European stock markets are generally looking gloomy this Friday, while investors remain unsatisfied by the lack of concrete progress in the Trump-Xi discussions and remain concerned about the blockage in the Middle East.
A little before 10:30 a.m., the Parisian CAC 40 dropped a little less than 1.2% to 7,990 points, a performance however slightly better than the decline of around 1.4% in the pan-European Euro STOXX 50 index, to 5,850 points.
The markets remain hungry for the discussions in Beijing
While Xi and Trump have not met since October 2025, a meeting which resulted in a fragile trade truce, this first visit by an American president to China in almost ten years has been placed until now under the sign of a desire for conciliation.
According to a spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the two heads of state had an “in-depth” exchange of views on major issues concerning the two countries and the world, and reached a “series of new consensuses”.
“The summit meeting between US President Trump and Chinese President Xi did not result in a breakthrough in bilateral relations. What it did achieve, however, was a stabilization of the relationship,” Commerzbank reacted this morning.
“The task for the future is to build on this understanding. So far, however, a clear path to resolving the tariff conflict has not been mapped out, and the same applies to the thorny issue of Taiwan,” the German bank continues.
“Overall, the summit led to a significant de-escalation of tone and a modest step towards commercial rebalancing, but it is far from a structural reset,” warns the establishment.
Middle East standoff keeps oil expensive
Apart from the Sino-American summit, the situation in the Middle East remains at the heart of investors’ concerns, the diplomatic impasse between Washington and Tehran keeping the barrel of Brent at just over 107 USD.
“Iran insists on maintaining its ballistic and nuclear missile programs, as well as its control over the Strait of Hormuz, while the United States sees this as a total defeat and a failure to achieve its war objectives,” underlines Samer Hasn.
“Between Iran’s hardline leadership and the tough US stance, there is no sign of a diplomatic resolution to this war in the near future, and this will end up keeping oil prices higher for longer,” warns this XS.com analyst.
Faced with this situation, the professional expects a possible escalation on the part of Donald Trump this weekend after the market closes, which could be followed by a sharp rise in oil prices at the start of next week.
Syensqo in vedette, more Ferragamo in free shot
In stock news in Paris, LVMH lost 1.2% while the world number one luxury company sold the Marc Jacobs brand to WHP Global and G-III Apparel Group, in a portfolio rationalization strategy in the face of a slowing market.
Going against the trend, Renault Group gained 0.7%, while the car manufacturer has entrusted a service provider with a mandate to buy back up to 1,360,000 shares as part of its share buyback program.
Elsewhere in Europe, Syensqo climbed 6.7% in Brussels, the specialty chemicals group having reported reassuring figures for the start of the year, allowing it to maintain its objectives for the whole of 2026.
Conversely, Salvatore Ferragamo plunged 16.9% in Milan, the Florentine fashion house having published disappointing first quarter 2026 accounts with a slight drop in turnover at constant exchange rates, missing expectations.
No major data was expected this morning in Europe, but operators should be attentive this afternoon to the Empire State activity index from the New York Fed, as well as to industrial production for last month.
