European shares opened lower on Wednesday morning, even as defense equities gained a boost from U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest comments on the conflict in Ukraine.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 was down 0.5% at 8:27 a.m. in London (3:27 a.m. ET), with most sectors trading in the red.
Defense stocks bucked the trend, with the Stoxx Europe Aerospace and Defense Index gaining 1.1%.
Sweden’s Saab gained 5%, German tank parts maker Hensoldt added 4.5%, and Swedish defense tech firm MilDef Group advanced 3.4%.
U.S. President Donald Trump said Ukraine could recoup all of its territory from Russia in a major shift in stance on Tuesday.
“I think Ukraine, with the support of the European Union, is in a position to fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form,” the president said in a post on his Truth Social platform.
“With time, patience, and the financial support of Europe and, in particular, NATO, the original Borders from where this War started, is very much an option,” he added.
Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Tuesday, when he also expressed support for NATO members shooting down any Russian aircraft that breach their airspace.
Global markets were also rattled after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Tuesday said that asset prices, including equities, were trading at inflated levels.
“By many measures, for example, equity prices are fairly highly valued,” he said, when asked about the central bank’s tolerance levels for market prices.
Overnight in Asia, shares broadly moved lower, while U.S. stock futures were flat in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
— CNBC’s Jeff Cox contributed to this article.