3.9% in the previous month. The expected rate of decline was 4.1%.