Finance
European shares close lower as US-EU trade deal draws mixed response
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on July 28, 2025
3 min readLast updated: January 22, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
Company
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on July 28, 2025
3 min readLast updated: January 22, 2026
European shares fell as the US-EU trade deal received mixed reactions, impacting sectors like auto and spirits, while energy stocks rose.
By Twesha Dikshit and Ragini Mathur
(Reuters) -European shares pulled back from a four-month high and settled Monday's choppy session marginally lower as investors weighed the implications of a framework trade agreement between the United States and the European Union.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose as much as 1% to touch a four-month high on initial relief that prolonged negotiations yielded a deal that said a 15% U.S. tariff will be slapped on most EU goods - a significant reduction from the previously threatened 30% rate.
However, the index closed 0.2% lower as the deal quashed hopes for a zero-for-zero agreement and an average rate last year of around 2.5%.
"While the 15% tariff on most EU exports is lower than the threatened 30%, it's still a sharp jump from pre-2025 levels when many goods faced tariffs under 3%, and is likely to add to inflationary pressures in the months ahead," Lale Akoner, global market analyst at eToro, said.
Auto-related stocks were among top sectoral underperformers with a 1.7% decline. The baseline tariff brings levies for the auto industry down from the 27.5% faced before.
Spirits stocks Pernod Ricard <PERP.PA> and Anheuser-Busch inBev <ABI.BR> slipped 3.5% and 3.6%, respectively, as the trade deal did not contain any decision regarding the spirits sector.
Heineken dropped the most on the benchmark index, down 8.5%, after the Dutch brewer said it was weighing all options to deal with growing tariff challenges long-term, including shifting manufacturing.
The deal also said EU member states will purchase U.S. military equipment, without specifying an amount. The STOXX defence sector ended 1.3% lower.
The benchmark STOXX index has gained about 19% since the initial shock after Trump initially threatened tariffs in early April. It is now within 2.5% of its March all-time high.
"We're actually neutral on both U.S. and European stocks, but on the short term if we have to think till the year end, we're more positive actually on U.S. versus European stocks," said Anthi Tsouvali, multi-asset strategist at UBS Wealth.
On the flip side, energy sector stocks rose 1.1%, as oil prices were boosted after the trade deal. [O/R]
Technology shares advanced 0.6% as ASML , the world's biggest supplier of computer chip-making equipment, gained 4.9% on expectations that the sector might be exempted from tariffs. The healthcare sector was also marginally higher.
Investors face a week with several market-moving events including policy decisions from the Federal Reserve and Bank of Japan, earnings from "Magnificent Seven" tech companies like Apple and Microsoft, and the August 1 tariff implementation deadline.
(Reporting by Twesha Dikshit, Medha Singh, Ragini Mathur, Johann M Cherian and Purvi Agarwal; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Andrew Heavens)
The STOXX 600 index closed 0.2% lower after initially rising 1%.
The trade deal brought down tariffs for the auto industry from 27.5% to a baseline of 15%, but it still represents a significant increase from pre-2025 levels.
The energy sector stocks rose 1.1% as oil prices were boosted after the trade deal.
Anthi Tsouvali stated that while they are neutral on both US and European stocks, they are more positive on US stocks in the short term.
Investors are facing a week with several market-moving events, including policy decisions from the Federal Reserve and Bank of Japan, as well as earnings from major tech companies.
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