European shares rise on US-Japan trade deal, EU talks in focus

European shares rose on Wednesday, led by automobiles, after U.S. President Donald Trump revived hopes for a trade deal with the EU following an agreement with Japan.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index gained nearly 1% to 549.6 points, as of 0715 GMT, following three straight days of declines. Britain's blue-chip FTSE 100 rose for a fifth session to a record high.

Other regional indexes also traded higher with France's CAC 40 leading the pack with a 1.3% jump.


European automobile stocks led the broad-based rally with a 3.4% rise, tracking strength in Asian rivals. Porsche and Mercedes-Benz gained 7.6% and 5.8%, respectively.

Trump struck a trade deal with Japan that lowers tariffs on auto imports and spares Tokyo from punishing new levies on other goods in exchange for a $550 billion package of U.S.-bound investment and loans.

The Japan deal included reduced 15% tariffs for auto exports to the U.S., down from 25% before.

Meanwhile, the prospects of an EU-U.S. trade agreement improved after Trump said on Tuesday that EU representatives would come for trade negotiations on Wednesday.

Among individual stocks, Lonza shares were among the top gainers, rising 5.4% after the Swiss company topped core profit forecast driven by its drug manufacturing business.

ASM International pressured technology stocks after the computer chip equipment maker reported second-quarter bookings below market expectations on Tuesday. Its shares fell 7.7%, the most among STOXX 600.

SAP fell 3.5% after the German software maker reported a positive second-quarter profit on cost cuts and increased demand but held off on increasing its full-year outlook.