European shares fall as Mideast tensions keep investors on edge
- Benchmark STOXX 600 fell 0.7% to 601.84 points
European shares resumed declining on Wednesday as investors weighed the economic fallout from the 12-day Middle East war and digested a slate of corporate updates.
The pan-European benchmark STOXX 600 fell 0.7% to 601.84 points by 0819 GMT, a day after logging its best day since April 2025.
Among regional indexes, Germany’s DAX fell the most, shedding 1.2%, weighed down by a nearly 5% drop in Rheinmetall after the defence firm reported sales growth in line with forecasts.
The U.S. and Israel traded air strikes with Iran following an exchange of some of the heaviest bombardments in the region yet on Tuesday.
The war has choked off key shipping routes through the Strait of Hormuz, lifting oil prices, raising the risk of a price shock, and shaving nearly 5% off the STOXX 600 from its late February record high.
The European Central Bank will move quickly and decisively if more expensive fuel due to the Iran war feeds into durably higher eurozone inflation, ECB policymaker Joachim Nagel told Reuters.
Among individual movers, Gerresheimer slumped 9% after the German medical equipment maker deferred the release of 2025 financial statements to June, citing probes into its business deals.
On the macro front, German inflation eased slightly in February to 2.0%. Attention now turns to U.S. inflation data due later in the day as well as comments from European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde, Vice-President Luis de Guindos, and board member Isabel Schnabel.
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