By Nikhil Sharma
(Reuters) – European shares climbed to a record high on Tuesday with retail and utilities stocks leading the broader gains, as selling pressures ebbed a day after the Chinese AI startup DeepSeek triggered a global market rout.
The pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.7% as of 1020 GMT, narrowly beating an intraday all-time high hit on Jan. 24.
Retail stocks jumped 2.1%. Shares of retailers JD Sports, Kingfisher and Howden Joiner were trading above 3% each.
Utilities was also amongst the top winning sectors, adding 1.9%, while media rose 1.4%.
European technology index, which took a hit in the previous session, was trading 0.6% higher. Engineering and technology consulting group Alten rose 10% after reporting annual results.
DeepSeek’s discount artificial intelligence model and its soaring popularity rattled investors on Monday, who dumped technology shares and questioned the sky-high valuation of AI bellwethers.
AI darling Nvidia’s market value declined by $593 billion, a record single-day loss for any company.
“Valuations on some of these tech companies have got too high, too fast and the growth that had been delivered couldn’t continue to be achieved,” said Danni Hewson, head of financial analysis at AJ Bell.
“I think it’s a bit of a time for a reset. But I don’t think it’s necessarily Armageddon.”
Sartorius jumped 12.5% to May highs after the German pharmaceutical equipment supplier reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings as well as strong bioprocess solutions orders.
Siemens Energy rose 3% after the offshore wind turbine maker reported a preliminary first-quarter revenue above market expectations.
The company, which provides electric hardware for AI infrastructure, slumped 20% on Monday.
Adding to market relief, French consumer confidence rose in January to 92 points from 89 points in December.
Spain’s unemployment rate in the fourth quarter fell to its lowest in more than 16 years, as the economy outperforms its neighbours.
Investors await interest rate verdicts from the U.S. Federal Reserve and European Central Bank later in the week.
With a quarter-point rate cut already priced in for the ECB, all eyes will be on policymakers’ remarks to set the tone for the easing cycle for 2025.
European bank earnings on Thursday will also be a key event for the markets as investors worry that U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration will slash red tape for U.S. banks, potentially disadvantaging European institutions.
Netcompany Group slumped 15.7% after the IT consultancy firm posted fourth-quarter revenue below market expectations.
(Reporting by Nikhil Sharma; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)
