BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European stocks closed notably lower on Thursday as concerns over spending on AI infrastructure, Middle East and Russia-Ukraine conflicts, and elevated oil prices hurt investors sentiment. Worries about French debt woes weighed as well.
Brent crude futures surged about 3.5% above $112.50 a barrel, approaching a near four-year high reached in May after reports indicated the U.S. and Israeli militaries have developed specific plans for a short, intensive operation against Iran following next month's midterm elections.
The pan European Stoxx 600 fell 1.05%. The UK's FTSE 100 ended down 0.26%, Germany's DAX dropped 1.07% and France's CAC 40 settled with a loss of 1.39%. Switzerland's SMI ended 0.03% down.
Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Czech Republic, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Türkiye closed with sharp to moderate losses.
Belgium, Denmark and Russia ended higher.
In the UK market, miners Fresnillo, Antofagasta and Anglo American Plc lost 6.5%, 6.1% and 5.6%, respectively. Endeavour Mining ended nearly 4% down, while Rio Tinto and Glencore closed lower by 3.4% and 3%, respectively.
Bank stocks Standard Chartered, Lloyds Banking Group, Natwest Group, HSBC Holdings and Barclays declined sharply.
InterContinental Hotels tumbled 3.4% despite reporting a 5.3% growth in third-quarter revenue per available room.
Computacenter, Rolls-Royce Holdings, Lion Finance,IMI, Weir, Polar Capital Technology Trust, Diploma, Aberdeen Group, Halma, IAG, Balfour Beatty, Scottish Mortgage and Prudential lost 2%-5.6%.
Engineering company Renishaw rallied more than 2% after first-quarter revenue jumped 47 percent to a record £251.8 million.
Rentokil Initial jumped 8.7%. LSEG rallied 7.7%. Smith & Nephew, IG Group Holdings, Experian, Unilever, The Sage Group, AstraZeneca, Diageo, Reckitt Benckiser, Haleon, Admiral Group, BT Group, GSK, Autotrader Group, United Utilities, British American Tobacco, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners and Convatec Group climbed 1.5%-4.3%.
In the German market, Qiagen climbed nearly 5%. SAP, Scout24, Deutsche Boerse, Merck and Deutsche Telekom gained 2.7%-3.4%.
Fresenius Medical Care, Hannover RE, Zalando, Symrise, Beiersdorf, Mercedes-Benz, Henkel and Munich also closed notably higher.
Siemens Energy tumbled 8.6%. Infineon lost about 6%. Hochtief, MTU Aero Engines, Siemens, Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank, RWE, Heidelberg Materials, Gea Group, Deutsche Post, Daimler Truck Holding, Adidas and Brenntag ended down 1%-5%.
Tech stock SAP drifted lower despite the company reporting better-than-expected third-quarter results and lifting its cloud revenue outlook.
In the French market, Pernod Ricard, Eurofins Scientific, Danone, Bureau Veritas, Dassault Systemes, EssilorLuxottica, Michelin, Sanofi, Orange, L'Oreal, Capgemini and Unibail Rodamco gained 1%-3%.
Legrand fell nearly 6%. Schneider Electric dropped 5.4%. Hermes International dropped 5% after revenue growth slowed in the third quarter due to weak demand in key market China.
BNP Paribas, Societe Generale, ArcelorMittal, Safran and STMicroelectronics ended down 3.7%-5%.
AXA, Carrefour, Credit Agricole, Airbus, Accor, Thales, Kering and TotalEnergies also declined sharply.
In economic news, UK manufacturers expect output to stabilize in the next three months following a fall in the three months to October, the latest quarterly Industrial Trends Survey results from the Confederation of British Industry showed.
The output volume balance dropped to -10% in the quarter to October from -4% in the three months to September.
However, firms expect output to be broadly flat in the three months to January. The balance rose to -1%, marking the strongest expectations since February 2025.
French manufacturing confidence rose to its highest level since July 2022 driven by robust improvements in global and foreign order book assessments, survey results from the statistical office INSEE showed.
The manufacturing sentiment index climbed to 105 in October from 101 in the previous month. The score was the highest since July 2022. Economists had forecast the index to remain unchanged at 101.
Europe's new car registrations growth accelerated in September, driven by the surge in electric car sales, data from the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association, or ACEA, revealed Thursday.
New car sales increased 9.3% on a yearly basis in September, which was faster than the 4.5% rise posted in August.
Among major economies, car sales in Germany advanced 9% and that in France climbed 11.6%. Spain reported an annual increase of 10.2% and Italy registered 9.8% growth.
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