European Equities Fall

European Equities Fall

London, 18 August 2025

As traders awaited a pivotal week for US monetary policy and watched peace talks over Ukraine, the Stoxx 50 traded cautiously lower and the Stoxx 600 hovered around the flatline on Monday. Investors anticipated that Jerome Powell, the chair of the Federal Reserve's Jackson Hole symposium, would offer insight into the future for interest rates.

Amid worries that Kyiv would be pressured to accept terms that favor Moscow, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and European leaders were scheduled to meet US President Donald Trump in Washington to negotiate a potential peace agreement.

Following the new IRS safe harbor regulations, Vestas' stock increased 9.7%, making it one of the best-performing single equities on the STOXX 600. Additionally, Novo Nordisk had a more than 3% increase in value on Tradegate following the US approval of Wegovy, a weight-loss medication, to treat the liver illness MASH. Commerzbank's stock, meanwhile, fell 3.7% when Deutsche Bank cut its rating from "Buy" to "Hold."

Stats

On August 18, 2025, the EU50, the primary stock market index for the Euro Area, dropped to 5419 points, down 0.55% from the previous day. Trading on a contract for difference (CFD) that monitors this benchmark index from the Euro Area shows that the index has up 1.42% over the previous month and is up 11.23% from the same period last year. The Euro Area Stock Market Index (EU50) peaked in March 2025 at an all-time high of 5568.65. The most recent update to the Euro Area Stock Market Index (EU50) data, projections, and historical chart was made on August 18, 2025. (Source: Tradingeconomics.com)