Europe midday: Stoxx storms to new highs

(Sharecast News) - European markets powered to a new intra-day high on the first trading day of the year, carrying on from gains made in 2025.

The pan-regional Stoxx 600 index was up 0.33% to 594.74 at 1243 GMT having touched 597.22.

Major bourses followed suit, with Germany's DAX up 0.25%, France's CAC rising 0.27% and the UK's FTSE 100 breaching 10,000 for the first time.

The benchmark Stoxx index rose nearly 16% during 2025, driven by defence stocks as governments ramped up spending to deal with the threat from Russia, while bank stocks were also in favour.

Italy's MIB index gained 0.58% after the US government slashed planned tariffs on Italian pasta brands after threatening retaliatory duties of as much as 92%.

The US Department of Commerce had slashed the planned additional tariffs to a range of between 2 - 14% in addition to the 15% rate applied to European Union exports as part of US President Donald Trump's global trade war.

Commodities were also in focus with gold and silver prices rallying, while the price of Brent crude sat above $61 a barrel.

In economic news, manufacturing activity in the eurozone fell to a nine-month low as the pace of decline in new orders sped up and production was cut, a survey published on Friday revealed.

The HCOB manufacturing PMI fell to 48.8 in December compared with November's 49.6, while the output index fell into contraction territory at 48.9 from 50.4 - a 10-month low. A mark above 50 indicates expansion.

Demand for euro area goods also saw fresh signs of weakness as new orders fell at the quickest pace in almost a year, HCOB said.

In equity news, semi-conductor makers were in focus with BE Semiconductor and ASM International making strong gains.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com