BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - A day after scoring strong gains following a two-week ceasefire agreed to by the U.S. and Iran, European stocks turned weak on Thursday as Tehran halted the passage of oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz after accusing the U.S. of violating three clauses of the 10-Point Proposal.
Iran has closed the Strait of Hormuz and threatened to walk away from the agreement as Israel continues to strike Lebanon. U.S. President Donald Trump has also warned of renewed escalation in the event of Iran not making an attempt to reach a broader deal.
'The U.S. must choose ceasefire or continued war via Israel. It cannot have both. The world sees the massacres in Lebanon. The ball is in the U.S. court, and the world is watching whether it will act on its commitments,' Iran Foreign Minister Araghchi said in a post on X.
Trump said that U.S. military forces will remain deployed in and around Iran until Tehran fully complies with the 'real agreement.'
The pan European Stoxx 600 ended down 0.15%. Among the major markets, Germany's DAX lost 1.14%, while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 and France's CAC 40 closed lower by 0.05% and 0.22%, respectively. Switzerland's SMI ended with a gain of 0.35%.
Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Russia, Spain and Sweden closed weak.
Belgium, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal and Türkiye ended higher, while Finland closed flat.
In the UK market, Entain plunged more than 8%. Informa, Compass Group, Standard Life, Pershing Square Holdings, Experian, Croda International, Reckitt Benckiser, Antofagasta, Melrose Industries, Fresnillo and Relx lost 2%-4%.
BP climbed about 3.2%. United Utilities, GSK, Hiscox, SSE, Severn Trent, DCC, JD Sports Fashion, National Grid, Shell, 3i Group, Diploma, Smiths Group, Bunzl, Admiral Group, Airtel Africa, Tesco, Halma and Spirax Group gained 1%-2.3%.
In the German market, SAP ended nearly 7% down. Scout24, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, Siemens, Symrise, Rheinmetall, Continental, Siemens Healthineers and Merck ended down by 1%-2.3%.
Brenntag, BASF, Zalando, Hannover RE and E.ON closed notably higher.
In the French market, Capgemini, Publicis Groupe and Dassault Systemes lost 4%-4.7%. LVMH, Airbus, Eurofins Scientific, Renault, Essilor, L'Oreal, Teleperformance, Saint-Gobain and Bureau Veritas ended lower by 1%-3%.
TotalEnergies, Air Liquide and STMicroelectronics moved up sharply. Engie, Bouygues, Safran and Veolia Environment posted moderate gains.
Germany's industrial production dropped unexpectedly in February even before the outbreak of war in the Middle East, data from Destatis revealed. Industrial production fell 0.3% in February compared to January, when it was flat. Production was expected to grow 0.6%.
Data from Destatis showed Germany's export rebounded the most since 2022 even as sales to the U.S. and China declined. Imports also logged robust recovery in February. Exports grew 3.6% month-on-month in February, reversing January's 1.5% fall. This was the biggest growth since May 2022. Shipment was expected to climb 1%.
Copyright(c) 2026 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2026 AFX News
