STOXX 600 Rises 0.89% on Oct 29, 2026 as ECB Holds, Shell Rallies

Key takeaways

• The STOXX Europe 600 rose 0.89% to 649.90 on Thursday, October 29, 2026, trading between 644.04 and 650.86, according to Investing.com data.
• Germany's DAX gained 1.47% to 26,081.70 and France's CAC 40 rose 1.33% to 7,991.99, while Spain's IBEX 35 slipped 0.16% to 18,852.69 as banks lagged.
• The European Central Bank kept its deposit rate at 2.5%, and President Christine Lagarde said she will step down on February 7, 2027, according to dpa and Reuters.
• Energy majors led earnings news: Shell rose 3.4% to a record high by mid-morning after its highest quarterly profit since 2022, Reuters reported.
• Bond yields fell: the 10-year Bund yield dropped to 3.354% and the 10-year gilt yield to 5.272%, while EUR/USD rose 0.12% to 1.1166 and GBP/USD 0.37% to 1.3366.

Session recap

The STOXX 600 is up today: European stocks closed at their strongest level of the week on Thursday as upbeat energy and industrial earnings, falling bond yields and an expected rate hold by the ECB outweighed weakness in banks and technology shares. For the wider picture, see Asian and global markets today and our Europe brief for October 28, when the STOXX 600 ended almost flat.

Notes: index changes are calculated from Wednesday's closes in the same Investing.com series (STOXX 600 644.14, Euro Stoxx 50 6,166.55, DAX 25,704.02, FTSE 100 10,694.50, CAC 40 7,886.96, FTSE MIB 49,824.30, IBEX 35 18,883.50). Yahoo Finance quotes taken at 16:30 UTC, before the closing auctions, were slightly lower for most indexes, for example STOXX 600 649.43, DAX 26,052.75 and CAC 40 7,975.27. Currency changes compare 16:30 UTC quotes on Wednesday (EUR/USD 1.11520, GBP/USD 1.33170) and Thursday (1.11657 and 1.33665); percentages use the unrounded quotes. Yield changes compare Investing.com late quotes (3.3537% and 5.2724%) with Wednesday's closes (3.3827% and 5.3511%); Trading Economics showed similar Bund levels at 3.352% and the gilt at 5.291%.

What drove it

Energy and industrial earnings lift the market

Third-quarter results again set the tone. Shell rose 3.4% to a record high by 10:34 GMT after reporting its highest quarterly profit since 2022 and raising share buybacks, Reuters reported in a story carried by Devdiscourse. Dow Jones Newswires, via MarketScreener, said Shell's adjusted earnings nearly doubled to $10.81 billion, above the $10.33 billion analysts expected, and the quarterly buyback rose to $5 billion.

TotalEnergies added 1.9% after its third-quarter profit more than doubled, helped by reduced global supply of oil products after the US-Israeli war with Iran, according to the same Reuters report. Airbus gained 2.6% after keeping its full-year forecasts and production plans, chip-equipment maker Aixtron jumped 6.9% on a rise in quarterly revenue, and Renault Group climbed 6.6% after revenue grew more than expected, Reuters said.

Banks and tech lag

Banks were the weakest sector in the morning, down 1.3%, as BBVA fell 4.9% after mixed third-quarter results, Reuters reported. That helps explain why Spain's bank-heavy IBEX 35 was the only major index in the table to close lower. Technology was another drag: Dow Jones Newswires reported that tech stocks fell globally after Big Tech and Asian earnings renewed doubts about how companies will profit from AI, and Reuters said Asian and US markets were gloomier after Alphabet and Samsung Electronics results, a theme that also matters for chip-heavy markets across Asia.

Bonds rally as oil eases

Government bond yields fell across Europe. The Bund yield dropped to about 3.3%, its lowest since late August, after the ECB held rates, and had already eased earlier as oil prices fell on reports of renewed US efforts to revive peace talks with Iran, Trading Economics said. Dow Jones Newswires also reported that oil fell as traders weighed those diplomatic efforts against Middle East supply risks. Gilt yields fell below 5.3%, their lowest in over a month, a day after the UK Budget, according to Trading Economics. Lower yields generally support equity valuations, especially in rate-sensitive sectors.

Currencies

The euro and the pound both gained against the dollar. Yahoo Finance data show EUR/USD rising sharply between 13:30 and 15:00 UTC, a period that followed the ECB decision, which was due at 13:15 GMT according to Reuters, and the US inflation data. The specific cause of that move has not been confirmed by the sources we checked.

Political & policy watch

ECB holds, Lagarde sets her exit

The ECB left key interest rates unchanged at its meeting in Frankfurt, with the deposit rate at 2.5%, "despite elevated inflation," according to a dpa report on Yahoo Finance. Euro area inflation was 3.8% in September, up from 3.2% in August, Eurostat data show, with energy prices up 18.9% on the year. Investing.com reported that the ECB statement said "energy prices have continued to rise, posing upside risks to the inflation outlook," and that financing conditions had tightened. Andrew Kenningham of Capital Economics said the statement "looks at first sight slightly dovish" and that he expects one more hike in December, Investing.com reported.

Hours before the decision, the ECB said Lagarde will step down on February 7, ending speculation about the timing of her departure, Reuters reported. Her eight-year term was due to end in late October 2027, dpa said. David Morrison, senior market analyst at Trade Nation, said, according to Reuters: "She has been presiding over a euro zone which has been incredibly weak." Our report on Lagarde's decision to step down has more detail, and our ECB October 2026 meeting preview explains the options the bank faced.

France and the US data

Euro zone government bond yields have surged in recent weeks, particularly in France, amid concerns about its debt and political uncertainty, Reuters reported. In the United States, the Fed held rates on Wednesday, and Thursday's data showed headline PCE inflation at 3.6% in September and third-quarter GDP growth of 3.4%, UPI reported, citing the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

What to watch next

• October 29 (after the US close): quarterly results from Amazon and Intel, according to Dow Jones Newswires.
• November 4: Eurostat flash estimate of euro area inflation for October, as scheduled in its latest release.
• November 5: Bank of England policy decision, where money markets expect a rate rise, according to Trading Economics.
• February 7, 2027: Lagarde's last day as ECB president. Investing.com reported that the European Council will start searching for her successor immediately.
• Ongoing: European third-quarter earnings season and Middle East diplomacy affecting oil and gas prices.

Risk checklist for readers

• Energy-driven inflation. With euro area energy prices up 18.9% on the year, oil and gas headlines can quickly change rate expectations.
• Central bank guidance. A hold can still be read as hawkish or dovish; statements and press conferences often move markets more than the decision itself.
• Sector concentration. Indexes with heavy bank or energy weightings, such as the IBEX 35 or FTSE 100, can diverge sharply from broader benchmarks.
• Leadership transitions. A change at the top of the ECB can add uncertainty about the future policy path until a successor is named.
• Sovereign spreads. Widening gaps between French and German yields signal fiscal or political stress that can spread to banks.
• Closing prices differ by provider. Quotes taken before and after closing auctions vary; STOXX, the exchanges and central banks publish official reference values.

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