BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European stocks turned in a mixed performance on Wednesday as investors largely stayed cautious, looking ahead to chipmaker Nvidia's quarterly earnings announcement, and continuing to assess the political situation in France.
French Prime Minister François Bayrou urged lawmakers on Tuesday to choose between 'chaos' and 'responsibility,' when the confidence vote takes place on September 8.
A survey showing weak German consumer confidence also weighed on sentiment. German consumer confidence is set to continue to fall in September as rising fear of job losses weighed on purchase decisions and damped hopes of robust economic recovery, a closely watched survey showed.
The pan European Stoxx 600 gained 0.1%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 and Germany's DAX closed lower by 0.11% and 0.44%, respectively. France's CAC 40 climbed 0.44%, and Switzerland's SMI ended higher by 0.38%.
Among other markets in Europe, Denmark, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Turkiye closed weak.
Finland, Netherlands and Russia ended higher, while Austria, Belgium and Czech Republic closed flat.
In the UK market, JD Sports Fashion gained more than 3.5% after the company's board announced a share buyback programme of 100 million pounds.
JD Sports Fahsion reported that its second quarter Group like-for-like sales were down 3.0%. On an organic basis, sales were up 2.2%. For the 26 weeks to 2 August, like-for-like sales were down 2.5%.
Airtel Africa climbed 3.05%. Entain, Whitbread, Beazley, Vodafone Group, Hikma Pharmaceuticals, Haleon, Polar Capital Technology Trust, Intercontinental Hotels Group, BP, Pershing Square Holdings and National Grid gained 1 to 2%.
EasyJet closed down by 3.1%. Natwest Group, IAG, Sainsbury (J), Prudential, Associated British Foods, Marks & Spencer, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, Eneavour Mining, Tesco, Kingfisher and Melrose Industries also ended notably lower.
In the German market, Commerzbank fell nearly 5%, extending recent weakness. Deutsche Bank, Siemens Energy, BASF and Continental lost 2.3 to 3.2%.
Qiagen, Mercedes-Benz, Daimler Truck Holding, Henkel, Sartorius, Zalando, BMW, Infineon and Heidelberg Materials lost 1 to 1.7%.
SAP rallied about 2%. Covestro, E.ON, Porsche, Adidas and Munich posted modest gains.
In the French market, LVMH climbed 3.2% and Hermes International gained 2.3%. Kering, AXA, Dassault Systemes, Capgemini, L'Oreal and Vinci closed higher by 1 to 1.8%.
Stellantis and Carrefour closed down by about 2.8% and 2.5%, respectively. ArcelorMittal, Edenred, Renault, Unibail Rodamco, Veolia Environment and Michelin lost 1 to 1.7%.
The forward-looking GfK consumer sentiment index fell to -23.6 in September from -21.7 in the previous month. The reading was forecast to drop moderately to -22.
'With the third consecutive decline, consumer sentiment is now definitely in the summer slump,' NIM Head of Consumer Climate Rolf Burkl said.
'Growing fear of job losses is causing many consumers to remain cautious about making major purchases,' said Burkl. 'This further dampens hopes for a robust recovery in consumer sentiment before the end of the year,' added Burkl.
After rising for five consecutive months, income prospects of consumers suffered a severe setback in August largely due to fear of job losses. The corresponding index dropped 11.1 points to 4.1, the lowest since last March.
Moreover, ongoing uncertainty about consumer prices also weighed on sentiment. The geopolitical situation and the US government's tariff policy are raising concerns that energy prices could increase again.
Economic expectations deteriorated significantly for the second straight month in August. The indicator posted -7.4, the lowest in six months.
The Confederation of British Industry's retail sales gauge for the UK increased slightly to -32 in August 2025 from -34 in July, better than market expectations of -33. The latest reading indicated that retail sales volumes declined for the 11th consecutive month. Looking ahead, the outlook for September brightened to -16.
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