European stocks closed mostly higher on Tuesday with the mood largely staying positive right through the day’s session amid hopes of some monetary easing by a few central banks, including the Bank of England. Investors continued to follow geopolitical news and awaited fresh data from the U.S. for directional clues.
Data showing an increase in UK’s unemployment rate raised expectations of another rate cut by the Bank of England.
The pan European Stoxx 600 gained 0.45%. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 climbed 0.79%, Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 ended up by 0.80% and 0.54%, respectively. Switzerland’s SMI moved up 0.71%.
Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Netherlands, Spain and Sweden ended with solid gains.
Czech Republic and Portugal edged up marginally, while Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Russia and Türkiye closed weak.
Defense stocks showed some weakness amid hopes of a de-escalation in U.S.-Iran tensions ahead of nuclear talks in Geneva.
In the UK market, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, Barratt Redrow, Airtel Africa, Pearson, Compass Group, Barclays, RightMove, British Land Co., Diploma, Entain, AstraZeneca, Experian, Land Securities, Relx, Hikma Pharmaceuticals and Legal & General gained 2%-3.5%.
GSK moved up more than 2.5% after launching a £2 billion share buyback program.
Miners Endeavour Mining, Antofagasta, Anglo American Plc and Fresnillo fell 2%-4%. Glencore drifted down 1.4%.
Weir Group, Marks & Spencer, 3i Group, BP, Metlen Energy & Metals, Beazley and LSEG ended weak.
In the German market, Bayer soared more than 8%. Vonovia and Infineon gained about 4% and 3.25%, respectively. Mercedes-Benz, RWE, Zalando, Fresenius, Gea Group, Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank, Fresenius Medical Care, Adidas, Volkswagen, Munich RE, Heidelberg Materials, Scout24 and Brenntag climbed 1%-2.2%.
Qiagen ended down 3.7%. Siemens Energy and Daimler Truck Holding also declined sharply.
In the French market, Dassault Systemes climbed about 4%. Unibail Rodamco, AXA, Societe Generale, Eurofins Scientific and Edenred gained 2%-3%.
LVMH, Capgemini, BNP Paribas, L’Oreal, Renault, Accor, Bureau Veritas, Sanofi and Kering also posted strong gains.
Carrefour, Thales, Stellantis, Schneider Electric, EssilorLuxottica, Orange, Bouygues, Veolia Environment, Publicis Groupe and Michelin closed weak.
Destatis confirmed that German consumer price inflation rebounded to 2.1% in January from 1.8% in December because of higher food and services costs.
On a monthly basis, the consumer price index edged up 0.1%, as estimated, after remaining flat in December. Meanwhile, the harmonized index of consumer prices fell 0.1%, also matching the initial estimate.
EU harmonized inflation accelerated to 2.1% from 2% in the prior month, matching the earlier estimate published on January 30.
A report from the Centre for European Economic Research said Germany’s ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment slipped to 58.3 in February 2026 from January’s more than four-year high of 59.6, falling short of market expectations of 65.
Meanwhile, the assessment of current conditions continued to improve, with the situation index rising to -65.9.
Official data showed the U.K. jobless rate rose to 5.2% in the fourth quarter from 5.1% in the preceding period.
Annual growth in employees’ average earnings including bonus was 4.2% but weaker than the forecast of 4.6%. In January, payroll employees decreased 11,000 from the previous month to 30.3 million.
Market Analysis
European Stocks Close Mostly Higher
2026-02-17 18:42:26
