European stocks closed sharply lower on Thursday as a fresh surge in key energy prices raised concerns of higher rates by the ECB and stagflation in among European economies. The Eurozone's STOXX 50 sank 1.5% to close at 5,566 and the pan-European STOXX 600 dropped 1.1% to 581. US President Trump went back on the conciliatory rhetoric of talks with Iranian authorities, matching the hawkish tone from Tehran to erase hopes that a ceasefire could be agreed. Oil and gas prices surged to lift sovereign debt yields, pressuring heavyweight banks. Santander, BNP Paribas, and BBVA sank between 2% and 3%. The power-hungry industrial sector also pulled back with Siemens Energy and Schneider losing 4% and 5%, respectively. Meanwhile, ASML retreated 4% to track the negative momentum for chip companies in the US following Alphabet's research piece of more compute-efficient AI models. Lastly, H&M lost 2% on weaker first-quarter sales.