EUROPEAN EQUITY UPDATE: Stocks tilt lower whilst Trump's administration wants countries' "best offer" by Wednesday in tariff talks

STOXX 600: -0.3%

• European bourses opened modestly firmer across the board, but sentiment soon slipped following reports that Dutch Far Right Leader Wilders confirmed to quit the government coalition.


• The exit comes after Wilders threatened such a move on Monday, due to the lack of support for stricter asylum policies. It was also reported that all ministers from his party will quit the Government. This has ultimately fuelled political uncertainty in the region – with traders now eyeing the potential of a snap election in the Netherlands. Now the Dutch Cabinet is to meet at 12:30 BST.


• Elsewhere, there have been some key trade developments over the past day; Bloomberg reported that the US extends the tariff pause on some Chinese goods to August 31st. Further for US-China relations, the White House Press Secretary said US President Trump and Chinese President Xi will likely talk this week – but the Chinese side said there is no information to share on this matter. Separately, US President Trump's administration wants countries' "best offer" by Wednesday in tariff talks, according to Reuters citing a draft of the request.


• The European docket has been fairly thin so far, aside from EZ Flash HICP metrics, which were cooler-than-expected for both the headline and core figures, with a coupled of modest upticks were seen across European majors.

Sectors: Negative

• European sectors opened with a strong positive bias, but sentiment soon dwindled to display a negative picture in Europe.


• Telecoms took the top spot, then joined by Utilities; Financial Services was the morning’s outperformer, lifted by upside in UBS (+2.7%) after it received a broker upgrade at Jefferies.


• Basic Resources have been pressured today given the downside in metals prices following weaker-than-expected Chinese Caixin Manufacturing PMI.

Majors: FTSE 100 -0.3%, DAX 40 -0.4%, AEX -0.5%

• The FTSE 100 is incrementally lower and performing about the same as peers; Centrica (+3.5%) tops the pile after the FT reported that one of its investment projects could get approval during the Anglo-French summit. Elsewhere, mining names have been pressured today with the metals complex in the red following weaker-than-expected Chinese Caixin Manufacturing PMI. In terms of key broker moves, easyJet (+0.2%) was upgraded whilst GSK (-1.5%) and Rio Tinto (-1.4%) were downgraded.


• Other key stories: Reuters sources suggest that Airbus (-1%) delivered 51 aeroplanes in May, -4% Y/Y.


• STOXX 600 Composition Changes (June 2, 2025). Additions: Babcock (BAB LN), Lottomatica (LTMC IM), Indra (IDR SM), Lion Finance (BGEO LN), Bilfinger (GBF GY), Fresnillo (FRES LN), mBank (MBK PW), Ayvens (AYV FP), Mobimo (MOBN SW). Deletions: GN Store Nord (GN DC), Comet (COTN SW), Elekta (EKTAB SS), Safestore (SAFE LN), TietoEvery (TIETO FH), Husqvarna (HUSQB SS), Electrolux (ELUXB SS), Fugro (FUR BB), PlayTech (PTEC LN).

US Equity Futures: ES -0.6%, NQ -0.6%, RTY -0.7%

• Futures are broadly in negative territory, in-fitting with the risk tone and scaling back from some of the upside seen in the prior session.


• The US Day sees the release of JOLTS job openings in April, where the headline is expected to ease slightly to 7.1mln from 7.192mln. Focus will also be on US Factory Orders, Durable Goods Revisions, RCM/TIPP Economic Optimism as well as Fed speak from Goolsbee, Logan and Cook.

03 Jun 2025 - 10:15- ForexGeopolitical- Source: Newsquawk