European Stocks Close Mixed As Investors React To Earnings, Await Key Data

European stocks turned in a mixed performance on Tuesday, with investors largely reacting to earnings updates and other corporate news, while awaiting the crucial U.S. jobs data later in the week for clues about the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy moves in the coming months.

The pan European Stoxx 600 edged down 0.07%. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 slid 0.31%, Germany’s DAX closed down by 0.11% and France’s CAC 40 crept up 0.07%. Switzerland’s SMI closed little changed.

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

Austria, Czech Republic, Ireland, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain and Türkiye closed weak, while Iceland and Sweden ended flat.

In the UK market, Croda International soared 9.4%, topping the FTSE 100 gainers list. Coca-Cola HBC surged 4.7%, while Berkeley Group Holdings, Barratt Redrow, Mondi, Burberry Group, Spirax Group, Intercontinental Hotels Group and Diageo moved up 3%-5%.

AstraZeneca climbed notably higher after the company projected continued revenue and earnings growth in 2026, boosted by sales of its cancer drugs.

United Utilities, Persimmon, Severn Trent, Associated British Foods, Haleon, DCC, Pershing Square Holdings and Entain also posted strong gains.

BP tumbled more than 6%. The British oil and gas major halted share buybacks after reporting wider replacement cost or RC loss in its fourth quarter.

Standard Chartered slid 5.74%. Babcock International, Antofagasta, St. James’s Place, Hiscox, Aviva, IAG, Barclays, Rolls-Royce Holdings, Natwest Group, Lloyds Banking Group, LSEG and Fresnillo lost 2%-4.5%.

In the German market, Symrise climbed more than 7% after Goldman Sachs raised the stock’s rating to ‘buy’ from ‘neutral.’

Zalando, Brenntag, BASF and Volkswagen gained 3.3%-5.3%. Merck, Infineon, Beiersdorf, Porsche Automobil Holding, SAP, Henkel, Adidas and Fresenius Medical Care moved up 1.5%-2.3%.

Siemens Energy fell 4.6%, and Allianz closed nearly 3% down. Heidelberg Materials, Rheinmetall and Hannover Rueck also ended notably lower.

In the French market, Kering zoomed more than 10% after it reported an acceleration in sales growth for the final quarter of 2025. Kering announced earnings of EUR72 million or EUR0.59 per share for full year, compared to EUR1.133 billion, or EUR9.24 per share, last year.

Stellantis, Pernod Ricard, STMicroelectronics, Hermes International, Renault, Sanofi, Edenred and ArcelorMittal gained 2%-3.6%.

L’Oreal, Air Liquide, Accor, Dassault Systemes, Veolia Environment, LVMH and Eurofins Scientific also closed higher.

AXA, Safran, Thales, Societe Generale, BNP Paribas and EssilorLuxottica ended down by 1%-2.7%.

Dutch healthcare company Philips soared more than 11% after reporting strong Q4 earnings and setting ambitious targets for 2026.

France’s unemployment rate rose to the highest level in more than four years in the fourth quarter of 2025, the statistical office INSEE said.

The jobless rate rose to 7.9% in the fourth quarter from 7.7% in the third quarter. This was the highest since the third quarter of 2021 but clearly below its peak reached in the second quarter of 2015.

The number of unemployed increased 56,000 from the previous quarter to 2.5 million.

In the metropolitan France, the unemployment rate climbed to 7.7% from 7.5% in the preceding quarter. The unemployment rate among people aged below 24 posted 21.5%, up from 19.1% in the third quarter.