US-Iran ceasefire agreement boosts market sentiment; European stock markets rise across the board

Investing.com - Wednesday’s European stock markets opened sharply higher, with most sectors broadly up. The market welcomed a conditional ceasefire agreement reached between the United States and Iran, easing tensions in the Middle East that had been building for weeks.

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German automakers became one of the best-performing sectors. As of 08:02 GMT, the gains for Porsche SE, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche AG, Volkswagen, and BMW were all in the range of 4% to 7%.

Luxury stocks also surged significantly, with Kering, LVMH Group, and Hermès rising by roughly 6% to 7%.

Earlier, President Trump said he had agreed to pause attacks on Iran for two weeks, on the condition of immediately reopening the Strait of Hormuz. This indicates that progress had been made on the 10-point proposal put forward by Tehran.

Earlier on Tuesday, Trump had threatened that if Tehran did not comply with his demands by 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time, the United States would destroy the country’s entire civilization. Trump also added that the U.S. “will help resolve” the traffic congestion problem in the strait.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Araghchi, speaking on behalf of the country’s Supreme National Security Council, said that Tehran’s armed forces would “halt defensive action.”

Bank stocks were broadly higher. Germany’s Deutsche Bank surged nearly 10%, while Deutsche Bank rose 7.3%; meanwhile, Spain’s Bank Spain Exterior Bank, CaixaBank, Sabadell, Spain International Bank, Santander Bank, and Unicaja were up between 3.5% and 8%.

French banks BNP Paribas, Société Générale, and Crédit Agricole were up between 5% and 10%, while Italy’s FTSE Italy All-Share Banks index rose 6.5%.

European chipmakers also jumped sharply. Gains for BESI, ams International, ASML, Soitec, and STMicroelectronics were between 5% and 11%.

In contrast, energy stocks in the region fell, as the ceasefire news pushed oil prices below the $100 level. At the time of writing, Brent crude futures were plunging nearly 14% to $94.30, while WTI crude futures were down more than 15% to $95.77.

This article was translated with the assistance of AI. For more information, please see our Terms of Use.