On Wall Street, after opening in the red, US indices reversed course. By 5:45 p.m. CET, the Nasdaq was up 0.08% and the Dow Jones 0.27%, while concerns over the effects of AI lingered.

In terms of today's statistics, manufacturing activity in the New York region declined less than expected in February, according to the Federal Reserve's monthly survey. The "Empire State" index fell to +7.1 after +7.7 in January. Analysts had expected a consensus of 7.

Also across the Atlantic, the NAHB housing market index came in at 36 in February, compared to an expected 38. It had reached 37 in January.

In Germany, investor sentiment unexpectedly declined in February to 58.3 points, according to the monthly ZEW survey published on Tuesday. Analysts had anticipated a rise to 65 points after 59.6 in January.

In the eurozone, the ZEW economic sentiment index for investors stood at 39.4 in February, below the consensus of 45.7 and down from 40.8 in January.

"January was particularly long and saturated with political turbulence, marked by a succession of highly publicized events concerning Venezuela, Greenland, Iran, the U.S. Federal Reserve, the chaos in Minneapolis, and many others. The coming months and quarters are unlikely to be much calmer, suggesting that 2026 will be an even more difficult and geopolitically turbulent year than 2025," predict analysts at Neuberger Berman.

Vicat in the Red, Axa Outperforms

Amongst stocks, Vicat (-3.55%) ended at the bottom of the SBF 120 index after releasing its annual results, which came with cautious outlooks.

Axa (+2.73%) stood out, however, clinching bronze medal in the CAC 40, supported by a recommendation from RBC Capital Markets.

Defense stocks declined, with Thales (-0.99%) and Dassault Aviation (-0.82%) among the losers, as Russians, Ukrainians, and Americans gathered in Geneva to discuss an end to the war.

In Amsterdam, optronics systems specialist Theon (-1.47%) reported results above expectations for fiscal year 2025, driven by strong commercial momentum and a sharply expanding order book.

In the United States, Warner Bros (+2.93%) is keeping the suspense alive between Paramount and Netflix. The American entertainment giant on Tuesday opened a seven-day window of talks with competitor Paramount, which has been courting it since December, while also continuing efforts toward a merger with streaming giant Netflix.

On the currency market, the euro slipped 0.14% to 1.183 USD. In commodities, Brent crude fell nearly 2%.