Major European Markets Fail To Hold Early Gains, Settle Flat

The major European markets failed to hold early gains and closed flat on Tuesday after spending much of the later part of the day’s session in negative territory.

Mining stocks moved higher as precious metals extended their recovery for a second straight day, while technology stocks traded weak amid AI-related concerns.

Investors looked ahead to the European Central Bank’s monetary policy announcement, due on Thursday. The ECB is widely expected to leave rates unchanged. The focus will be on the bank’s views on growth, and for clues about future policy moves.

The pan European Stoxx 600 edged up 0.1%. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 ended down by 0.26% and Germany;s DAX closed 0.09% down, while France’s CAC 40 crept up 0.02%. Switzerland’s SMI lost 0.27%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, Greece, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Sweden and Turkiye closed higher.

Denmark, Iceland and Netherlands ended weak, while Ireland and Spain closed flat.

In the UK market, Anglo American Plc, Fresnillo and Antofagasta climbed 7.25%, 6.4% and 6.3%, respectively. Endeavour Mining moved up nearly 4% and Rio Tinto surged 3.5%, while Glencore gained 3.25%.

Weir Group, Babcock International, Imperial Brands, Vodafone Group, British American Tobacco, Diageo, Persimmon, Rentokil Initial, Natwest Group, Marks & Spencer, National Grid, Prudential and Coca-Cola HBC moved up 1%-3.5%.

Relx tumbled 14.4%. The stock is down more than 40% from a record high it posted in February last year.

LSEG tanked 12.8% and The Sage Group fell 9.8%. ICG, Pearson, Experian, Informa, RightMove, JD Sports Fashiion, AutoTrader Group and Next tumbled 4.8%-8.2%.

Compass Group, Convatec Group, Metlen Energy & Metals, Pershing Square Holdings, Intercontinental Hotels Group, Interteck, 3i Group and Entain also declined sharply.

In the German market, Daimler Truck Holding rallied nearly 6% after Bank of America raised the stock’s rating. Siemens Energy climbed 5.1%.

Fresenius, Brenntag, Fresenius Medical Care, RWE, BASF, Rheinmetall, Deutsche Post, Henkel and Heidelberg Materials also posted strong gains.

Zalando closed more than 12% down. The company faces challenge with the rapid rise of social-media commerce such as TikTok Shop, according to Morgan Stanley.

SAP, Scout24 and Deutsche Boerse ended down by 4.5%-4.8%. Merck closed weak following a rating downgrade by Deutsche Bank.

Infineon and Porsche Automobil Holding also ended notably lower.

In the French market, Saint-Gobain, Michelin, Pernod Ricard, Engie, ArcelorMittal, Danone, TotalEnergies, Veolia Environment, Credit Agricole, Legrand, Schneider Electric, Societe Generale and Carrefour gained 1%-2.3%.

Publicis Groupe closed down nearly 9% after the advertising group announced a profit for full year that dropped from last year. The company’s bottom line came in at EUR1.653 billion, or EUR6.52 per share. This compares with EUR1.660 billion, or EUR6.55 per share, last year.

Capgemini lost 8.6%. The company announced on Monday that it is putting up its US subsidiary up for sale after controversy over a $365 million contract with US immigration agency ICE to provide tools for identifying foreign nationals.

Renault, Edenred, Dassault Systemes, STMicroElectronics, Bureau Veritas, LVMH, Airbus, Accor and Hermes International ended lower by 1.4%-4%.

Data from INSEE showed France’s annual inflation rate slowed to 0.3% in January 2026, the lowest since late 2020, down from 0.8% in December and below expectations of 0.6%, according to preliminary estimates.

On a month-on-month basis, the CPI fell by 0.3%, reversing a 0.1% increase in December and exceeding expectations of a 0.1% decline. Considering the EU-harmonised CPI, prices rose 0.4% on the year and fell 0.4% on the month.