European Stocks Close Higher Thursday; Eurozone Business Activity Holding Firm

12:09 PM EDT, 09/03/2026 (MT Newswires) -- European stock markets closed higher Thursday amid easing bond yields. The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.5%, Germany's DAX 40 gained 0.6%, the FTSE 100 advanced 0.7%, France's CAC 40 gained 0.1%, and the Swiss Market Index increased 0.2%. The seasonally adjusted S&P Global Eurozone Composite PMI Output Index, which combines the Manufacturing PMI Output Index and the Services PMI Business Activity Index, held steady at 52.0 in August from July. "Momentum in the industrial economy has picked up nicely and the service sector has shaken off the initial weakness seen after energy prices surged at the start of the Middle East war," Joe Hayes, S&P Global Market Intelligence's senior principal economist, said in a statement. "Taken alongside the resilience in economic activity as illustrated by the latest figures, the European Central Bank may feel a tightening of policy at next week's meeting is now justified." In corporate news, UBS is facing renewed scrutiny from the US Senate over Credit Suisse's handling of Nazi-linked accounts, with the Senate Judiciary Committee seeking responses after determining the bank had not fully addressed its earlier requests, Bloomberg reported. Shares of the Swiss bank fell 0.4% in Zurich. Shell has completed its acquisition of ARC Resources after receiving all required shareholder, court and regulatory approvals, the company said late Wednesday. Shares of Shell declined 0.2% in London. BP has drawn interest from UK energy firm EnQuest regarding a potential purchase of its UK North Sea oil and gas operations, CNBC reported, citing an interview with EnQuest CEO Amjad Bseisu. Meanwhile, BP told the union representing workers at its refinery in Whiting, Indiana, that it is willing to restart negotiations, or work through a federal mediator, to end a lockout that began March 19. Shares of BP lost 0.4% in London. Nokia, Volkswagen, Tesla, Amazon.com, and other global companies have named businesses blacklisted by Western regulatory authorities as potentially embedded in their supply chains, the Financial Times reported. Shares of Nokia dropped 1.6% in Helsinki, while shares of Volkswagen advanced 3.4% in Frankfurt. Ryanair Holdings reached a collective bargaining agreement for cabin crew at its Arlanda base in Sweden, the Swedish Transport Workers' Union said. Shares of the Irish airline decreased 0.6% in Dublin. Eni signed a 25-year hydrocarbon production participation contract with Venezuela's state-owned PDVSA for the development of the Junin-5 oil field, becoming the exclusive operator. Shares of the Italian oil and gas major rose 0.2% in Milan. TotalEnergies has finalized its acquisition of a 40% operated interest in Namibia's PEL83 license, which contains the Mopane discovery, completing a transaction agreed with Galp in December. Shares of the French oil and gas major eased 0.2% in Paris.