FRANKFURT: European shares struggled to find direction on Tuesday as caution lingered in the wake of the previous day’s losses, while Bayer rocketed on the US administration’s backing for measures to curb lawsuits related to its Roundup weedkiller.
The pan-European STOXX 600 ended flat at 575.5, following Monday’s industrials-driven decline.
Bayer jumped over 12 percent to a near two-year high after the Trump administration urged the US Supreme Court on Monday to take up the company’s bid to curtail thousands of lawsuits claiming its Roundup weedkiller caused cancer.
The stock helped keep the broader healthcare index afloat, up 0.2 percent, offsetting losses from Wegovy maker Novo Nordisk, which fell 2.3 percent.
Banks extended their winning streak to a seventh session, rising 1.1 percent.
Banco Santander’s 1.4 percent gain was the biggest boost, after it sold a 3.5 percent stake in subsidiary Santander Bank Polska, which fell 5.8 percent.
Erste Group rose 3.7 percent after Barclays upgraded the Vienna-based bank to “overweight” from “equal-weight”, citing positive growth prospects in Central and Eastern Europe.
“The banking sector is both a safe haven and likely to benefit from interest rates remaining high. Spain is often the outlier ... it’s mainly due to the financial sector,” said Nick Saunders, CEO of trading platform Webull UK.
The bank-heavy Spanish IBEX 35 index outperformed peers, closing up 0.5 percent and near a record high. Germany’s main index was up 0.5 percent and the French benchmark lost 0.3 percent.
Defence companies were in focus, with arms makers Rheinmetall and Hensoldt climbing nearly 3 percent, rebounding from the previous day’s losses.
Russian President Vladimir Putin met US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner in the Kremlin for talks over a possible end to the war in Ukraine.
Investors also assessed fresh data that showed euro zone inflation unexpectedly ticked up last month, likely dashing hopes for further European Central Bank rate cuts anytime soon.
“The European Central Bank is not necessarily looking to cut the interest rates. I think that there will be no rate cuts next year because they consider that the policy is in a good place right now,” said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank.
European shares outperformed US peers in the first half of the year, as uncertain trade and monetary policy in the US drove investors to diversify abroad.
Wall Street has since caught up, with gains surpassing those of Europe as US markets capitalised on the euphoria around artificial intelligence.
Among other stocks, FDJ United slipped 5.7 percent after J.P. Morgan downgraded the lottery and online game operator’s stock to “underweight”.
ISS was the biggest loser on STOXX, falling 7.7 percent after analysts pointed to speculation over liability in a Hong Kong tower fire.
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