After a weak start and a subsequent long spell fairly deep down in negative territory, European stocks staged a good recovery around late afternoon on Thursday. A few markets even managed to move above the flat line by the time the market ended.
The early weakness was due to renewed concerns about an escalation of the conflict in the Middle East following President Donald Trump's primetime address Wednesday night. Trump reiterated his claim that the war will be over "very shortly" but also said the U.S. is going to hit Iran "extremely hard over the next two to three weeks," bringing the country "back to the stone ages where they belong."
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May 15, 2026 15:25 ET Apart from the confirmation of Kevin Warsh as the next Fed chair, the main news on the economics front this week included key price data from the U.S. and the first quarter economic growth figures from major economies. Both consumer prices and producer costs have started to reflect the effect of supply shocks due to the Middle East conflict. In Europe, GDP data was in focus, while inflation data from China dominated the news flow in Asia.