Europe stocks close lower as U.S.-China deal details unfold; Macron says EU and U.S. will find trade ‘solution’

European stocks close lower but UK’s FTSE 100 notches record high

Europe’s regional Stoxx 600 index finished a choppy session lower by 0.19% on Wednesday, though the U.K.’s FTSE 100 bucked the trend by gaining 0.13% to 8,864.35 points — its highest-ever close.

London’s gains were supported by housebuilders for a second day running, with Vistry shares up 6%. The sector has been buoyed by news of a £39 billion ($52.9 billion) boost to social and affordable housing investment in the U.K., confirmed in the government’s Spending Review on Wednesday, along with raised expectations for lower interest rates this year after looser labor market data on Tuesday.

On the international scene, focus remains on U.S.-China trade talks which took place in London this week. An agreement was struck by representatives from the world’s largest economies on Tuesday, but concrete details have been in short supply on Wednesday with the final terms yet to be signed off by President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told CNBC that U.S. tariff levels on Chinese imports will not change from their current levels — understood to mean a total rate of 55% on China by the U.S. and 10% on the U.S. by China. A key question for many businesses remains what will be arranged on Chinese exports of rare earths, which Trump said Wednesday formed part of the deal.

CNBC has been reporting from the Viva Technology conference in Paris, where Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said he was growing more bullish about the potential of quantum computing, boosting stocks in the sector.

CNBC’s Karen Tso spoke to French President Emmanuel Macron at the event, who said of U.S.-China progress that anything that helped “stabilize the world and go to zero-to-zero tariffs will be a good thing.”

“I’m sure that at the end of the day we will find a good solution,” Macron said of the European Union’s own ongoing negotiations with Washington.

That’s all from us today. On Thursday, catch more coverage of Viva Tech, along with an analysis of U.K. economic growth figures and U.S. jobs and inflation data.

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