12:08 PM EDT, 09/25/2025 (MT Newswires) -- European stock markets closed lower in Thursday trading as the Stoxx Europe 600 was off 0.71%, Germany's DAX lost 0.61%, the FTSE 100 fell 0.39%, France's CAC declined 0.41% and the Swiss Market Index slid 0.86%.

The Swiss National Bank maintained its policy rate at 0%, citing a "virtually unchanged" inflationary situation and subdued economic conditions amid US tariffs.

German consumer sentiment is expected to improve marginally in October, with the indicator up to minus 22.3 points from a revised minus 23.5 points in September, Growth from Knowledge said.

France's household confidence indicator remained at 87 points for the second straight month in September, according to data from national statistics agency Insee.

And in corporate news, Swiss lender UBS Group (UBS) has made additional progress in resolving previously identified shortcomings and has attained significant milestones, but its emergency plan needs to be developed further, the country's financial regulator Finma said.

Dutch lender ING (ING) is among nine major European banks that have formed a new company to launch a euro-denominated stablecoin, which will be regulated by the EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation and is expected to be first issued in H2 2026, the consortium said.

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA) said Spanish regulators have approved its revised takeover offer for Banco Sabadell. The lender said that the new all-share offer is 10% higher than the previous one, noting that if more than 50% of shareholders accept, the deal will be tax-neutral in Spain. It also said that the offer period resumed from Thursday and will run until Oct. 10.

SAP (SAP) is under investigation by the European Commission over allegations that it may have engaged in anti-competitive practices in the aftermarket for maintenance and support services in enterprise resource planning software. The German software company did not immediately reply to MT Newswires' request for comment.

Swedish streaming provider Spotify Technology (SPOT) said it is rolling out new policies to protect artists, songwriters and producers from the "worst parts" of generative artificial intelligence, including a new impersonation policy against unauthorized use of AI voice clones and a new music spam filter to tag and stop recommending uploaders and tracks engaging in spam tactics such as mass uploads and search engine optimization hacks.

Apple (AAPL) asked the European Union to repeal the Digital Markets Act, which the company said has negatively impacted user experiences, delayed the rollout of new features, increased safety threats and reduced choices for consumers.