European Stocks Slide as Oil Prices Surge Amid Geopolitical Tensions

European stock markets declined on Tuesday as Brent crude oil prices hovered near $98.50 per barrel, up roughly 2%, amid geopolitical tensions in the Gulf region. The surge in energy costs amplified inflationary pressures across Europe and globally.

The STOXX 600 index dropped 0.6% to around 646 points during morning trading, with Germany's DAX, France's CAC 40, and Britain's FTSE 100 posting losses between 0.4% and 0.6%. The energy sector bucked the broader market downtrend, gaining 0.6%, while European banking shares retreated 1.3%.

Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis suffered its worst single-day decline on record after a second major drug trial failure in as many days. The company's stock plunged more than 10% following the announcement that del-desiran, its late-stage candidate for myotonic dystrophy, failed to meet its primary clinical endpoint.

Fiona Cincotta, senior market analyst at Stone-X, noted that Novartis had built up considerable momentum before this week's setbacks. In contrast, Sandoz climbed 4.5% after outlining ambitious growth targets and projecting net sales to more than double over the 2025-2035 period.