Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Sweden closed lower

European stocks closed lower on Thursday as investors chose to take some profits after recent gains.

The pan European Stoxx 600 dropped 0.61%. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 closed down by 1.05%, Germany’s DAX shed 1.39% and France’s CAC 40 edged down 0.11%. Switzerland’s SMI slipped 0.41%.

Among other markets in Europe, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Sweden closed lower.

Greece, Portugal and Russia closed higher, while Czech Republic and Norway settled flat.

In the UK market, 3i Group shares dropped 17.5% despite a sharp surge in first-half earnings. The stock dipped as the company warned of a challenging environment ahead and of soft recent trading at the discount retailer that makes up most of its portfolio.

The company’s first-half profit jumped to £3.287 billion, up from £2.048 billion last year. Earnings per share rose to 339.8 pence, compared with 211.6 pence a year earlier.

In the German market, Siemens dived more than 9% after reporting a decline in fourth-quarter earnings. The company’s bottom line came in at EUR1.619 billion, or EUR2.05 per share in the fourth quarter, compared with EUR1.900 billion, or EUR2.38 per share, last year.

Siemens Energy and Siemens Healthineers declined nearly 5.5% and 3.6%, respectively. RWE, Fresenius Medical Care, Beiersdorf, E.ON, Fresenius and Deutsche Post also closed sharply lower.

In the French market, Edenred, Legrand, Schneider Electric, Pernod Ricard, Hermes International, LVMH and Airbus ended lower by 1 to 3%.

In economic news, data from Eurostat showed Eurozone industrial production increased 0.2% month-on-month in September 2025, after a 1.1% drop in August. On an annual basis, industrial output rose 1.2%, the same pace as in the previous month and below forecasts of 2.1%.