The STOXX 50 and STOXX 600 were little changed on Tuesday, after modest losses in the previous session left both benchmarks trading slightly below their all-time highs. Sentiment was cautious, echoing the tone in Asian markets, where strong guidance from Samsung Electronics led investors to reassess the rich valuations behind the AI-driven rally, putting pressure on technology shares.
Samsung projected April–June operating profit of 89.4 trillion won, a 19-fold increase from a year earlier. Nonetheless, European chipmakers retreated, with ASML Holding down 3.9%, Infineon Technologies off 3.5%, and STMicroelectronics losing 3.3%. Siemens Energy sank 6% after Barclays cut its rating to “underweight” from “equal weight.”
These declines were largely offset by gains in consumer discretionary, consumer staples, and energy names. Shell (+2.3%), LVMH (+1.4%), L’Oréal (+2.1%), TotalEnergies (+1.0%), and Hermès (+1.5%) were among the strongest performers of the session.
