European equities made tentative advances on Tuesday as traders responded to signs of potential easing in the Middle East conflict, but underlying weakness left the main benchmark on track for its largest monthly slide since 2020. By 0708 GMT the pan-European STOXX 600 index was up 0.2% at 581.92 points.
Despite the early uptick, the STOXX 600 has fallen 8.2% over March and appears poised to interrupt an eight-month run of gains. The index is also headed toward recording its first quarterly decline in five quarters.
Sectors were mixed with financial services outperforming, rising 0.8% to lead sector-level advances. Market momentum was tempered by persistent supply-chain disruptions that have been cited as a factor behind the wider monthly weakness.
Investor risk appetite received a lift after The Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. President Donald Trump told aides he was prepared to end the military campaign against Iran even if the Strait of Hormuz remained largely closed. That report helped underpin the modest market improvement on Tuesday.
European markets began March close to record territory but swung sharply lower by month-end as the conflict involving the U.S., Israel and Iran disrupted oil shipments. Those disruptions pushed oil prices higher and pressured expectations for growth and inflation across the region.
Traders are watching for the eurozone’s flash consumer prices reading due later in the day - the first such inflation snapshot since the Gulf conflict began - to better understand how the war is filtering through to regional economies.
Among individual movers, Unilever climbed 0.7% after saying it was in advanced talks to merge its food business with spice maker McCormick. The deal would result in roughly $15.7 billion in cash for the consumer conglomerate.
Should you be buying ULVR right now? ProPicks AI evaluates ULVR alongside thousands of other companies every month using 100+ financial metrics. Using powerful AI to generate exciting stock ideas, it looks beyond popularity to assess fundamentals, momentum, and valuation. The AI has no bias - it simply identifies which stocks offer the best risk-reward based on current data with notable past winners that include Super Micro Computer (+185%) and AppLovin (+157%). Want to know if ULVR is currently featured in any ProPicks AI strategies, or if there are better opportunities in the same space?