European shares climb on Iran sanctions relief, defence gains

European shares edged higher on Tuesday as investors took ‌comfort in a softer-than-feared U.S. sanctions package against Iran, while gains in defence stocks boosted sentiment.

The pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.3% at ‌656.14, as of 0718 GMT, with defence stocks leading sectoral gains, ‌up 1%. On Monday, the Trump administration warned countries to cut their business ties with Iran or face secondary sanctions as part of what it billed ⁠as an "economic ​D-Day," though ⁠the Treasury Department stopped short of imposing any penalties. Oil prices fell further as ⁠traders saw little immediate threat to global crude supplies from the latest ​U.S. measures. Iran promised to retaliate against the expanded U.S. ⁠sanctions and said it was confident major trading partners would resist Washington's pressure campaign. Meanwhile, ⁠U.S. ​Treasury yields eased from recent peaks after reports the Treasury may use its cash reserves to fund larger debt buybacks, ⁠which could reduce the need for additional sales of short-term bills. The tech ⁠sector ⁠rose 0.3%, with investors awaiting Nvidia's results on Wednesday amid concerns the chipmaker may struggle to meet lofty ‌expectations.