U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a health care accessibility event in the South Court Auditorium of the White House in Washington, DC, on May 18, 2026.
Kent Nishimura AFP | Getty Images
LONDON – European stocks are expected to open mixed on Tuesday as traders assess the geopolitical situation and developments in the Middle East.
The UK’s FTSE 100 The index appears to open 0.13% higher, with Germany The DAX and France CAC40 data flat and Italy FTSE MIB 0.14% lower, according to data from IG.
European debt will be following its Asia-Pacific counterparts into mixed territory on Tuesday, as oil prices rallied after US President Donald Trump said he would postpone a planned attack on Iran.
Trump said in a Truth Social post on Monday that he had told US military leaders to stop “an attack planned on Iran tomorrow” after requests from the leaders of Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
“A deal will be made, which will be very acceptable to the United States of America, and all the countries of the Middle East, and beyond. This deal will include, importantly, NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS FOR IRAN!,” added Trump.
The president warned that he had informed his military leaders “to be prepared to proceed with an all-out, large-scale attack on Iran, at a moment’s notice, in the event that an acceptable deal is not reached.”
Oil prices fell overnight following the statement that international Brent crude futures for July delivery were down 2.04% at $109.81 a barrel as of 5 am London time and West Texas Intermediate futures for June were down 1.12% at $107.44 a barrel.
In other world news, Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to arrive in Beijing on Tuesday for a two-day summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, a few days after Trump’s visit to China.
The summit, scheduled for May 19-20, marks the second time Chinese and Russian leaders have met in the past year, as Beijing seeks to manage relations with Washington and Moscow.
Official data published on Tuesday showed the UK unemployment rate rose to 5% in the three months to March, up from 4.9% in February.
Economists polled by Reuters expected the unemployment rate to stabilize.
Jack Kennedy, senior economist at Impela, said the war in Iran is expected to weigh heavily on UK growth in the coming quarters, further pushing up the need to hire. He added that the changing domestic political situation “adds to the uncertainty that businesses can do without.”
“At the Bank of England, the [March unemployment] figures will do little to resolve a divided Monetary Policy Committee,” he said. “The June rate hike remains on the table amid inflationary pressures from higher global energy prices, but with monetary policy settings already limited, the committee needs to balance that against the greater risks of a further deterioration in the labor market.”
A meeting of G7 finance ministers and central banks also concludes in Paris on Tuesday. The meeting was dominated by the Iran war and how to ease the global economic shock caused by the conflict.
French Finance Minister Roland Lescure, who is chairing the G7 meeting this week, told CNBC on Monday that it is important to understand the impact of the crisis on growth, inflation and the budget deficit before making decisions.
In business matters, the German government has announced its intention to re-privatize the energy group Uniperwhich was bailed out during the 2022 energy crisis in Europe at a cost to the taxpayer of 13.5 billion euros ($15.71 billion).
The government, which owns 99.12% of Uniper’s shares, on Tuesday announced its intention to sell or list the group in what could be one of Europe’s biggest deals this year.
“We are now stable, strong and more clearly positioned. We have aligned our business to reliable cash flow and have a strong balance sheet,” Uniper CEO Michael Lewis said on Tuesday.
The benefits are coming Euronext and data releases including the latest EU trade balance figures.
