{"id":56111,"date":"2025-02-11T18:20:56","date_gmt":"2025-02-11T18:20:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pantheregroup.com\/2025\/02\/11\/european-stocks-close-higher-despite-trumps-fresh-tariffs\/"},"modified":"2025-02-11T18:20:56","modified_gmt":"2025-02-11T18:20:56","slug":"european-stocks-close-higher-despite-trumps-fresh-tariffs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pantheregroup.com\/2025\/02\/11\/european-stocks-close-higher-despite-trumps-fresh-tariffs\/","title":{"rendered":"European Stocks Close Higher Despite Trump’s Fresh Tariffs"},"content":{"rendered":"
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European stocks closed higher on Tuesday, and several major markets<\/span> recorded fresh record highs or multi-month highs, as investors continued to focus on earnings and other corporate news.<\/p>\n

Worries about fresh tariffs by U.S. President Donald Trump weighed a bit and limited markets’ upside.<\/p>\n

Steelmakers were under some pressure following Trump raising tariffs on steel and aluminum imports to a flat 25% “without exceptions or exemptions.” Trump’s move is aimed to support the struggling U.S. steel and aluminum companies, but the tariff increases the risk of a multi-front trade war.<\/p>\n

A White House official confirmed that the measures would take effect on March 4.<\/p>\n

The pan European Stoxx 600 gained 0.23%. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 edged up 0.11%, while Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 climbed 0.58% and 0.28%, respectively. Switzerland’s SMI closed higher by 0.53%.<\/p>\n

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, Spain, Sweden and Turkiye closed higher.<\/p>\n

Belgium, Denmark, Finland and Greece ended weak, while Portugal settled flat.<\/p>\n

In the UK market, Intertek Group climbed 3.14%. Diploma, JD Sports Fashion, Shell, BAE Systems, Peshing Square Holdings and Standard Chartered closed higher by 1.9 to 2.6%.<\/p>\n

Natwest Group, Compass Group, Hikma Pharmaceuticals, Barclays Group, Howden Joinery, Tesco, Games Workshop Group, HSBC Holdings and Relx gained 1 to 1.7%.<\/p>\n

Entain tanked 11.1% after the betting firm’s Chief Executive Officer Gavin Isaacs stepped down with immediate effect after less than six months in the role.<\/p>\n

Legal & General closed down 3.2%. Glencore, EasyJet, Anglo American Plc, Whitbread, Barratt Redrow and Antofagasta lost 2 to 2.7%.<\/p>\n

Taylor Wimpey, IHG, Vodafone Group, IAG, Berkeley Group Holdings, Persimmon, GSK, Coca-Cola, Fresnillo and Rio Tinto closed down 1.2 to 2%.<\/p>\n

British oil major BP Plc closed down 0.6% after reporting a steep drop in profits for the fiscal quarter of last year. BP posted a fourth quarter loss to shareholders of $1.96 billion compared to profit of $371 million, a year ago. Loss per share in the fourth quarter was 12.33 cents. <\/p>\n

In the German market, SAP rallied about 2.3%. Qiagen, Deutsche Telekom, Deutsche Bank, Siemens, Fresenius, Puma, Commerzbank and Infineon gained 0.8 to 1.7%.<\/p>\n

Steel stock Thyssenkrupp closed nearly 4% down. Salzgitter ended down by about 1%.<\/p>\n

Porsche, Bayer, Vonovia, BMW and Volkswagen lost 1 to 1.6%. BASF, Adidas, Mercedes-Benz, HeidelbergCement, Henkel, E.ON and Beiersdorf closed moderately lower.<\/p>\n

In the French market, Societe Generale moved up 3.5%. Vivendi gained about 2.2%, while STMicroElectronics, Essilor, Saint-Gobain, Legrand, Credit Agricole, Thales, Capgemini and Teleperformance advanced 1 to 2%.<\/p>\n

Kering, which climbed about 5% in early trades, gave up most of its gains and ended 1.3% up. The stock surged after posting better-than-expected sales in the fourth quarter. <\/p>\n

ArcelorMittal closed down nearly 2%. Eurofins Scientific ended 1.8% down, while Carrefour, Pernod Ricard, Vinci and Accor lost 1.3 to 1.6%. Michelin, Renault and Safran also closed weak.<\/p>\n

A report from the British Retail Consortium said UK retail sales increased in January on robust food and non-food turnover despite rising cost pressures. Retail sales grew 2.6% on a yearly basis in January. This was the second consecutive rise but the pace of growth softened from 3.2% in December.<\/p>\n

Sales were above the three-month average growth of 1.1% and the twelve month average of 0.8%.<\/p>\n

Growth in food sales accelerated to 2.8% in January from 1.7% in the prior month. Meanwhile, non-food sales growth slowed to 2.5% from 4.4%.<\/p>\n

Data released by the statistical office INSEE showed France’s unemployment rate dropped marginally in the fourth quarter, easing to 7.3%, from 7.4% in the year-ago quarter. The rate was forecast to rise to 7.5%.<\/p>\n

The unemployment rate remained slightly above its lowest level since 1982, when the rate was 7.1%.<\/p>\n

Further, data showed that the employment rate slid 0.2 points over the quarter to 68.9%. It remained 0.4 points above its level from a year ago. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n