Markets absorbed the Federal Reserve's monetary policy decisions released last night. As expected, the central bank maintained the status quo , much to the disappointment of Donald Trump and his intense lobbying for a policy easing.

The news, however, caused little stir among investors as it had already been priced in. At the very least, it reassured market participants about the central bank's independence.

Stocks on the Move

 A deluge of earnings reports hit both sides of the Atlantic today. On the Old Continent, SAP suffered a steep drop (-16%) after its outlook was deemed too cautious, with cloud and software growth capped at 12-13%.

Frankfurt also faced a decline—albeit limited but with potentially serious consequences—from Deutsche Bank (-1.6%), as German federal police raided several of the firm's offices as part of a money laundering investigation.
Among airlines, easyJet (-0.5%) reported an adjusted pre-tax net loss of £93 million for the first quarter of its 2026 fiscal year (ending December 31, 2025), compared to a £61 million loss a year earlier, marking a 52% deterioration.

Low-cost carrier Wizz Air jumped 11% following its results, buoyed by increased passenger traffic despite ongoing pressure on unit costs.

H&M (-0.7%) edged up slightly on Thursday morning on the Stockholm exchange after posting quarterly results above expectations, though this was offset by a rather subdued start to its 2025/2026 fiscal year, according to industry experts.

After soaring 8%, Rémy Cointreau finished the session more modestly with a 0.8% gain. The company had surged after posting better-than-expected quarterly figures. The group reported revenue of €735.4 million for the first nine months of its 2025-2026 fiscal year, down 1.9% organically.

Finally, ABB (+8.4%) wrapped up its fiscal year with an unprecedented performance, marked by a surge in net profit and orders topping $10 billion in a single quarter for the first time.

Results from Apple, Visa, and Mastercard are now awaited this evening, with Exxon and Chevron set to report tomorrow.

Stats and Figures

 The session was also punctuated by a slew of statistical releases.

In the eurozone, the consumer confidence index came in at -12.4 in January, in line with forecasts after -13.1 in December. Additionally, the economic sentiment indicator (ESI) rose sharply in January, both in the EU (+1.9 points to 99.2) and in the eurozone (+2.2 points to 99.4), according to the European Commission's monthly survey.

In France, in the fourth quarter of 2025, there were 5,752,600 people registered with France Travail in categories A, B, and C, a 1% increase from the previous quarter, according to the Ministry of Labor.

Across the Atlantic, the U.S. Department of Labor recorded 209,000 new weekly jobless claims for the week ending January 19, down by 1,000 from the previous week. The number of new claims was slightly above the consensus forecast of 205,000.

Meanwhile, the U.S. trade deficit surged to $56.8 billion in November 2025, compared to $29.2 billion the previous month (revised from an initial estimate of $29.4 billion), according to the Department of Commerce.

Finally, as expected by analysts, nonfarm productivity in the U.S. rose by 4.9% on an annualized basis in the third quarter of 2025, according to the Labor Department's second estimate, confirming its preliminary reading.

Elsewhere, Brent crude rose 2.7% in London to reach $70.6. Gold slipped 2.7% to $5,275 per ounce. The euro remained steady against the greenback, trading around $1.195.