European Stocks Close Higher On Easing Geopolitical Tensions

FRANKFURT, Jan 16 (Bernama-dpa-AFX) -- European stocks closed broadly higher on Thursday as easing geopolitical and Fed independence concerns, some positive economic data, and upbeat earnings updates from TSMC helped underpin sentiment, dap-AFX reported.

Fears of an imminent United States (US) action against Iran ebbed as US President Donald Trump appeared to soften rhetoric against Iran.

Trump said he had received information "on good authority" that Iran has stayed fast trials and executions of protesters, signalling he may hold off on attacking the country for now.

Trump expressed optimism about reaching an agreement on Greenland following high-level meetings between US officials and Danish and Greenlandic foreign ministers.

On the US home front, Trump told Reuters in an interview that he has no plans to fire Jerome Powell, but it was "too early" to say what he would ultimately do.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.49 per cent. The UK's FTSE 100 gained 0.54 per cent, Germany's DAX ended higher by 0.26 per cent, and France's CAC 40 closed down by 0.21 per cent, while Switzerland's SMI edged up 0.09 per cent.

Among other markets in Europe, Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, and Turkey closed higher. Norway edged up marginally. Denmark and Spain ended weak, while Russia settled flat.

In the UK market, 3i Group soared more than 10 per cent. Schroders zoomed nearly 10 per cent after the company said it expects annual profits for 2025 to be ahead of market expectations. Smiths Group, Persimmon, and LondonMetricProperty gained 4.2 per cent, 4.1 per cent, and 3.7 per cent, respectively. ICG, Spirax Group, Centrica, Antofagasta, St. James's Place, IMI, British American Tobacco, Polar Capital Technology Trust, Segro, and Marks & Spencer gained 2.0 to 3.0 per cent. Burberry Group, AstraZeneca, GSK, Compass Group, BT Group, The Sage Group, BP, Endeavour Mining, Haleon, and Unilever ended notably lower.

In the German market, RWE climbed nearly 3.0 per cent. Vonovia, Daimler Truck Holding, Siemens Energy, Heidelberg Materials, Merck, Adidas, Gea Group, E.ON, BASF, Deutsche Post, and Brenntag gained 1.0 to 2.5 per cent. Fresenius closed lower by about 4.2 per cent. Commerzbank lost 2.8 per cent and Mercedes-Benz drifted lower by 2.1 per cent. Deutsche Telekom and Porsche Automobil Holding also ended notably lower.

In the French market, Bureau Veritas, Schneider Electric, Carrefour, EssilorLuxottica, Legrand, Eurofins Scientific, Accor, and Dassault Systemes gained 0.8 to 1.7 per cent. Thales ended down by nearly 3.0 per cent following a rating downgrade of the stock by Deutsche Bank. Kering, Capgemini, LVMH, Stellantis, and Sanofi lost 1.0 to 3.3 per cent. 

Data from the federal Statistical office Destatis said Germany's GDP expanded by 0.2 per cent in 2025, rebounding from a 0.5 per cent contraction in 2024, according to preliminary estimates.

Manufacturing output fell for the third consecutive year. Construction also faced another difficult year, while the services sector showed a mixed picture.

A separate date from Destatis showed Germany's wholesale prices rose 1.2 per cent year-on-year in December 2025, easing from a 1.5 per cent growth in the previous month, which had marked the fastest rate since February.

On a monthly basis, wholesale prices fell 0.2 per cent, reversing gains of 0.3 per cent in each of the prior two months.

Final data from the statistical office INSEE showed France's inflation weakened slightly at the end of the year, as estimated, primarily due to sharper fall in energy prices. The consumer price index posted an annual increase of 0.8 per cent, following November's 0.9 per cent rise. 

The statistical office confirmed that inflation eased to the slowest since May, when the rate was 0.7 per cent. EU harmonised inflation also slowed to 0.7 per cent, as estimated, from 0.8 per cent in November.

On a monthly basis, both the CPI and the HICP moved up 0.1 per cent each, reversing previous month's 0.2 per cent drop.

Data showed UK's gross domestic product logged a monthly growth of 0.3 per cent in November, reversing a 0.1 per cent drop in October. Analysts had expected GDP to grow marginally by 0.1 per cent.

Separate data from the government showed the UK's trade deficit narrowed to £23.7 billion in November from £24.2 billion in the previous month. The shortfall, however, was bigger than forecast of  £20.3 billion. 

-- BERNAMA-dpa-AFX