Around 12:00 pm, the CAC 40 posted a gain of about +0.6%, reaching 8,410 points, while the pan-European STOXX Europe 50 climbed +0.9%, the FTSE 100 in London rose +0.9%, and Frankfurt's DAX 40 advanced +0.8%.

By way of comparison, across the Atlantic, the S&P 500 ended yesterday's session with a modest gain of +0.1% at 6,843 points, while the Dow Jones inched up +0.07% to 49,533 points and the Nasdaq 100 slipped -0.13% to 24,702 points.

"In the background, concerns about the software sector persist," analysts at Danske Bank noted this morning, pointing out that stocks in this sector fell by about -2% yesterday, ranking among the market's steepest declines.

"We continue to rate U.S. equities as attractive and expect healthy earnings growth, as well as a supportive Fed to drive stocks higher," said David Lefkowitz, Head of U.S. Equities at UBS Global Wealth Management.

Inflation Slows in France and the United Kingdom

On the statistics front, consumer prices in France rose by +0.3% year-on-year in January 2026, after +0.8% in December 2025, according to INSEE, which thus confirmed its preliminary estimates released on February 3.

Still on inflation, the UK rate slowed to +3% in January, in line with expectations, following +3.4% in December. Core inflation came in at +3.1% year-on-year, compared to +3% expected and +3.2% in December.

Market participants are still awaiting, from the United States, residential construction figures for November and December, as well as durable goods orders for December this afternoon, followed by the minutes from the latest FED meeting this evening.

Carrefour Heavily Penalized for Results and Strategic Plan

In Paris, Carrefour (-5%) brought up the rear of the CAC 40, punished for its operational performance in 2025; the new strategic plan for 2030, unveiled this morning, also failed to convince investors.

Another stock widely shunned this Wednesday in Paris, Verallia (-5%) tumbled after the glass packaging manufacturer announced yesterday a possible restructuring of its European operations in response to declining demand for its products.

Elsewhere in Europe, Bayer (-8%) was the biggest loser on Frankfurt's DAX 40: after soaring more than +7% on Tuesday on rumors of a breakthrough in settling U.S. Roundup litigation, it plunged following the presentation of details of its plan to achieve this.

Conversely, Havas soared +8% in Amsterdam after reporting, late yesterday, stronger-than-expected organic growth for the fourth quarter and unveiling a margin target for 2026 above expectations.