Galaxy Globe bulk carrier and Luojiashan tanker sit anchored in Muscat, as Iran vows to close the Strait of Hormuz, amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Muscat, Oman, March 9, 2026.
Benoit Tessier | Reuters
LONDON — European stocks opened notably higher on Tuesday, as traders watch developments in the Middle East and reduced but still elevated oil prices.
By 12:05 p.m. in London (8:05 a.m. ET), the pan-European Stoxx 600 was 1.6% higher, with most sectors — barring oil and gas stocks — in positive territory. The Stoxx Europe Oil and Gas index shed around 0.7% as global oil prices continued to slide.
The rebound put the regional Stoxx 600 index on course to snap a three-day losing streak, and set it on course to claw back some of last week’s near 6% loss that came as global sentiment was shaken by the U.S.-Iran war.
Airline stocks staged a broad recovery on Tuesday as the falling oil price eased concerns over jet fuel. Lufthansa and Air France were recouping Monday’s losses, rising 7.1% and 4.5% respectively.
Global sentiment improved, with Asia-Pacific markets rebounding and U.S. stock futures up ahead of the opening bell.
Those moves came after oil prices pared gains after U.S. President Donald Trump told a CBS News reporter that “the war is very complete, pretty much,” but also signalled a readiness to act to keep the vital oil passage, the Strait of Hormuz, open.
Trump said he was considering seizing control of the strait, saying Iran would be hit harder if it did anything to stop oil flows through the strategic sea passage.
Oil prices plunged as much as 10% overnight after Trump’s comments, but remain elevated: Brent crude was down around 6.5% at $92.61 per barrel as of 12:08 p.m. London time on Tuesday. U.S. crude oil was also down 5.6% at $89.26 per barrel. The declines come after oil surged past $100 on Monday.
A spokesperson for Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs told CNBC on Monday that oil tankers transiting the Strait of Hormuz “must be very careful.”
Energy ministers from the Group of Seven nations — namely, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the U.S. — are set to meet virtually Tuesday morning to discuss a potential release of strategic oil reserves.
It comes after G7 finance ministers met to discuss the situation on Monday. In a statement, International Energy Agency Executive Director Fatih Birol — who attended the meeting — said the conflict in the Middle East was “creating significant and growing risks for the market,” but said various options, including freeing up IEA emergency oil stocks, had been discussed.
Amin Nasser, CEO of Saudi oil giant Aramco, told an earnings call on Tuesday that the Iran war will have “catastrophic consequences for the world’s oil market.”
AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould said in a note Tuesday morning that the overnight developments were “unlikely to be the last word in the current crisis.”
“All eyes are likely to be on the G7 and whether it will release emergency stockpiles of oil to help calm the markets further,” he said.
In corporate news, shares of German autos giant Volkswagen jumped 2.6% after the firm reported a 53% year-on-year drop in operating profit when it published its full-year earnings update on Tuesday morning.
The company attributed the decline to Trump’s tariff regime, as well as currency fluctuations and costs associated with adjusting its Porsche product strategy.
That meant its operating profit of 8.9 billion euros ($10.4 billion) came in well below analyst expectations, according to LSEG consensus data.
“The last year was really challenging indeed,” Arno Antlitz, Volkswagen’s chief operating officer and chief financial officer, told CNBC’s Annette Weisbach on Tuesday.
“But in this challenging year, we took some important steps to increase the resilience of the Volkswagen Group,” he added, pointing to the roll out of 30 new vehicle models, restructuring the company and achieving a cash flow of more than 6 billion euros, which meant liquidity was stable.
Elsewhere, Swiss chocolatier Lindt reported full-year sales of 5.9 billion euros on Tuesday, representing organic sales growth of 12.4% from the previous year.
Operating profit was reported at a stronger-than-expected 971 million euros, with Lindt touting its progress despite “a challenging market environment” that included volatile cocoa prices, geopolitical tensions and the Trump administration’s tariffs.
Shares of Lindt were last seen trading 10.6% lower.
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