BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - The major European markets closed flat on Tuesday after swinging between gains and losses, as investors remained somewhat reluctant to make significant moves amid concerns about the political tensions in France, and a lack of positive triggers.
Investors continued to follow the political developments in France where Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu, who resigned on Monday, has been asked to continue negotiations with other political parties to try and end the current crisis.
Higher bond yields, and data showing another drop in German factory orders weighed as well.
The pan European Stoxx 600 settled lower by 0.17%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 and Germany's DAX edged up 0.05% and 0.03%, respectively, while France's CAC 40 ended 0.04% up, recovering well from early losses. Switzerland's SMI closed down by 0.24%.
Among other markets in Europe, Czech Republic, Denmark, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain and Sweden closed weak.
Finland, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Poland, Russia and Turkiye ended higher, while Belgium closed flat.
In the UK market, Imperial Brands gained nearly 3.5% after the maker of Winston cigarettes and e-cigarette brand blu has announced an additional 1.45-billion-pound ($1.95 billion) share buyback plan.
Rentokil Initial and Burberry Group gained 3.9% and 3%, respectively. Beazley climbed 2.78%, while British American Tobacco, Metlen Energy & Metals, Shell, Associated British Foods, Croda International, Diageo and Haleon gained 1 to 2%.
Entain closed more than 6.5% down. Mondi, which suffered a sharp loss in the previous session, ended nearly 5% down, despite finding some support earlier in the session.
JD Sports Fashion, Spirax Group, Babcock International, Weir Group, Relx, Fresnillo, Natwest Group and Lloyds Banking Group also ended sharply lower.
In the German market, Symrise gained nearly 2.5%. SAP and Fresenius Medical Care moved up by about 1.7% and 1.3%, respectively.
Siemens Energy, BMW, Bayer, Infineon, Continental, Commerzbank and Deutsche Post ended notably lower.
In the French market, Kering rallied more than 6% and LVMH surged nearly 3.5%, after Morgan Stanley upgraded the two stocks to 'overweight.'
Renault climbed 2.7%. L'Oreal, Stellantis and Teleperformance also posted strong gains.
Societe Generale, STMicroElectronics, Schneider Electric, Unibail Rodamco, Sanofi, BNP Paribas, Legrand, TotalEnergies and Michelin lost 1 to 2%.
On the economic front, data released by the Customs Office showed France's trade deficit narrowed to €5.5 billion in August 2025 from a revised €5.7 billion in July. This marks the smallest figure since December 2024.
Exports were stable at €51.8 billion, while imports fell 0.4% to €57.3 billion in August.
Data from Destatis showed German factory orders decreased 0.8% on a monthly basis in August, following a 2.7% decrease in July. This was in contrast to the anticipated increase of 1.2%. Excluding large orders, new orders were 3.3% lower than in the previous month.
UK house prices decreased for the first time in four months in September as concerns over potential tax increases weighed on the property market activity, the mortgage lender Halifax said.
House prices fell 0.3% on a monthly basis, in contrast to the 0.2% increase in August. Prices dropped for the first time since May and confounded expectations for an increase of 0.2%.
The average property price in September stood at GBP 298,184. Year-on-year, house prices growth eased to 1.3% from 2% in August. This represented the slowest annual growth since April 2024.
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