Europe midday: Markets surge, oil falls on US-Iran peace hopes

(Sharecast News) - European shares were within reach of record territory on Tuesday led by chip stocks - which shrugged off the scandal engulfing AI darling Nvidia - and a weaker oil price as US President Donald Trump played down military escalation against Iran with officials from both sides preparing for talks in Abu Dhabi.

The pan-regional Stoxx 600 index was up 0.86% to 662 at 1135 GMT. Major bourses followed suit with Germany up 1.28%, France 1.1%, Italy 1.58%, Spain 1.41% and the UK 0.46%. Eyes are on US inflation data later in the day with economists expecting headline CPI growing at a rate of 0.3% and core CPI, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, rising 0.2% from the prior month.

There will be no comparable data from 2025 due to the US government shutdown at the time which meant information was not collated.

Oil prices continued to fall after Monday's decline after Trump said there was no need for military action against Iran "at this point".

Brent crude was down 1.75% to $90.58 having fallen 5.85% in the previous session, its lowest since August 31, while US West Texas Intermediate futures also declined 1.4% to $85.63 a barrel.

Meanwhile, the Nvidia crisis rumbled on, a day after company poster boy Jensen Huang was admitted to having an affair with a woman now alleged to be a Chinese spy. Shares in Nvidia slumped overnight over concerns about the founder and CEO's future.

"One reason Nvidia fell so much is that it has positioned itself as the mascot, the face of the AI trade. The company is at the epicentre of the AI boom, with the most powerful-and premium-product range, financial deals, investment support and broader commitments involving many companies to keep orders coming," said Swissquote analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya.

"CEO Huang has been a central figure ... besides having a far-reaching vision of what AI will look like-and therefore staying a step ahead in terms of business decisions-he has also been involved in politics and helped shape decisions regarding the White House's China policy within the broader technology war."

In equity news, chip-related stocks Infineon, Soitec and BE Semiconductor all made gains. BP, Shell and Repsol all fell on the weaker oil price.

Infineon was also boosted after the chipmaker forecast revenue growth of more than 20% in 2027 and a roughly five-percentage-point increase in profitability.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com