{"id":53834,"date":"2025-09-30T02:38:32","date_gmt":"2025-09-30T06:38:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/eu-backs-gaza-peace-plan-amid-mixed-european-economic-data\/53834\/"},"modified":"2025-09-30T02:38:32","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T06:38:32","slug":"eu-backs-gaza-peace-plan-amid-mixed-european-economic-data","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/eu-backs-gaza-peace-plan-amid-mixed-european-economic-data\/53834\/","title":{"rendered":"EU Backs Gaza Peace Plan Amid Mixed European Economic Data"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen<\/strong> has strongly reiterated the European Union&#39;s support for a <strong>Gaza peace proposal<\/strong> and a <strong>two-state solution<\/strong>, emphasizing the EU&#39;s readiness to contribute to reconstruction efforts and the establishment of a viable Palestinian state.<\/li>\n<li>The <strong>UK economy<\/strong> demonstrated a mixed performance in Q2 2025, with <strong>GDP growing 1.4% year-over-year<\/strong> and <strong>total business investment surging 3.0%<\/strong>, significantly exceeding expectations. However, the country&#39;s current account deficit widened to <strong>\u00a328.9 billion<\/strong>, worse than anticipated.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Germany&#39;s retail sales plummeted 1.1% year-over-year<\/strong> in August, a significant contraction that missed analyst estimates and signals a notable slowdown in consumer spending.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Sweden&#39;s economy showed robust growth<\/strong> in August, with <strong>retail sales jumping 4.4% year-over-year<\/strong> and a 0.9% month-over-month increase, alongside a 3.1% rise in non-manual worker wages in July, indicating healthy domestic demand.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has reaffirmed the EU&#39;s commitment to a lasting peace in the Middle East, specifically endorsing a <strong>Gaza peace proposal<\/strong> and a <strong>two-state solution<\/strong>. Speaking on the matter, Von der Leyen highlighted the necessity of a secure Israel and a viable Palestinian state, free from the influence of Hamas. She also announced the EU&#39;s intention to establish a Palestine Donor Group and a dedicated instrument for Gaza&#39;s reconstruction, underscoring the importance of economic viability for any future Palestinian state.<\/p>\n<p>Across the European continent, economic data released today presented a varied picture. The <strong>United Kingdom<\/strong> reported that its <strong>Gross Domestic Product (GDP)<\/strong> expanded by <strong>1.4% year-over-year<\/strong> in Q2 2025, surpassing the 1.2% estimate. Quarter-over-quarter GDP growth met expectations at <strong>0.3%<\/strong>. This growth was notably bolstered by a robust increase in <strong>total business investment<\/strong>, which rose by an impressive <strong>3.0% year-over-year<\/strong>, far exceeding the 0.1% estimate. Despite these positive indicators, the UK&#39;s <strong>current account balance<\/strong> deteriorated further, recording a deficit of <strong>\u00a328.9 billion<\/strong> in Q2, wider than the anticipated <strong>\u00a325.0 billion<\/strong> deficit. Exports saw a slight decline of <strong>0.2% quarter-over-quarter<\/strong>, while imports remained flat. Household saving ratio in the UK increased to <strong>10.7%<\/strong> in Q2 2025, up from 10.5% in Q1.<\/p>\n<p>In contrast, <strong>Germany&#39;s economic performance<\/strong> in August showed signs of weakness. <strong>Retail sales<\/strong> recorded a significant <strong>-1.1% year-over-year<\/strong> contraction, a sharp reversal from the previous 2.3% growth and missing the 2.3% estimated increase. Month-over-month, retail sales also fell by <strong>0.2%<\/strong>, worse than the 0.6% expected increase. Furthermore, the <strong>Import Price Index<\/strong> in Germany declined by <strong>-1.5% year-over-year<\/strong> and <strong>-0.5% month-over-month<\/strong>, both deeper falls than anticipated, suggesting easing inflationary pressures but also potentially weaker demand.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, <strong>Sweden&#39;s economy<\/strong> demonstrated resilience. <strong>Retail sales<\/strong> in August surged by <strong>4.4% year-over-year<\/strong> on a working-day adjusted basis, significantly outperforming the previous 2.9% growth. Monthly retail sales also saw a healthy increase of <strong>0.9%<\/strong>, up from 0.3% in the previous period. Additionally, <strong>non-manual worker wages<\/strong> in Sweden grew by <strong>3.1% year-over-year<\/strong> in July, indicating a strong labor market.<\/p>\n<p>Further afield, <strong>South Africa&#39;s M3 Money Supply<\/strong> decelerated to <strong>6.18% year-over-year<\/strong> in August from 6.75% previously. However, <strong>private sector credit<\/strong> grew by <strong>5.86%<\/strong>, exceeding the 5.22% estimate, suggesting continued lending activity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key Takeaways EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has strongly reiterated the European Union&#39;s support for a Gaza peace [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50383,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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