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European stocks closed on a firm note on Wednesday, reacting to some encouraging earnings updates and economic data from the region, and on expectations of more monetary easing by a few central banks. Easing geopolitical tensions contributed as well to the positive mood in the markets<\/span>.<\/p>\n Soft inflation data from both France and the UK helped. <\/p>\n Investors also reacted to reports of a leadership change at the European Central Bank. A Financial Times report said Christine Lagarde plans to leave the European Central Bank before her eight-year term as president expires in October 2027.<\/p>\n Defense stocks gained, supported by an agreement between India and France to strengthen defense and aerospace ties. Shares from mining and banking sectors were the other prominent gainers today.<\/p>\n The pan European Stoxx 600 closed up by 1.19%. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 climbed 1.23%, Germany’s DAX gained 1.12% and France’s CAC 40 ended 0.81% up, while Switzerland’s SMI settled with a gain of 0.39%.<\/p>\n Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain and Sweden closed with sharp to moderate gains.<\/p>\n Ireland and T\u00fcrkiye moved up marginally, while Iceland ended flat. <\/p>\n In the UK market, miners turned in a pretty strong performance. Antofagasta soared nearly 11%. Fresnillo, Anglo American Plc, Glencore and Endeavour Mining gained 4.25%-4.8%, and Rio Tinto climbed nearly 4%.<\/p>\n BAE Systems rose 4% after reporting a better-than-expected 12% rise in full-year operating profit and raising shareholder payouts.<\/p>\n Bank stocks Natwest Group, Barclays, Standard Chartered, HSBC Holdings gained 2%-2.6%.<\/p>\n St. James’s Place, Compass Group, Airtel Africa, LSEG, Shell, Scottish Mortgage, Polar Capital Technology Trust, Diploma and Entain also posted handsome gains.<\/p>\n BT Group, National Grid, Diageo, Severn Trent, SSE, Unilever, Legal & General and RightMove declined sharply.<\/p>\n In the German market, Rheinmetall climbed more than 5%. Heidelberg Materials gained about 4.3%, while Siemens, Infineon and Siemens Energy moved up 3.5%-4%.<\/p>\n Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank, SAP, RWE, Siemens Healthineers, Daimler Truck Holding, Porsche Automobil Holding, Merck and BMW also posted strong gains.<\/p>\n Bayer shed more than 7%, weighed down by the company’s announcement of a proposed $10.5 billion settlement to resolve ongoing litigation over its Roundup weedkiller. <\/p>\n Brenntag lost about 4.8%, while Fresenius Medical Care, Zalando, Vonovia, Deutsche Telekom and BASF lost 1.7%-2.5%.<\/p>\n In the French market, Thales, ArcelorMittal, STMicroelectronics, Societe Generale,Schneider Electric, BNP Paribas, Dassault Systemes, Airbus, Eurofins Scientific, Safran and Stellantis gained 2%-5%.<\/p>\n Renault, Kering, Capgemini, TotalEnergies, LVMH, Publicis Groupe and L’Oreal also posted notable gains.<\/p>\n Shares of food retailer Carrefour slid more than 5% after the company reported a decline in operating profit in 2025 due to acquisition costs.<\/p>\n EssilorLuxottica and Pernod Ricard closed lower by about 3.5%. Air Liquide, Edenred, Orange and Saint-Gobain also ended weak.<\/p>\n Schneider Electric, BNP Paribas, Airbus, Safran, TotalEnergies, LVMH and L’Oreal gained 1%-3%.<\/p>\n Final data from the statistical office INSEE revealed France’s inflation eased to the lowest in five years in January and remained well below the European Central Bank’s target of 2%.<\/p>\n The consumer price index rose only 0.3% on a yearly basis in January, following the 0.8% increase seen in December, the data showed. This was the weakest rate since December 2020, when prices remained flat. <\/p>\n Similarly, EU harmonized inflation softened to 0.4%, as estimated, from 0.7% in December. The harmonized rate was also the weakest since December 2020.<\/p>\n At the same time, core inflation hit 0.7% in January, down from 1.1% in the previous month. This was the weakest since July 2021.<\/p>\n On a monthly basis, consumer prices dropped 0.3% after a 0.1% rise. Likewise, the harmonized index of consumer prices slid 0.4% following last month’s 0.1% gain. Both the CPI and HICP rates matched the flash estimates published earlier.<\/p>\n UK consumer price inflation eased to a ten-month low in January, the Office for National Statistics reported Wednesday.<\/p>\n Data from the Office for National Statistics showed UK’s consumer price index posted an annual increase of 3% in January, in line with expectations. This was the lowest inflation since March 2025, when it stood at 2.6%. This followed December’s 3.4% increase.<\/p>\n On a monthly basis, consumer prices fell 0.5% in January 2026, as expected, reversing a 0.4% rise in December.<\/p>\n Core inflation that excludes prices of energy, food, alcohol and tobacco softened to 3.1% in January from 3.2% in December.<\/p>\n Another report from the ONS showed that output price inflation eased to 2.5% in January from 3.1% in December. Meanwhile, input prices dropped 0.2%, following a revised rise of 0.5% in the prior month.<\/p>\n Month-on-month, output prices remained flat and input prices gained 0.4% in January, data showed. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n