Europe midday: Stoxx jumps as EU-India trade deal boosts sentiment

(Sharecast News) - European shares extended gains on Tuesday as investors digested a raft of corporate earnings and trading statements along with a massive trade deal agreement between the European Union and India.

The pan-regional Stoxx 600 index was up 0.32% to 611.54% at 1205 GMT. Germany's DAX fell 0.07, giving up morning advances, while the UK's FTSE 100 gained 0.41% and France's CAC 40 rose 0.33%.

Eyes were also on the latest overnight social media pronouncements from US President Donald Trump as South Korea became his latest target for a tariff tirade.

The Asian nation, a key trade and military partner in the region, was threatened with a rise in tariffs on autos, pharmaceuticals and lumber to 25% from 15% because its parliament was yet to ratify a trade deal with America.

"The latest level of uncertainty provided a fresh springboard for precious metals, with gold advancing once more to briefly touch $5100 an ounce and with silver also in demand as investors sought to hedge their portfolio risk," said Interactive Investor head of markets Richard Hunter.

"Despite the brittle backdrop, the main US indices posted advances on the day after a losing week, as attention turned towards a raft of upcoming earnings. Four of the 'Magnificent Seven' will be reporting over the coming days in the form of Tesla, Microsoft, Meta Platforms and Apple, with most of those stocks seeing some buying interest ahead of the numbers."

In another major development, the European Union and India on Tuesday finally signed a free trade agreement expected to slash �4bn of duties on the bloc's exports, described as the "mother of all deals" by European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen.

After almost 20 years of talks, officials shook hands on a deal giving the 27-nation bloc access to India's tightly regulated market. Discussions had sped up in the last six months in response to US President Donald Trump's global tariff war.

The agreement is expected to double EU exports to India by 2032 by eliminating or reducing tariffs on 96.6% of traded goods by value, saving European companies �4bn (�3.5bn) in duties, the EU said in a statement. The bloc and India already trade more than �180bn worth of goods and services per year, officials said.

In equity news, Shares in German sportswear giant Puma surged in early trade on Tuesday after China's Anta Sports Products revealed it was taking a 29.06% stake in the company.

Anta is paying the Pinault family - which owns the Kering luxury conglomerate, home to Gucci - �1.5bn to become Puma's biggest shareholder.

Siegfried Holding surged as the German pharma company said it had bought the drug substance business of Noramco Group and Extractas Bioscience from an affiliate of SK Capital Partners expanding its US-based capacity in small-molecule drug substances and controlled substances,

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com