Europe’s broadest stock benchmark just did something it hadn’t managed since late February. The STOXX 600 punched through to a fresh intraday all-time high on June 15, riding a wave of optimism triggered by a preliminary peace agreement between the US and Iran.
The index surged as much as 1.3% during the session before cooling off to close up 0.2%.
What drove the breakout
The catalyst was unmistakably geopolitical. News of a preliminary US-Iran deal on Middle East conflicts injected a dose of calm into markets that had spent months navigating elevated uncertainty.
Travel and leisure stocks led the charge, with the sector also touching record levels during the session.
