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European Stocks Mixed in Thursday Trading; Investor Concerns Over Middle East War Soften After Opening Sharply Lower

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Last updated: 04/02/2026 11:54:32

11:54 AM EDT, 04/02/2026 (MT Newswires) -- European stock markets were mixed Thursday, rebounding from a sharp decline in earlier trading after US President Donald Trump said the US would hit Iran "extremely hard" in an address Wednesday night.

The Stoxx Europe 600 was off 0.3%, Germany's DAX fell 0.8%, the FTSE 100 rose 0.6%, France's CAC was down 0.4% and the Swiss Market Index was off 0.1%.

Energy stocks were rallying on soaring oil prices, while bank stocks were tumbling in Thursday trading.

Oil and gas companies BP and Shell were up close to 3% each in London, while TotalEnergies was 2.6% higher in Paris, and Eni was gaining 3.8% in Milan.

Meanwhile, lender Standard Chartered was down 1.6% in London, followed by HSBC and NatWest Group, which were moving 1.3% lower each. In Frankfurt, Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank were falling 2.6% and 2.5%, respectively. Societe Generale and BNP Paribas dropped 2.9% and 2.8%, respectively, in Paris, followed by Credit Agricole, which was off 1.5%, while Banco Santander was losing 2% in Madrid.

And in corporate news, Novo Nordisk said Thursday that its 25 mg Wegovy pill demonstrated "significantly greater" mean weight loss than Eli Lilly's 36 mg orforglipron, which was approved by the Food and Drug Administration under the brand name Foundayo.

The FDA approved Foundayo at doses ranging up to 17.2 mg, which is equivalent to the orforglipron 36 mg capsules used in phase 3 trials, Novo Nordisk said.

Additionally, in a separate study, adult patients who were overweight or obese showed greater preference for an oral semaglutide-like profile than an orforglipron-like profile, Novo said.

Eli Lilly didn't immediately reply to a request for comment from MT Newswires.

Shares of the Danish pharmaceutical company gained 2.6% in Copenhagen.

BP said Thursday that it named Carol Howle as deputy chief executive officer, effective immediately.

The company said Howle will be in charge of BP's ongoing portfolio review and strategy development beyond 2027 targets. Howle will also remain as lead of the company's supply, trading, and shipping division, BP added.

Shares of the British oil and gas company were up 3% in London.

Lloyds Banking Group said it does not plan to change provisions for motor finance mis-selling compensation after assessing the final rules issued by the Financial Conduct Authority.

The bank said its review found no need to adjust its existing provision, adding that uncertainties remain around response rates, operational costs, and potential litigation. The Financial Conduct Authority estimates lenders will pay 7.5 billion pounds in compensation, plus around 1.6 billion pounds in administrative costs, bringing the total program to 9.1 billion pounds, down from a prior estimate of 11 billion pounds, according to reports.

Shares of the British bank were little changed in London.

AstraZeneca said Thursday a combination therapy featuring its medications Imfinzi and Imjudo alongside lenvatinib and a transarterial chemoembolisation procedure demonstrated an improvement in the primary endpoint of progression-free survival in patients with a common form of liver cancer.

Interim results from the phase 3 study also highlighted a trend toward better overall survival rates when compared with transarterial chemoembolisation by itself, the company said.

Shares of the British pharmaceutical company rose 1.8% in London.

TotalEnergies said Thursday it agreed to establish a $2.2 billion joint venture with United Arab Emirates-based energy company Masdar to combine their onshore renewable energy activities in nine countries across Asia.

The JV will have a portfolio capacity of 3 gigawatts of operational assets, as well as 6 gigawatts of assets that are expected to be running by 2030. It will be based in Abu Dhabi Global Market, with a workforce of around 200 employees each from TotalEnergies and Masdar, the oil and gas company said.

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