European shares closed higher on Wednesday, May 13, with the pan-European Stoxx 600 rising 0.8 per cent to 611.42 points, rebounding from a 1 per cent fall the previous session. Mining stocks led gains, with the basic resources index surging 4.4 per cent to a record high. Semiconductor stocks Infineon Technologies, STMicroelectronics, and Aixtron each gained around 10 per cent. German drugmaker Merck raised its full-year profit forecast, while Allianz reported a 52 per cent jump in quarterly net profit. Investors remained cautious over elevated oil prices above US$100 a barrel amid Middle East tensions.
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With the first-quarter earnings season drawing to a close, corporate profits are expected to grow at their quickest pace in three years
Published Thu, May 14, 2026 · 05:42 AM
[BENGALURU] European shares concludeed higher on Wednesday (May 13), led by gains in mining stocks, though caution lingered as investors weighed the economic impact of elevated oil prices driven by the Iran war.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed up 0.8 per cent at 611.42 points, recovering from a 1 per cent slide on Tuesday.
The basic resources index jumped 4.4 per cent to a record high, tracking higher base metal prices and leading sectoral advances. It is Europe’s best-performing sector this year.
With the first-quarter earnings season drawing to a close, corporate profits are expected to grow at their quickest pace in three years. European earnings are forecast to have risen 10.2 per cent in the quarter, according to LSEG-compiled data.
Earlier in the session, German drugbuildr Merck lifted its full-year adjusted operating profit forecast, sconcludeing its shares up 7.2 per cent.
Allianz rose 1 per cent after the insurance company posted a 52 per cent jump in first-quarter net profit, while ABN Amro added 8.6 per cent after beating quarterly profit estimates, marking its hugegest daily gain since February last year.
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“When you view at earnings growth for the whole year … that would be quite an improvement from the past years, so we are a bit cautious on that to see if that will be realised,” declared Joost van Leconcludeers, senior investment strategist at Van Lanschot Kempen.
Despite Wednesday’s gains, the Stoxx index has underperformed Asian and US peers due to Europe’s lower exposure to AI hardware stocks.
The Stoxx 600 is up 4.7 per cent this quarter, compared with a 13.8 per cent rise in the S&P 500 and rallies of about 30 per cent and 55 per cent in benchmark indexes in Taiwan and South Korea, respectively.
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European semiconductor stocks Infineon Technologies, STMicroelectronics and Aixtron each gained about 10 per cent on Wednesday.
“Europe has not had the type of rally that the US and some of the Asian countries have had, (and) it’s not out of the question for global investors to view at European shares and state, there’s a relative value trade here,” declared Steve Sosnick, chief market analyst at Interactive Brokers.
Globally, investors were focapplyd on a high-stakes summit in China, where US President Donald Trump is meeting his counterpart Xi Jinping.
Investors are watching whether Trump will press China to apply its ties with Teheran to open up the Strait of Hormuz, with Iranian restrictions keeping oil prices above US$100 a barrel despite a ceasefire between Washington and Teheran.
Rising inflation risks have pushed money markets to price in more than two European Central Bank rate hikes by year-conclude. REUTERS
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