On Wall Street, caution prevailed around 5:45 p.m. with the Dow Jones (+0.16%) posting modest gains.

Investors are struggling to see a definitive resolution to the conflict initiated in late February by the United States and Israel against Iran.

U.S. President Donald Trump yesterday described Iran's response to the American proposal aimed at ending the war as 'totally unacceptable'. For its part, the Islamic Republic denounced 'excessive demands' that would be equivalent to a surrender.

These statements are fueling fears of a prolonged conflict and are translating into a rebound in oil prices. Brent crude was up 0.35% to 103.73 dollars at the European close.

'Even if the Strait of Hormuz reopened today, it would still take months for the market to rebalance, and if its reopening were delayed by a few more weeks, the return to normalcy would extend into 2027', stated Amin Nasser, CEO of the Saudi oil group Aramco.

While monitoring developments in the Middle East conflict, investors will pay close attention on Tuesday to the release of U.S. consumer price data for April, arguably the most anticipated macroeconomic indicator of the week.

This Monday, existing home sales in the United States reached 4.02 million units in April, compared to 4.01 million recorded the previous month and a consensus of 4.05 million.

Stocks in Motion

The Paris benchmark index was led by STMicroelectronics (+2.58%) and Axa (+2.01%). Penalized by an unfavorable note from Berenberg, luxury heavyweights LVMH (-4.38%), Hermès (-3.28%), and Kering (-3.01%) took a hit.

Eurofins Scientific (-1.38%) retreated following a downgrade to underperform by Bank of America Securities. Renault shed 2.31% as the same broker lowered its recommendation to neutral on the automaker, while upgrading Stellantis (-1.75%) to neutral from a previous underperform rating.

Elsewhere in Europe, Compass gained 2.64% after raising its annual profit forecasts.

On the currency market, the euro is up 0.13% at 1.1782 dollars.