Major European markets close with losses

FRANKFURT, Germany—The session ended Wednesday with losses in major European markets, with the main Spanish market indicator falling 1.59% and the euro holding steady throughout trading.

The euro stabilized today around $1.16, within a narrow trading range, during calm trading as risk tolerance remains high following the ceasefire between Israel and Iran.

The euro was trading at $1.1620 around 3:00 p.m. GMT, down from $1.1624 in the final hours of European foreign exchange trading the previous day.

The European Central Bank (ECB) today set the euro's reference exchange rate at $1.1598.

There was a lack of significant economic data from the eurozone or the US, nor were there any comments from ECB members that would influence exchange rates.

The euro appreciated on Tuesday after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said there was no rush to lower interest rates until there was more clarity on the economic consequences of US President Donald Trump's tariffs.

The single currency was traded within a fluctuation band between $1.1590 and $1.1630.

The Spanish stock market lost 1.59% and led the declines in Europe, driven by falls in banking stocks, in a session that focused on the NATO summit in The Hague.

The main index of the national market, the IBEX 35, lost 223.3 points and closed at 13,811. Year-to-date, it has reduced its accumulated gains to 19.12%.

The financial group BBVA lost 3.09% and led the declines in the banking sector. Banco Santander fell 2.39%; Sabadell 2.15%; CaixaBank 1.46%; Bankinter 1.3%; and Unicaja 1.08%.

The Spanish index opened with gains, but soon reversed course and continued to decline for the remainder of the session, dragged down by the banking sector—a key player in the IBEX—which traded with widespread declines after the government yesterday approved new conditions for BBVA's public offer to purchase Sabadell shares.

The Paris Stock Exchange's main index, the CAC-40, fell 0.76% on Wednesday, offsetting the gains made the day before (+1.04%) in the wake of a possible cessation of hostilities in Iran, given the continued unstable situation.

At the close of the session, which had started in negative territory but remained on a clear downward trend throughout, the Parisian index stood at 7,558.16 points.

Trading volume was middling, with transactions valued at €3.188 billion. Twenty-nine companies closed lower, one remained unchanged, and 10 gained.

The biggest declines were for the multinational food company Danone (-2.32%), the cosmetics group L'Oréal (-2.05%) and the luxury sector group Kering (-2.03%).

On the other hand, the largest increases were recorded by the automotive consortium Stellantis (3.09%), the aerospace and defense company Thales (1.93%) and the tour operator Accor (1.29%).

Frankfurt's DAX 40 fell 0.61% today after profit-taking from the previous trading, following the ceasefire between Israel and Iran, and because Federal Reserve (Fed) Chairman Jerome Powell dampened expectations of an interest rate cut in July.

The Frankfurt Stock Exchange's selective index fell 0.61% to 23,498.33 points, and has accumulated a gain of almost 19% so far this year.

All NATO member states reaffirmed their "unwavering commitment to collective defense" today in The Hague and pledged to invest 5% of their gross domestic product (GDP) in defense by 2035.

The arms manufacturer Rheinmetall advanced 3.1% to 1.738 euros on the index, while Hensoldt gained 5.7% to 94.50 euros, and Renk rose 3.5% to 65.97 euros on the MDAX mid-cap index.

The construction materials company Heidelberg Materials gained 1.8% to 191.15 euros.

Siemens Energy, Gamesa's parent company, rose 1.4% to 92.40 euros.

Commerzbank fell 5.7% to €27.06 due to profit-taking, after reaching €29 on Tuesday, its highest level in more than 14 years, driven by acquisition interest from the Italian bank UniCredit.

But takeover fantasies are fading as political obstacles to some mergers in Europe become more and more prevalent.

Postal services and logistics company Deutsche Post-DHL fell 1.5% to €38.44, due to weak forecasts from US-based FedEx amid uncertain global demand.

Telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom fell 3% to 30.75 euros, and sports car manufacturer Porsche fell 2.9% to 39.72 euros.

The London Stock Exchange fell 0.42% hours after the NATO summit held in The Hague, Netherlands, confirmed, among other points, the increase in defense spending to 5% of GDP by NATO countries.

All member states today reaffirmed their "unwavering commitment to collective defense" and pledged to invest 5% of their GDP in defense by 2035. They are required to submit annual plans that show "a credible and progressive path to achieving this goal," according to the joint declaration.

In this context, London's main index, the FTSE-100, fell 40.24 points to 8,718.75, while the secondary index, the FTSE-250, composed of smaller, generally British, companies, fell 0.13%, or 28.16 points, to 21,326.20.

British oil companies Shell (-0.81%) and BP (-0.96%) experienced moderate losses, without suffering the shock to the markets caused by the Wall Street Journal's exclusive, which, just as trading in London closed, revealed that the former had opened talks to acquire the latter.

The stocks that fell the most were marketing and advertising company WPP, which fell 3.26%, along with airline EasyJet, which lost 2.56%, and mining company Anglo American, which lost 2.41%.

In contrast, defense contractor Babcock International gained a whopping 10.75%, driven by military commitments announced by NATO, along with, to a lesser extent, sportswear and footwear retailer JD, which gained 2.27%, and Mexican mining company Fresnillo, which added 2.06%.

The Milan Stock Exchange closed lower, with its FTSE MIB index falling 0.39% to 39,319.14 points, despite the truce between Israel and Iran and the Italian banking sector in the red.

The FTSE Italia All-Share index, meanwhile, fell 0.40% to 41,732.99.

During the session, 480 million shares were traded, valued at €2.623 billion.

Major banking sector stocks fell into negative territory: Unicredit lost 1.56%, Banca Popolare Sondrio lost 1.40%, and Banca Popolare Emilia Romagna lost 1.38%.

Also falling were Stmicroelectronics (1.90%), the pharmaceutical company Recordati (1.75%), the cement company Buzzi (1.69%), the fashion firm Brunello Cucinelli (1.28%), the water extractor Interpump Group (1.22%) and the gas company Italgas (1.19%).

On the other hand, the winners were the automotive giant Stellantis (3.09%), the defense company Leonardo (2.69%), Ferrari (2.21%), Telecom Italia (1.61%), the tire manufacturer Pirelli (0.94%), the holding company Azimut (0.30%) and the steel company Tenaris (0.26%), among others.

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