European stock markets on Friday July 11: Trump tariffs, Stoxx 600

China’s demand for petrol and diesel is falling as electric vehicle sales surge, but the trend is being masked by the country’s massive strategic stockpiling of crude oil, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Friday.

The agency noted that Chinese demand for transport fuels has declined for three consecutive months. This coincides with a 50% year-on-year jump in EV sales in the first half of 2025, which is directly “eating into end-user demand,” Toril Bosoni, head of oil industry and markets division at the IEA, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” on Friday.

Despite this, China’s crude inventories swelled by 80 million barrels in the second quarter, absorbing a global supply glut, according to the agency.

“Chinese companies taking a more strategic role and boosting reserves for energy security reasons,” Bosoni added.

— Ganesh Rao

Shares of Britain’s BP rose 2% in mid-morning deals following the oil giant’s trading update.

Analysts at Citi and JPMorgan both welcomed the trading statement, with the latter saying the announcement screens at the stronger end, when compared to an “indifferent” set of peer updates to date.

“Finally some encouraging news from BP, with a 2Q25 outlook statement that should reverse the swath of negative revisions that consensus has made in recent weeks,” Citi analyst Alastair Syme said in a research note.

“We make minor adjustments to our estimates, last published back in May, but still sit c.15-20% above where consensus has moved to in recent weeks,” Syme said.

— Sam Meredith

CNBC’s Sam Meredith has been reporting from the Norwegian capital Oslo this week, where strong Tesla sales are defying a wider European slump.

Check out his findings on why the Scandinavian country has emerged as a rare bright spot for the U.S. electric vehicle maker.

In corporate news this morning, Italian luxury clothes maker Cucinelli posted a 10.7% increase in first half revenues, broadly in line with forecasts. Sales rose double digits in America and Asia, while the group confirmed its expectations for annual sales growth of about 10% this year and next.

Shares were around 0.1% lower in early deals.

The U.K. meanwhile said it will pump 163 million euros ($190.5 million) into satellite operator Eutelsat, an aspiring rival to Elon Musk’s Starlink. European governments view Eutelsat as a way to increase sovereign space capabilities and reduce European reliance on U.S. firms for satellite communications and defence.

The investment will allow the U.K. to maintain its stake when France makes a planned 750 million euro cash injection later this year, and brings the total recapitalisation 1.5 billion euros.

— James Tillotson

Sterling is trading lower after the U.K. economy unexpectedly shrank in May. The British pound was 0.2% lower against the U.S. dollar at $1.35 and 0.1% lower against the euro at 8:47 a.m. in London.

Some economists say the weak growth figures mean the Bank of England is now more likely to cut interest rates in August. Capital Economics’ Chief U.K. Economist Paul Dales forecast that U.K. GDP would rise by a “fairly subdued” 1% this year “due to the lingering drags from a weakening global economy and the rises in domestic taxes for UK businesses.”

Sentiment has clearly soured in Europe after four days of solid gains, with all Stoxx 600 sectors except oil and gas and insurance opening in the red on Friday. The regional index was 0.46% lower at 8:10 a.m. in London.

British oil major BP on Friday flagged lower oil and gas sales in the second quarter and an after-tax impairment of up to $1.5 billion across its portfolio.

In a trading update released ahead of full second-quarter results on Aug. 5, the energy company said its gas and low-carbon sales will hit earnings by between $100 million and $300 million over the April-June stretch, also noting “average” results from the company’s gas trading arm.

Lower oil sales will meanwhile deliver a blow of between $600 million to $800 million over the period.

The firm said second-quarter results will also see “post-tax adjusting items relating to asset impairments in the range of…