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LONDON—European stock markets were mixed on Wednesday as traders assessed an extension to the Iranian ceasefire and a flurry of corporate earnings.
By 11:43 a.m. London (6:43 a.m. ET), pan-European Stocks 600 was just below the flatline, on par with the gains seen earlier in the session. Sectors and major regional stock exchanges traded in mixed territory.
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday extended a two-week ceasefire with the Iranian government, saying the extension was justified because Tehran is “deeply divided.”
President Trump said the ceasefire, which he previously said would end on Wednesday, would continue “until such time” that Iranian leaders and representatives submit a “unified proposal” to end the war with the United States and Israel.
The president’s announcement came in the wake of reports that Vice President J.D. Vance’s planned visit to Pakistan for a second round of peace talks with Iranian officials has been postponed.
Iran’s state news agency Tasnim also reported that Tehran’s negotiators, through a Pakistani intermediary, informed their US negotiators that they would not attend further negotiations.
An Iranian diplomat later told The Associated Press that the Iranian government “is not going to negotiate under duress.” He said the United States needed to lift the blockade as a precondition for further talks.
The diplomat told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the United States must lift its blockade on Iran as a precondition for further ceasefire talks in Islamabad. He also accused the United States of using the ceasefire to build up troops in preparation for a possible resumption of military action against the Islamic Republic.
Oil prices have fluctuated wildly as investors try to assess the situation, and market sentiment has been subdued by President Trump’s refusal to lift the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports.
“They just say they want to close it (the Strait of Hormuz) because I’m completely shutting it down (it’s closed!), so they just want to ‘save face’,” he said in a post on Truth Social.
Trump added that lifting the blockade means “there can never be a deal with Iran unless we blow up the rest of Iran, including the leaders.”
Back in Europe, the UK’s first inflation print edition, covering the period since the start of the Iran war, was published on Wednesday. The country’s inflation rate rose to 3.3% in March, according to official data, in line with economists’ expectations and up from 3% the previous month. Officials said rising fuel costs contributed to the price increase.
Suren Tirou, chief economist at the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, said in a note after the data was released that Trump’s extension of the ceasefire with Iran “will not prevent a difficult period of accelerating inflation due to rising energy and food prices, with headline interest rates likely to exceed 4% by the autumn.”
Benchmark yield 10 year UK government bond The last seen was 1 basis point lower at 4.877%. sterling The stock rose 0.1% against the dollar to around $1.35.
Among individual stocks, Dutch semiconductor manufacturing equipment manufacturers ASMI The company released its first quarter results after Tuesday’s close, making it the top of the Stoxx 600 index. Shares soared 7.1% after the company reported quarterly sales of 862.5 million euros ($1.01 billion), meeting the high end of guidance and beating analysts’ expectations. The company also reported a record adjusted operating margin of 33.1%.
ASMI stock price
Other major recruitment companies stocks Randstad Shares rose 5.5% after the company released updated first-quarter results. Sales for the three months to March reached 5.51 billion euros, an increase of 0.4% year-on-year, beating the consensus estimates of analysts provided by the company.
“Geopolitical instability and a limited outlook require continued vigilance, but the trajectory of 0.4% growth in the first quarter gives us confidence for the coming months,” CEO Sander van’t Noordende said in a statement.
Moncler stock was flat in morning trading despite reporting quarterly results that beat profit expectations.
French beauty conglomerate loreal is expected to report earnings after the trading session closes, while other companies to report on Wednesday include: ABB, Essilor Lux Oticaand Danone.
— CNBC’s Dan Mangan and Kevin Breuninger contributed to this market report.
