Stoxx 600, DAX, FTSE, UK inflation

European stocks closed lower on Wednesday, reversing gains earlier on in the session after a White House official said that President Donald Trump will likely fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell soon.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed 0.6% lower. Technology stocks led the losses, slumping 2.2%, while the insurance sector was a standout gainer climbing 0.5%.

“The President asked lawmakers how they felt about firing the Fed Chair. They expressed approval for firing him. The President indicated he likely will soon,” a White House official told CNBC, preferring to remain anonymous to speak candidly on the issue.

When subsequently asked about his view on firing Powell, Trump said during a White House press event: “I don’t rule out anything but it’s highly unlikely.”

— Ryan Browne

European stocks have made gains throught the session, with the Stoxx 600 index 0.06% higher around 2:27 p.m. London time (9:27 a.m. ET). Sectors are mixed, with autos down 1.3% as financial services pop 0.9%.

U.K. inflation figures came in higher than expected at 3.6% this morning, but money market pricing continues to indicate around an 80% likelihood of an interest rate cut by the Bank of England in August, suggesting traders think the central bank will focus instead on recent signs of a cooling labor market.

The future of U.S. tariffs on the European Union remains up in the air, with the bloc’s trade chief Maros Sefcovic flying to Washington DC this afternoon for in-person meetings with officials including Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. Investors appear largely unconvinced that a threatened 30% blanket duty will materialize, but CNBC’s Chloe Taylor reports that some see a significant chance of that scenario, particularly if the EU does not back down on certain key points.

In stock news, Renault shares are still down 18% after the French automaker cut its 2025 guidance and appointed an interim CEO.

Drinks giant Diageo has meanwhile pared earlier gains of around 4% to just under 1%, after confirming earlier media reports that it will replace CEO Debra Crew with CFO Nik Jhangiani. The company’s shares are down more than 24% in the year so far as it grapples with U.S. tariff uncertainty and ongoing sluggishness in post-pandemic spirits sales.

— Jenni Reid

Diageo shares were 4% higher at 12:53 p.m. in London (7:53 a.m. ET) after the Guinness and Johnnie Walker owner named Nik Jhangiani as interim chief executive officer.

Debra Crew, who has served as CEO of the firm since June 2023, stepped down from her position by “mutual agreement,” the firm said in a statement.

Jhangiani, currently the group’s chief financial officer, will fill in following Crew’s departure.

Cartier owner Richemont on Wednesday posted better-than-expected quarterly sales as its jewelry division continues to shine amid a wider luxury downturn.

Revenues at the Swiss luxury group rose 6% year-on-year at constant exchange rates to 5.41 billion euros ($6.28 billion) in its fiscal first quarter to the end of June, slightly ahead of the 5.37 billion euros forecast by analysts in an LSEG poll.

The uptick was led by double-digit growth in all regions except Asia, which saw a notable downturn in Japan after a surge in spending last year fueled by a weaker yen.

Richemont has so far managed to withstand a wider luxury downturn amid continued demand for its desirable Van Cleef & Arpels, Buccellati and Cartier jewelry brands. Sales at the group’s Jewellery Maisons division rose 11% at constant exchange rates in the three months to the end of June.

Revenues within it Specialist Watchmakers division, which features Piaget and Roger Dubuis, nevertheless continued to lag, declining 7% over the period. That was led by weaker sales in Asia, although the group nevertheless noted a “softer sequential rate of decline” versus previous quarters.

— Karen Gilchrist

U.K. regulators have issued bank Barclays a £42 million ($56.3 million) fine for two failings in financial crime risk management.

One fine relates to folded wealth management firm WealthTek, where the Financial Conduct Authority said Barclays “failed to check it had gathered sufficient information to understand the money laundering risk, before opening a client money account.” Barclays has also agreed to make a voluntary £6.3 million contribution to former WealthTek clients who have a shortfall in claims from the company, which the FCA said led it to reduce its fine over the matter.

WealthTek’s principal partner John Dance was charged in 2024 with alleged misappropriation of £64 million of customer funds and is due to stand trial in 2027.

The FCA meanwhile fined Barclays £39.3 million for risk failings related to its provision of banking services for business Stunt & Co., which was found to have received money from a multimillion-pound money laundering operation.

A Barclays spokesperson told CNBC: “The FCA’s investigation relating to Stunt & Co was centred around historical money laundering activity and made no findings that the bank had breached money laundering regulations.” They added that the bank had undertaken a review and self-reported its findings to the FCA, had fully cooperated with both investigations and had further strengthened its financial crime and other control capabilities.

Barclays shares were 0.15% higher at 8:58 a.m. in London.

— Jenni Reid

Shares of French carmaker Renault plunged on Wednesday after the company lowered its 2025 guidance and announced the appointment of a new interim chief executive officer.

The Paris-listed stock was last seen trading 16.6% lower.

In a trading update published late Tuesday, Renault said it is targeting an operating margin of around 6.5% this year, down from a previous forecast of around or exceeding 7%.

Read the full story here.

— Sam Meredith

European semiconductor stocks fell on Wednesday after equipment maker ASML posted guidance that missed expectations.

ASML’s third-quarter revenue guidance fell short of analyst forecasts while the company narrowed its own revenue guidance for 2025.

On top of that, the Dutch tech giant said that, while it is preparing for growth in 2026, it “cannot confirm it at this stage.”

ASML shares dropped 7% in early trading as a result. Other European chip names also fell. ASM International was down more than 4%, while BE Semiconductor was 3.4% lower. STMicro and Infineon were also down.

— Arjun Kharpal

The opening bell rang around 30 minutes ago, and European stocks are broadly trading in negative territory. Hot U.S. and U.K. inflation prints, concern about the regional semiconductor sector and a profit warning from Renault all weighed on sentiment.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 was last seen trading 0.2% lower, with sectors trading mixed. Among major bourses, France’s CAC index led losses with a 0.24% loss.

— Chloe Taylor

Marie Bjerre, Denmark’s minister for European affairs, told CNBC that U.S. President Donald Trump’s plans to slap 30% tariffs on EU goods is “completely unacceptable.”

“It is certainly interesting times — now, President Trump announced that he will impose 30% tariffs on Europe, and I have to say that is completely unacceptable, that is unjustified,” she said in an interview with CNBC’s “Europe Early Edition.”

“Europe is a trading partner that you can rely on, that you can trust in, and we will go into negotiation with the U.S. in good faith – but we also know that Europe … having a single market with 450 million consumers, we are very attractive market, and therefore we also ready to defend our interests, and we are ready to come with countermeasures if required.”

When asked if the EU could reach a trade compromise with Washington before Trump’s Aug. 1 deadline, Bjerre said it was “very hard to say.”

“We keep being surprised about which [tariff rate] is now imposed on us,” she said. “It started [at] 10% then it was even more, then it was back to 10%, then it was suspended, and now it’s 30% – it is, I have to say, quite unreliable.”

— Chloe Taylor

The U.K.’s annual inflation rate hit a hotter-than-expected 3.6% in June, according to data released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Wednesday.

Economists polled by Reuters had anticipated inflation would reach 3.4% in the twelve months to June, after it hit 3.4% in May.

Read more here.

— Holly Ellyatt

ASML reported second-quarter earnings that beat estimates with the its key net bookings figure ahead of consensus.

However, the chip equipment giant missed analyst expectations for revenue guidance in the current quarter and warned of the possibility of no growth ahead.

Here’s how ASML did versus LSEG consensus estimates for the second quarter:

Net sales: 7.7 billion euros ($8.95 billion) versus 7.52 billion euros expectedNet profit: 2.29 billion euros vs 2.04 billion euros expected

Read the full story here.

— Arjun Kharpal

Good morning from London, and welcome to CNBC’s live blog covering all the action and business news in European financial markets on Monday.

Futures data from IG suggest a negative start to the new trading week for European bourses, with London’s FTSE 100 seen opening 0.1% lower, France’s CAC 40 down 0.3%, Germany’s DAX down 0.4%, and Italy’s FTSE MIB 0.35% lower.

European markets have been on tenterhooks since U.S. President Donald Trump announced earlier in July that he would impose a 30% tariff on goods imported from the EU starting Aug. 1. The EU has said it hopes to strike a trade deal before then but an agreement remains elusive.

On Sunday, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick called Aug. 1 the “hard deadline” for countries to start paying tariffs, although he also added that “nothing stops countries from talking to us after August 1.”

— Holly Ellyatt

Earnings season is upon us, with ASML, Richemont and Handelsbanken announcing their latest financial results on Thursday.

On the data front, we have the latest U.K. inflation print for June and EU trade data.

— Holly Ellyatt