Stoxx 600 Falls 0.4% as U.S.-Iran Ceasefire Unravels
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- Stoxx 600 closed down 0.4% on Thursday, with most major European bourses and sectors finishing in the red as the fragile U.S.-Iran truce showed signs of unraveling within 24 hours.
- Travel and leisure stocks led the declines, with Lufthansa falling 3.2% and Tui dropping 1.5%, giving back gains from the prior session's 3.7% Stoxx 600 surge.
- Iran's parliamentary speaker Mohammed Bagher Ghalibaf accused the U.S. of violating the ceasefire, citing Israel's continued attacks on Lebanon, a drone's entry into Iranian airspace, and denial of Iran's right to enrich uranium.
- President Donald Trump said U.S. military forces will remain deployed in and around Iran until Tehran fully complies with a 'real agreement,' warning that any breach would trigger a military response larger than anything seen before.
- Asian markets traded lower on the dispute — South Korea's Kospi fell 1.53%, the Kosdaq declined 1.38%, Japan's Nikkei 225 dropped 0.77%, and the Topix was 0.78% lower.
- U.S. markets reversed earlier losses, with the S&P 500 last seen 0.26% higher, the Dow up 0.1%, and the Nasdaq rising 0.3%.
Why it matters: A ceasefire less than a day old is already fraying over Lebanon strikes, airspace incursions, and uranium enrichment disputes — and markets are repricing the risk fast. Travel-heavy European names like Lufthansa and Tui gave back double-digit percent territory in a single session, exposing how quickly sentiment shifts when a geopolitical truce loses credibility.
