On the geopolitical front, Donald Trump claimed he was 'one hour' away from ordering strikes on Iran before reconsidering at the request of Gulf leaders to allow a window for negotiations. However, he warned that further strikes remain an option if no agreement is reached to prevent Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons. Iran immediately cautioned against any further U.S. attacks, while Qatar called for 'more time' for diplomacy to preserve the fragile ceasefire and avoid further regional escalation.

Against this backdrop, Brent crude rose 0.64% to 110.34 dollars.

Investors also remain concerned by the climb in U.S. Treasury yields. The 30-year sovereign yield reached 5.18%, its highest level since 2007, while the 10-year rate tightened to 4.663%, its highest level since January 2025. On the data front, U.S. pending home sales rose by 1.4% in April, exceeding the 1% increase expected by consensus.

Stocks in motion

In Paris, the CAC 40 was supported by Capgemini (+4.36%), Thales (+2.96%), and Dassault Systèmes (+2.81%), while Saint-Gobain (-2.33%), Legrand (-2.25%), and Schneider Electric (-1.97%) ended in the red.

Vallourec (-7.94%) posted the second-largest decline on the SBF 120 following ArcelorMittal's announcement of the sale of a 10% stake in the group at a discount to the previous day's closing price.

Elsewhere in Europe, Currys surged 14% in London. The British electronics and telecommunications retailer was boosted by an upward revision of its annual outlook.

In Frankfurt, Rheinmetall (+2.53%) advanced following reports from Reuters that the German army plans to order 2,030 military trucks for an amount exceeding one billion euros.

On Wall Street, the trend remained more hesitant as the European session drew to a close. Around 5:45 p.m., the Nasdaq was down 1.03%, weighed down by profit-taking in technology and semiconductor stocks. All eyes are on Nvidia, whose quarterly results, due after the Wall Street close on Wednesday, will be particularly scrutinized by investors.

The U.S. group, now the world's largest market capitalization, is expected to report continued strong performance driven by the boom in artificial intelligence. However, markets are questioning its ability to maintain its dominant position as tech giants increasingly develop their own chips designed to run real-time AI systems.

In the foreign exchange market, the euro shed 0.50% against the dollar, trading at 1.1596 dollars.