Adedokun Waliyu 
European shares ended lower on Friday as losses in banks and mining-related stocks weighed, with focus now shifting to the July 9 deadline for trading partners to reach a deal with the United States.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index (.STOXX), opens new tab closed 0.5% lower, clocking a marginal weekly fall.
Other regional indexes also declined, with Germany’s DAX (.GDAXI), opens new tab down 0.6% and France’s CAC 40 (.FCHI), opens new tab losing 0.8%. Spain’s benchmark (.IBEX), opens new tab lagged with a 1.5% fall.
Basic resources (.SXPP), opens new tab lagged the major STOXX sub-sectors, down 1.4% as prices of base metals including copper came under pressure.
Euro zone banks (.SX7E), opens new tab slid 1,3%, with Spain’s BBVA (BBVA.MC), opens new tab topping declines at a 2.6% fall.
Helping limit losses, healthcare (.SXDP), opens new tab advanced 1.1%. Drugmakers Novartis (NOVN.S), opens new tab, Roche (ROG.S), opens new tab and Novo Nordisk (NOVOb.CO), opens new tab – some of the biggest weights on the STOXX 600 – all clocked gains.
Shares of French spirits makers Pernod Ricard (PERP.PA), opens new tab, Remy Cointreau (RCOP.PA), opens new tab and LVMH (LVMH.PA), opens new tab – the owner of Hennessy – all finished well off their session lows after China spared major cognac producers from new duties on EU brandy, provided they sell at a minimum price.
In the latest on tariffs, U.S. President Donald Trump said that Washington will start sending letters to countries on Friday specifying what tariff rates they will face on imports to the United States.
With Trump’s 90-day pause on higher U.S. tariffs ending next week, investors have taken a cautious stance as several large trading partners, including the European Union, are yet to secure trade deals.
The EU is pushing for an “agreement in principle” with the U.S. ahead of the deadline, seeking immediate tariff relief in key sectors as part of any trade deal.
“Talks are also ongoing on a range of non-tariff issues … The result is likely to be a two-page ‘agreement in principle’ that will kick many cans down the road while keeping the existing tariffs in place,” J.P.Morgan analysts said in a note.
Also on the radar this week was Trump’s tax-cut legislation, which cleared its final hurdle in the U.S. Congress on Thursday, and is expected to be signed into law later in the day.
Despite a roaring start to the year, European shares fell behind the U.S. S&P 500 (.SPX), opens new tab on year-to-date basis on Friday, driven dominantly by tech shares.
The STOXX 600 was last up 6.6% for 2025, compared with the 6.7% advance for the S&P 500.
Among individual stocks, Germany’s Rheinmetall (RHMG.DE), opens new tab advanced 3.3% after JP Morgan and Deutsche Bank raised their price targets on the defence contractor.
