STOXX 600 Edges Up 0.08% on Oct 28, 2026 as Bank Results Split Europe

Key takeaways

• The STOXX Europe 600 edged up 0.08% to 644.17 on Wednesday, October 28, 2026, after trading between 641.53 and 645.22, according to Yahoo Finance data at 16:30 UTC.
• Germany's DAX led the major indexes with a 0.42% gain to 25,697.45, while Spain's IBEX 35 fell 1.45% to 18,882.80 as Santander dropped after its third-quarter results.
• Bank earnings split the market: Deutsche Bank and Standard Chartered rose after beating forecasts, while Santander, UBS and BNP Paribas fell, according to Reuters and Investing.com.
• Dutch payments firm Adyen dropped about 12% after trimming its margin goal, Reuters reported.
• London's FTSE 100 rose 0.05% to 10,691.45 after Chancellor John Healey's first Budget set fiscal headroom at £15 billion and doubled the bank surcharge to 6%, Reuters reported.
• The 10-year Bund yield rose to 3.380% while the 10-year gilt yield eased to 5.344%; EUR/USD was little changed at 1.1148 before the Fed decision.

Session recap

The STOXX 600 is up today, but only just: European stocks ended almost flat on Wednesday as a heavy day of bank results, the UK Budget and the wait for the US Federal Reserve kept moves small outside Spain. For the wider picture, see Asian and global markets today and our Europe brief for October 27, when the STOXX 600 also closed higher.

Notes: index changes are calculated from Tuesday's closes in the same Yahoo Finance series (STOXX 600 643.68, Euro Stoxx 50 6,164.69, DAX 25,590.77, FTSE 100 10,686.50, CAC 40 7,887.14, FTSE MIB 49,628.00, IBEX 35 19,160.60). Quotes were taken at 16:30 UTC, at the start of the closing auctions; Investing.com's closing values differ by less than 0.05%, for example DAX 25,697.91 (+0.42%), IBEX 35 18,882.12 (−1.45%) and FTSE MIB 49,819.50 (+0.39%). Currency changes compare 16:30 UTC quotes on Tuesday (EUR/USD 1.11421, GBP/USD 1.33147) and Wednesday. Yield changes compare Investing.com late quotes with Tuesday's closes (Bund 3.355%, gilt 5.349%); Trading Economics showed similar levels of 3.382% and 5.338%.

What drove it

Bank earnings pull in both directions

The third-quarter reporting season dominated the session. By 10:15 GMT the STOXX 600 was down 0.3% and the euro zone bank index had lost 1%, Reuters reported in a story carried by Global Banking & Finance Review. Santander fell 4.5% at that point after weaker earnings in Brazil, dragging Spain's bank-heavy benchmark lower, and UBS lost 2% after third-quarter net profit came in roughly in line with expectations.

Other lenders rose. Deutsche Bank gained 2.3% after a 2% rise in quarterly profit, where analysts had expected a decline, and Standard Chartered climbed 3.3% after raising its full-year growth and profitability targets, according to the same Reuters report. Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote, said, according to Reuters: "We still expected the banks to remain in a good place in terms of their business strength." Later in the day, Investing.com reported Standard Chartered up 4.4% and BNP Paribas down 2.9% despite a profit beat.

The IBEX 35 closed 1.45% lower, the only major European index to end the day with a significant loss. The STOXX 600, by contrast, recovered from its morning losses as London rebounded in the afternoon, Investing.com said.

Adyen, Unilever and GSK weigh; Stellantis gains

Dutch payments firm Adyen fell about 12% after it lowered its margin goal for 2026 even though revenue beat forecasts, according to a Reuters report on MarketScreener. Reuters, via Global Banking & Finance Review, said the company cut its core earnings margin outlook to 50% from about 52% and withdrew its medium-term EBITDA target.

Unilever fell 4% and Dassault Systèmes 4%, Investing.com reported; Unilever's upgraded volume guidance was offset by weaker packaged-food sales and higher logistics and input costs linked to the Middle East conflict. In London, GSK dropped 4.8% by midday after its third-quarter pre-tax profit fell 21% to £1.94 billion, Alliance News reported on MarketScreener. On the positive side, Stellantis rose 5.7% after a slight rise in third-quarter operating income, Reuters reported.

Energy costs stay in focus

Oil rose more than 1% in the morning, Reuters reported, and European gas prices hit €100 per megawatt-hour, a four-year high, according to Reuters' Budget-day report. High energy prices feed directly into inflation and rate expectations, which is why bond markets remain sensitive to Middle East headlines.

Currencies and bonds

The euro and the pound were nearly unchanged against the dollar ahead of the Fed decision. Bund yields rose 2.5 basis points (a basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point), while gilt yields slipped after the Budget. The cause of the Bund move has not been confirmed by the sources we checked.

Political & policy watch

UK Budget

Chancellor John Healey presented his first Budget and pledged to stick to the fiscal rules. Reuters, via Global Banking & Finance Review, reported that he set fiscal headroom at £15 billion, compared with £23.6 billion in March, and raised the surcharge on bank profits above a threshold to 6% from 3%. Lloyds, Barclays and NatWest rose between 1.3% and 1.6% because the increase was smaller than feared. Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB, said, according to Reuters: "The bond market is calling it a very boring budget." Investing.com reported that the Office for Budget Responsibility raised its 2026 growth forecast to 1.2% from 1.1% but cut its 2027 forecast to 1.0% from 1.6%, citing Middle East energy costs.

Central banks

The Fed was expected to keep its target range at 3.75% to 4.00% on Wednesday, with traders focused on Chair Kevin Warsh's press conference, Investing.com reported. The European Central Bank decides on Thursday, and economists expect it to hold rates, according to Reuters. Our ECB October 2026 meeting preview and explainer on the Fed's October rate debate cover the options. In Britain, UK inflation stood at 3.5% in September and the Bank of England is expected to raise rates by a quarter point to 4% next week, Reuters reported.

Italy and France

Italy's government was due to approve its 2027 budget on Wednesday after talks with EU authorities about a temporary increase in the deficit, Reuters reported. The same report said investors were also weighing political uncertainty in France. The FTSE MIB still rose 0.37%, while the CAC 40 was little changed.

What to watch next

• October 28 (after the European close): US Federal Reserve rate decision and press conference.
• October 28 (after the US close): third-quarter results from Alphabet and Microsoft, which Investing.com described as a test for global equity sentiment and for European chip-equipment stocks such as ASML.
• October 29: European Central Bank rate decision.
• Next week: Bank of England policy meeting, where Reuters reported a quarter-point hike is expected.
• Ongoing: European third-quarter earnings season, with banks, consumer groups and industrials still reporting.

Risk checklist for readers

• Back-to-back policy events. A Fed decision on Wednesday and an ECB decision on Thursday can move bond yields, currencies and bank shares quickly.
• Results versus expectations. Share prices react to how results compare with forecasts and guidance, not just to whether profit rose; BNP Paribas fell despite a beat.
• Index composition. Bank-heavy indexes such as the IBEX 35 can diverge sharply from broader benchmarks when one large lender moves.
• Fiscal policy and gilts. Budget headroom and debt-sale plans affect UK borrowing costs; watch the Debt Management Office and OBR documents directly.
• Energy prices. Gas at a four-year high and elevated oil can change inflation forecasts and rate expectations.
• Closing prices differ by provider. Quotes taken before and after closing auctions can vary slightly; STOXX, the exchanges and central banks publish official reference values.

This article is for information only and is not investment advice.