The STOXX 50 fell 0.3% on Wednesday, while the STOXX 600 hovered around the flatline, as both indices paused after a strong rally earlier in the week that had pushed them to record highs. Investor sentiment turned more cautious amid renewed threats from the Trump administration to annex Greenland, following the capture and arrest of Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro over the weekend. Oil stocks came under pressure, tracking a decline in crude prices after President Trump said Venezuela would relinquish up to 50 million barrels of oil to the US. Shares in Shell (-3%), BP (-3.8%), TotalEnergies (-2.2%), Equinor (-3.8%), Eni (-3.7%) and Repsol (-3.2%) all traded lower. In contrast, defense stocks outperformed, with Rheinmetall (+1%), BAE Systems (+1.4%), Thales (+4.2%) and Leonardo (+3.2%) posting gains. SAP also advanced 1%. Meanwhile, Eurozone inflation slowed as expected to 2% last month.