Europe markets close 1.8% higher on hopes of cooling U.S.-China trade tensions

The European Stoxx 600 index provisionally closed 1.67% higher on Wednesday, led by technology stocks, up 3.86%.

Germany's DAX popped 3%, while France's CAC 40 rose 2.13% and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 climbed 0.9%.

— Jenni Reid

U.S stocks rallied to kick off Wednesday's trading session.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 750 points, or 2%. The S&P 500 popped 2.6%, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 3.2%.

— Lisa Kailai Han

Copper's May-dated futures hit a high of 4.932, its highest level since April 3, when the metal traded as high as 5.0.

Copper was boosted by hopes of trade tensions between the U.S. and China easing, as both nations have indicated their openness to negotiations.

The Global X Copper Miners ETF (COPX) was up 1.9% in Wednesday's premarket trading hours, and is pacing for a 4.5% weekly gain.

— Gina Francolla, Lisa Kailai Han

Europe has massive potential for creating a capital market, which could be highly competitive, Maria Luís Albuquerque, commissioner for financial services and the savings and investments union, told CNBC.

"The potential we have in Europe to actually have a deep, efficient, liquid capital market is huge, and we would probably be very, very competitive globally," Albuquerque told CNBC's Carolin Roth on the sidelines of the IMF World Bank Spring Meetings.

Albuquerque also discussed the barriers to savings from European consumers being channeled into the economy.

"The barriers are many," Albuquerque said. "We have economic barriers, we have legal barriers. We have some vested interest in certain ... member states. We have an attitude which tends to be sometimes protectionist and with legitimate concerns, but it is not compatible with actually creating a single market."

"The advantages if we can lower or even tear down all these barriers are immense," Albuquerque said.

She added that while there were a lot of savings in Europe, many of them were "just sitting idle," and channelling them into the economy would be beneficial for all sides.

One way this could be encouraged is through incentives, Albuquerque said.

"If the European savers are not putting their money to work in the way that would benefit them the most it's probably because they do not have the right opportunities or the right incentives," she continued.

"So it's about creating those incentives for the retail investors. It's about obviously working on financial literacy, getting information to people, allowing them to make better informed decisions, to build better financial futures for themselves."

— Sophie Kiderlin

Christoph Boschan, CEO of Wiener Boerse AG (Vienna & Prague Stock Exchange), discusses European markets and tariffs.

Heathrow Airport said Wednesday that its income rose in the three months to March, which included a day-long shutdown expected to have cost airlines millions of dollars.

The privately owned firm said adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) jumped 2.5% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2025 to £454 million ($604 million). Revenue was meanwhile up 2.1% at £825 million for the quarter — despite passenger numbers dipping by 1.6% from the first quarter of 2024.

In late March, Heathrow — Europe's busiest airport — closed for almost 24 hours following a fire at a nearby electrical substation supplying the hub with power. The shutdown, which resulted in hundreds of flights being cancelled or diverted, was widely expected to have cost airlines millions of dollars.

In Wednesday's trading update, Heathrow said two separate probes into the fire were due to report their initial findings in May.

The company did not disclose on Wednesday if any of the year-on-year decline in passenger traffic could be attributed to the closure of the airport last month. It did note that a later-than-usual Easter meant that, this year, traffic over the busy holiday period would be logged in the second quarter.

Heathrow confirmed the full-year guidance it set out in mid-December, when it forecast full-year revenue of £3.6 billion and adjusted EBITDA of £1.95 billion for 2025. Those figures represent year-on-year revenue growth of 2%, and a 0.6% contraction in annual adjusted EBITDA.

It also confirmed that its shareholders had received payouts for the first time in half a decade.

"As a result of our strong operational and financial performance in 2024, on 7 March 2025 a payment of £250 million was made by FGP Topco Limited to our ultimate shareholders, marking our first dividend payment in five years," the company said in Wednesday's trading update.

In 2024, Heathrow reported record passenger numbers, but notched a 4% drop in revenue thanks to the British Civil Aviation Authority lowering the cap on how much Heathrow could charge airlines to use the airport by around 6%.

Heathrow is owned by a consortium known as FGP Topco, which consists of various shareholders including private equity firm Ardian, Qatar's sovereign wealth fund, the Chinese state-backed China Investment Corporation and British pension fund manager Universities Superannuation Scheme.

— Chloe Taylor

SAP's 60% year-on-year profit jump in the first quarter of 2025 is a "masterclass in resilience," Deutsche Bank analysts said in a note to clients on Wednesday.

Analysts at the German lender said they expect SAP to weather any downturn that may hit the global economy, touting "the strong cost discipline and further cost levers management holds in the event of a further macro deterioration that would allow it to protect profitability."

"Overall, with warnings starting to materialise in the Technology sphere and in light of SAP shares being -22% from the peak, this is a strong set of results and illustrates the resilience and defensiveness of SAP's earnings trajectory," JPMorgan analyst Toby Ogg said in a note on Wednesday.

Analysts from TD Cowen echoed the positive sentiment.

"We remain constructive on SAP's ability to weather through choppy macro conditions and for the model to continue to see growth acceleration alongside ample margin expansion," said Derrick Wood, who raised the price target to $320 from $315.

German bank Metzler's Pascal Spano also suggested that the latest results are indicative of the company and management's ability to perform in a downturn.

"Cloud revenue and Current Cloud Backlog continue to see good momentum, posting solid demand across all verticals despite current uncertainties," Spano told clients in a note after the results were released.

— Chloe Taylor, Ganesh Rao

SAP announced Wednesday that its first-quarter operating profit had risen by 58% year-on-year in constant currency to hit 2.5 billion euros ($2.9 billion).

The German software giant, which last month overtook Novo Nordisk to become Europe's most valuable public company, said revenue had jumped 11% to 9 billion euros, with its cloud backlog up 29% year-on-year.

Earnings per share jumped 79% on an annual basis to 1.44 euros.

SAP CEO Christian Klein said in a statement that the results showed "our success formula is working."

"SAP's business model remains resilient in uncertain times," he said. "Our AI-powered portfolio enables companies to navigate supply chain disruptions in over 130 countries and to unlock efficiencies with agility and speed."

— Chloe Taylor

Swedish vehicle manufacturer Volvo said on Wednesday that its net sales contracted by 7% year on year in the first quarter of 2025, citing U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs regime.

Vehicle sales were 9% lower on an annual basis, the company said, while the underlying service business had grown by 2% from the previous year.

"As the quarter went by, there was increased uncertainty surrounding tariffs and their effect on global trade," Martin Lundstedt, President and CEO of Volvo, said in a statement alongside the quarterly report.

"The lower vehicle volumes affected our profitability, but we nonetheless generated an operating income of SEK 13.3 billion ($1.39 billion) with a margin of 10.9%."

A year earlier, quarterly operating income came in at 18.2 billion Swedish krona, while Volvo's operating margin had stood at 13.8%.

— Chloe Taylor

Spot gold fell Wednesday after crossing the $3,500 for the first time earlier in the week, following U.S. President Donald Trump's conciliatory comments on the U.S' trade relations with China as well as the Federal Reserve chair.

The precious metal had slid 0.55% as at 8.50 a.m. Singapore time to trade at $3362.85 per ounce.

— Amala Balakrishner

President Donald Trump said he has "no intention" of firing Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

When asked whether he had intentions of removing the central bank leader, Trump said, "None whatsoever." The president spoke at the Oval Office late Tuesday.

Stock futures opened sharply higher after Trump's comments, with Dow futures surging 500 points.

Powell's term as Fed chair will end in May 2026.

— Kevin Breuninger, Darla Mercado

European markets are expected to open in flat to mixed territory Thursday.

The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index is expected to open 6 points higher at 8,404, Germany's DAX flat at 21,933, France's CAC 2 points lower at 7,475 and Italy's FTSE MIB 53 points lower at 35,942, according to data from IG.

Earnings are set to come from Unilever, Banco Sabadell, Sanofi, Eni, BNP Paribas and Dassault Systemes. Data releases include French consumer confidence and EU new car registrations.

— Holly Ellyatt