European shares near record high as lower oil prices boost sentiment

European stocks

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Europe's benchmark STOXX 600 opened higher on Tuesday and hovered near its record high in broad-based buying, as oil prices fell after US President Donald Trump downplayed the need for military action ​against ⁠Iran "at this point".

The STOXX 600 index gained 0.9% ⁠to 662.54 by 0805 GMT, with benchmark indexes in Germany, France and Italy up about ​1% each.

The pan-European benchmark was trading within 1% of its record high, last reached in early August ​on hopes for a resolution ⁠to the Middle East conflict.

Tuesday's gains were driven by ⁠renewed expectations that easing tensions in the region could curb ‌energy-driven inflation and reduce pressure ​for higher interest rates.

Brent crude fell more than 2% to $90 ⁠a barrel after Trump's comments, boosting airlines that have been ‌grappling with elevated fuel costs. Lufthansa gained ​1.8% ‌and Air France-KLM added 1.2%.

Among individual stocks, Infineon added 3.1% ‌after the chipmaker forecast revenue ⁠growth ⁠of more than 20% in 2027 and a roughly five-percentage-point increase in profitability, driven by demand from data centres, power infrastructure and software-defined vehicles.

Potash producer K+S ​added 2.3% after beating third-quarter earnings expectations.

(Reporting by Anjana ⁠J ‌Nair and Johann M Cherian in ​Bengaluru; ‌Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)

Copyright (2026) Thomson Reuters.

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