Earnings, share prices, FTSE 100, Stoxx 600

European stock markets closed well off their session lows after President Donald Trump said there was only a “50-50 chance” of trade deal with the EU ahead of his self-imposed deadline of August 1.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index initially fell sharply to session lows of 0.6% shortly after his comments, but ended the day down 0.2%.

Regionally, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 was down 0.2% and Germany’s DAX was off 0.3%. Meanwhile, France’s CAC 40 rose 0.2%.

— Ganesh Rao

European stock markets were more volatile after U.S. President Donald Trump said there was only a “50-50 chance” of trade deal with the EU ahead of his self-imposed deadline of August 1.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index fell sharply to session lows of 0.6% shortly after Trump’s comments, only to recover some of the loss shortly after to trade lower by 0.44% at 2.20 p.m. in London (9.20 a.m. ET).

“I would say that we have a 50-50 chance, maybe less than that, but a 50-50 chance of making a deal with the EU,” said Trump.

Brussels is preparing for a no-deal scenario as uncertainty persists about if and when a trade agreement between the European Union and U.S. will materialize.

Read more on what Europe’s response to a no-deal with Trump could look like.

— Ganesh Rao

Bucking the regional trend, Europe’s luxury stocks are rallying this morning, led by LVMH.

The French luxury behemoth was last seen trading 2.5% higher, paring earlier gains, after its first-half earnings came in above estimates on Thursday evening.  

The regional Stoxx Europe Luxury 10 index has gained 1.6% so far, with shares of Gucci owner Kering adding 3% and Hermes rising by 1.2%.

Over the past six months, the index shed more than 12% of its value.

— Chloe Taylor

In a note on Friday morning, Deutsche Bank, Adam Cochrane, a luxury equity research analyst, said LVMH‘s first-half results were “better than feared,” arguing that the company’s earnings trough was approaching.

“This was not a stellar quarter for LVMH with … EBIT down 15% yoy. However, we see some glimmers of hope with a sequential improvement in cFX sales expected from 3Q onwards and most of the sales weakness related to weaker tourism,” he said.

Cochrane pointed out that LVMH’s earnings before interest and tax in the first six months of the year were marginally better than anticipated by analysts.  

“Investors have been waiting for an opportunity to revisit this stock and the conference call highlighted a number of factors which may encourage this including a “tangible” recovery in China, market share gains in key brands and potential for structural efficiencies as well as ongoing tight cost management,” he added.

— Chloe Taylor

LVMH shares were around 0.6% higher by 8:56 a.m. in London (3:56 a.m. ET).

LVMH reported a worse-than-expected 9% decline in its core fashion and leather goods segment in the second quarter. Overall, sales at the luxury giant declined by 4%.

For the first half, operating profit slumped by 15%, but that was still better than analysts were expecting.

The luxury group is also making a wider push to navigate U.S. tariffs — CEO Bernard Arnault confirmed that Louis Vuitton will open a new factory in Texas by 2027.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Arnault said he was lobbying EU leaders to ease tensions with the Trump administration. Meanwhile, LVMH CFO Cecile Cabanis said the group may look to “moderate” price increases in order to mitigate the impact of tariffs. 

— Domi Suskova

Puma shares plummeted 18% Friday after the German sportwear brand posted worse-than-expected second-quarter sales and cut its full-year guidance, flagging the impact of U.S. trade tariffs.

In a preliminary updated after markets closed on Thursday, the retailer said it expects full-year sales to decline by a low-double digit percentage this year, compared with its prior forecast of sales growth in the low-…