Major European markets close with gains

FRANKFURT, Germany.— Europe's major markets closed higher Wednesday , led by the Milan Stock Exchange , whose main indicator, the FTSE FIB, rose 1.59%.

The Milan Stock Exchange closed higher on Wednesday, with its FTSE FIB index rising 1.59% to 40,821.31 points, boosted by Unicredit's move to convert derivatives into Commerzbank shares and become the German group's largest voting shareholder.

The FTSE Italia All-Share index rose 1.54% to 43,350.17 points.

During the session, 584 million shares were traded, valued at approximately €3.892 billion.

The Italian stock market closed at levels similar to those seen in the fall of 2007, after Unicredit became Commerzbank's largest shareholder, with a 20% voting right. This was interpreted as a sign that the Italian group is not giving up on mergers and acquisitions despite opposition from Berlin.

The Italian bank's move fueled buying in banking stocks across Europe, particularly in Milan, where they drove the rise of Italy's main stock exchange.

The Azimut holding company (5.76%) was the stock that rose the most, reaching its historical highs, and was ahead of Unicredit (4.59%), Intesa Sanpaolo (+2.63%) and the telecommunications cable producer Prysmian (+2.58%).

On the contrary, the companies with the worst performance in the selective index were Stmicroelectronics (-2.27%), Moncler (-0.89%), Poste Italiane (-0.77%) and Amplifon 19.97 (-0.70%).

The main index of the Paris Stock Exchange , the CAC-40, closed this Wednesday with a sharp rise of 1.44%, despite tariff threats from the US administration of Donald Trump, who has given the EU until August 1 to reach a trade agreement.

The main Parisian index closed at 7,878.46 points, its highest point since May 21, with 36 stocks up and only four down.

The industrial and banking sectors led the gains. Optical manufacturer EssilorLuxottica soared 5.64%. Banks Société Générale, BNP Paribas, and Credit Agricole gained 4.02%, 3.22%, and 2.37%, respectively.

Industrial group Saint-Gobain increased by 3.03%; water and waste management company Veolia, by 2.17%; and aeronautical manufacturer Airbus, by 1.92%.

Firms such as semiconductor company STMicroelectronics (-2.27%) and advertising and public relations group Publicis (-1.83%) avoided further gains.

Frankfurt's DAX 40 rose 1.42% on Wednesday after hitting a new all-time intraday high, driven by export-oriented stocks such as automotive companies, despite threats from US President Donald Trump.

The Frankfurt Stock Exchange 's selective index gained 1.42% to 24,549.56 points. The intraday high for the Frankfurt Stock Exchange's DAX 40 index now stands at 24,609 points.

After extending the tariff truce until August 1, Trump has threatened tariffs of 200% on pharmaceutical imports and 50% on copper.

Trump said he will send a tariff letter to the EU this week.

Despite this, the markets are optimistic and expect the European Union (EU) to reach a trade agreement with the United States.

European Commission (EC) President Ursula von der Leyen said Wednesday that the EU continues to negotiate "closely" with the United States to reach a trade agreement and is preparing "for all scenarios," after Washington extended the tariff truce until August 1.

In Frankfurt, the industrial and technology group Siemens rose 3.9% to 225.50 euros, and Deutsche Bank advanced 3.4% to 25.83 euros.

BMW gained 2.7% to 82 euros, Mercedes-Benz gained 2.7% to 52.26 euros, but sports car manufacturer Porsche fell 1.5% to 43.21 euros.

Laboratory equipment company Sartorius fell 1.8% to €218.10, dialysis services company Fresenius Medical Care lost 0.7% to €46.85, laboratory testing company Qiagen lost 0.6% to €40.65, and drugmaker Merck lost 0.3% to €111.30.

The Spanish stock market rose 1.24% on Wednesday, recovering the 14,200-point level despite new tariff threats from US President Donald Trump on copper and medicines produced outside the US.

The Spanish market's benchmark index, the IBEX 35 , gained 174.9 points to 14,254.4 points. The IBEX 35 has appreciated 22.94% this year.

Among the major stocks, Banco Santander rose 2.37%; the financial group BBVA, 1.76%; the textile giant Inditex, 0.69%; Telefónica, 0.47%; and the electricity company Iberdrola, 0.16%; while the oil company Repsol fell 0.47%.

The IBEX 35 opened the day with gains of 0.45%, which increased throughout the session, allowing the Spanish stock market to surpass the 14,200-point mark for its third consecutive day of gains.

The London Stock Exchange rose 0.15% on Wednesday despite tariff uncertainty, after US President Donald Trump announced new tariffs on various sectors and extended the deadline for concluding trade negotiations until August 1.

The day before, Trump announced a 50% tariff on copper and announced plans to impose a tariff of up to 200% on pharmaceutical products if their manufacturers do not establish operations in the US.

In this context, London's main index, the FTSE-100, advanced 12.84 points to 8,867.02, while the secondary index, the FTSE-250, which groups together smaller, generally British, companies, fell 0.06%, or 13.82 points, to 21,567.86.

The biggest gainers at the close of trading were tobacco company British American Tobacco, which gained 2.01%, along with defense contractor Rolls Royce, which grew 1.86%, and banking giant Barclays, which advanced 1.49%.

The hardest hit on the negative side was marketing and communications services company WPP, which fell a massive 18.76% after cutting its revenue and profit forecasts on Tuesday.

It was followed by the mining companies Antofagasta, which fell 2.89%, and Glencore, which fell 2.68%.

You might also be interested in : “ Claudia Sheinbaum confirms that the US has postponed sanctions against banned banks .”