European Stocks Split: FTSE Falls on Hormuz Risk, Broader Market Snaps Two-Week Slide

UK equities lagged their continental peers in recent trading. The FTSE 100 fell even though UK retail sales data beat expectations, as wire reports tied the weakness to renewed concern over the Strait of Hormuz, the shipping chokepoint whose disruption risk unsettles energy markets. Elsewhere, broader European shares were reported to have snapped a two-week slide, with commentary attributing the turn to what it called "Fed resolve" — investors taking comfort that the US central bank's rate path is now clearer. That improvement in sentiment did not extend evenly across sectors. Separate reporting on the session showed European shares edging lower as telecom and energy stocks dipped, even as euro zone bond yields headed toward a weekly decline on the same post-Fed relief that lifted broader indexes. The split outcome underlines that European markets are currently pulled by two forces at once: a geopolitical risk premium tied to the Middle East, and a bond-market relief rally tied to Fed clarity. Which force dominates depends on where a given index or sector sits relative to energy and shipping exposure.