European stocks close on firm note; tech, mining stocks rise sharply

European stocks closed higher on Tuesday, supported to a large extent by gains in technology and materials sectors, as investors looked ahead to earnings updates from several big-name companies and awaited the European Central Bank’s monetary policy announcement.

Reports about fresh diplomatic efforts to ease Middle East tensions helped keep the mood fairly positive.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed 0.38% up. The UK’s FTSE 100 climbed 0.42%, Germany’s DAX settled with a gain of 0.49%, and France’s CAC 40 edged up 0.1%. Switzerland’s SMI moved up 0.31%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain, and Sweden closed on a firm note. Denmark and Turkey ended weak.

Firm copper prices triggered strong buying in mining stocks. Several stocks from the banking sector moved higher, contributing notably to markets’ gains. Semiconductor stocks were in demand amid renewed interest in the sector thanks to buoyant export data from Taiwan and South Korea.

In the UK market, miners Antofagasta and Fresnillo climbed 5.8% and 4.5%, respectively. Endeavour Mining gained 3.8%, Anglo American moved up 3.4%, Glencore advanced 3.2%, and Rio Tinto settled with a gain of about 2.2%.

Lloyds Banking Group, Natwest Group, Barclays, and HSBC Holdings gained 1.9%-2.2%.

Marks & Spencer jumped nearly 5%. Babcock International moved up 4.1%, and Burberry Group closed 3.7% up. Lion Finance, Polar Capital Technology Trust, Metlen Energy & Metals, Smiths Group, and Melrose Industries also ended with strong gains.

Among the losers, Compass Group declined 2.7% despite reporting strong quarterly revenue growth. Segro ended down by about 3.5%. LSEG, JD Sports Fashion, Reckitt Benckiser, Relx, AutoTrader Group, Experian, and BT Group lost 2.2%-2.8%.

Unilever, Imperial Brands, The Sage Group, Compass Group, Hiscox, Howden Joinery Group, Convatec Group, and British American Tobacco also ended notably lower.

Shares of construction and infrastructure firm Kier Group climbed nearly 5% after the company said it expects FY26 revenue and profit at the top end of market expectations.

In the German market, Infineon surged more than 5.5%. Siemens Energy closed with a gain of 3.6%. Fresenius Medical Care, Fresenius, Commerzbank, Siemens, Daimler Truck Holding, Deutsche Bank, and Deutsche Post gained 1%-2.5%.

Munich RE, Hannover RE, Siemens Healthineers, and Scout24 lost 2.4%-3%. Deutsche Telekom, BMW, SAP, Adidas, Symrise, Qiagen, and Deutsche Börse also closed notably lower.

In the French market, STMicroelectronics jumped nearly 4.5%. Société Générale and TotalEnergies moved up 2.7% and 2.3%, respectively. BNP Paribas, Legrand, and Schneider Electric advanced 1.5%-1.8%.

Airbus gained nearly 1.5%, lifted by reports that the company recently secured a firm order from Saudi Arabian airline Riyadh Air for six of its A350-1000 aircraft.

Publicis Groupe, Danone, Eurofins Scientific, Teleperformance, Capgemini, LVMH, Veolia Environment, EssilorLuxottica, Bureau Veritas, Orange, Dassault Systemes, Carrefour, Pernod Ricard, and Kering lost 1%-2.5%.

On the economic front, a report from the Centre for European Economic Research showed Germany’s ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment rose 15.8 points to 26.3 in July, following a 20.7-point jump in June and well above market expectations of 18. The reading marked the highest level since February.

Meanwhile, the ZEW Current Conditions in Germany increased to -77.60 points in July, compared to -81 points in June and forecasts of -77.8.

Data from the Office for National Statistics showed the UK unemployment rate held steady in the three months to May at 4.9%, the same as in the February to April period. The rate was expected to rise to 5%.

In the corresponding period last year, the rate was 4.7%.

Data also showed that the annual growth in employees’ average earnings, excluding bonuses, remained stable at 3.4% in the March to May period. Including bonuses, the earnings growth eased slightly to 4.3% from 4.4%.