BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - Despite largely weak regional economic data, and concerns over France's fiscal woes and political uncertainty, European markets closed mostly higher on Tuesday as lower crude oil prices and Euro zone bond yields helped lift sentiment.
Brent crude futures fell to $97.06 a barrel before recovering some lost ground but still remained well below previous closing level by the time the European markets closed.
Oil prices fell as strong Middle Eastern crude exports and a G7 emergency stockpile release eased supply concerns, reducing inflation pressures.
The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.48%. The UK's FTSE 100 gained 0.42%, Germany's DAX moved up 0.7% and France's CAC 40 advanced 0.4%. Switzerland's SMI finished with a gain of 0.62%.
Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden closed higher.
Czech Republic, Norway, Russia and Türkiye ended weak.
In the UK market, Informa climbed nearly 3%. The publishing and exhibitions company's shares rose after the firm decided to buy Clarion Events for £2.24 billion in cash from Blackstone Inc.
Whitbread climbed 5.2%. Weir, Next, Burberry Group, Marks & Spencer, Investec, Admiral Group, WPP, Pershing Square Holdings, LondonMetric Property, Reckitt Benckiser, Diageo, LSEG, Bunzl, AstraZeneca, Lloyds Banking Group, Aviva, Croda International, Unilever and Experian gained 1.5%-3.2%.
BAE Systems shed more than 4%. Melrose Industries, Rolls-Royce Holdings, Ithaca Energy, IG Group Holdings, Games Workshop and Babcock International lost 2%-3%.
BT Group, Fresnillo, Vodafone Group, Aberdeen Group, Balfour Beatty, Endeavour Mining and 3i Group also ended notably lower.
In the German market, Continental, Brenntag, Hochtief, Henkel, Merck and Adidas gained 2%-3%.
Deutsche Boerse, SAP and Infineon moved up nearly 2%. Gea Group, BASF, Siemens Healthineers, Commerzbank, Siemens, Siemens Energy, Hannover Re, Mercedes-Benz, Bayer, Symrise and E.On also closed notably higher.
Rheinmetall dropped 3.4%. Deutsche Telekom and MTU Aero Engines closed lower by about 1.6% and 1.2%, respectively.
In the French market, Legrand surged 3.7%. Vinci, Veolia Environment, Accor, Engie, BNP Paribas, Unibail Rodamco, Renault, Kering, Pernod Ricard, Stellantis, Teleperformance and Societe Generale gained 2%-3%.
STMicroelectronics, Danone, Saint-Gobain, EssilorLuxottica, Edenred, AXA, Capgemini, Carrefour, LVMH, Michelin, ArcelorMittal and Credit Agricole ended higher by 1%-1.9%.
Schneider Electric shed about 4.5%. Thales drifted down nearly 2%. Air Liquide, Bureau Veritas and Airbus posted moderate losses.
Data released by Destatis showed Germany's factory orders declined sharply in August largely due to the fall in transport equipment manufacturing.
Factory orders plunged 10.6% from the previous month, in contrast to the 3.2% rise in July. Orders were expected to fall 0.9%.
Excluding large-scale orders, new orders were 0.1% lower than in the previous month. Foreign orders were down 5.4% in August and domestic orders declined 17.3%.
Survey data from S&P Global showed Germany's construction sector contracted notably in September, led by a steep reduction in work on housing projects. The construction Purchasing Managers' Index fell to 43.5 in September from an eight-month high of 48.7 in the previous month.
Data from INSEE showed industrial production in France fell 0.3% month-on-month in August, defying expectations for a 0.3% rise and following a 0.6% decline in July. On a yearly basis, industrial output rose 0.3%, rebounding from a 0.6% fall in July. Over the three months to August, industrial production was down 0.1% from a year earlier.
A report from S&P Global showed the S&P Global France Construction PMI rose to 39.8 in September from 37.3 in August, remaining well below the 50 threshold, signaling a continued sector-wide downturn.
Another data showed, France's state budget deficit widened to EUR 159.6 billion in the January-August period from EUR 157.5 billion a year earlier. Expenditure rose 4.4% year-on-year to EUR 362.97 billion.
In economic news, data from S&P Global showed the S&P Global UK Construction PMI rose to 46.1 in September from 44.3 in August, missing expectations of 45.2 and signaling the slowest decline in construction output since January.
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