European stocks fall as investors await word of Iran peace talks

[PARIS] European stocks fell as investors tracked developments around potential US-Iran peace talks amid a continued stand-off in the Strait of Hormuz.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index was 0.6 per cent lower by the close. Technology and energy stocks outperformed, while healthcare, autos and miners were the biggest laggards.

The benchmark index trimmed a drop of as much as 1 per cent and Brent crude slid to US$104 a barrel from US$107 after Pakistani officials said Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is expected in Islamabad on Friday (Apr 24) night for a second round of negotiations. No talks with the US are slated to take place during Araghchi’s trip, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency said.

The prolonged stalemate over the Middle East conflict has weighed heavily on European equities, which have lost their outperformance edge over the US seen earlier in the year, as investors fret about the impact of high oil prices on economic growth.

The pan-European index has trimmed its year-to-gains to 3.1 per cent, trailing the S&P 500’s 4.5 per cent advance. US shares have also been supported by artificial intelligence-driven earnings momentum in technology stocks.

“One takeaway from this earnings season is that the US leadership is back because of its dominance in tech and semiconductors, notably,” said David Kruk, head of trading at La Financiere de l’Echiquier in Paris.

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European shares muted as investors assess Middle East developments, corporate earnings

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European earnings continued apace, with Germany’s SAP up 4.7 per cent, lifting the region’s tech sector. The software company reported cloud backlog growth that reassured investors amid AI disruption concerns. Siemens Energy, seen as a major beneficiary of the surging demand for energy infrastructure and AI data centres, gained 2.6 per cent after reporting first-quarter earnings. BLOOMBERG