FX.co ★ European Stocks Mostly Lower

On Wednesday, the STOXX 50 experienced a 0.3% decline, while the STOXX 600 remained largely stable, halting following a robust rally earlier in the week that had driven them to unprecedented heights. Investor confidence became more wary after the Trump administration reignited threats to annex Greenland, subsequent to the recent capture and arrest of Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro over the weekend. Oil stocks faced downward pressure, reflecting a decrease in crude prices after President Trump announced that Venezuela would hand over up to 50 million barrels of oil to the United States. Stocks in major oil companies such as Shell dropped by 3%, BP fell by 3.8%, TotalEnergies declined by 2.2%, Equinor was down 3.8%, Eni decreased by 3.7%, and Repsol slid by 3.2%. Conversely, defense sector stocks saw significant gains, with Rheinmetall rising by 1%, BAE Systems up by 1.4%, Thales increasing by 4.2%, and Leonardo advancing by 3.2%. Additionally, SAP's shares grew by 1%. Meanwhile, inflation within the Eurozone decelerated to 2% as anticipated for the previous month.