European equities edged modestly higher on Wednesday, with investors weighing a fresh round of corporate earnings while looking ahead to closely watched eurozone inflation data later in the session.
By 08:02 GMT, Germany’s DAX was up 0.2%, France’s CAC 40 had added 0.4%, and the UK’s FTSE 100 was trading 0.3% higher.
Earnings season in focus, UBS stands out
The sharp decline in precious metals seen late last week has stabilised, allowing markets to refocus on the busy earnings calendar. Several large European corporates are due to report in the coming days, keeping company results firmly in the spotlight.
UBS (NYSE:UBS) impressed investors after reporting a 56% jump in net profit, comfortably beating forecasts. The performance was driven by strong contributions from both wealth management and investment banking. The Swiss lender, the world’s largest wealth manager, also said it plans to buy back at least $3 billion of shares in 2026—matching last year’s programme—and signalled an ambition “to do more.”
GSK (LSE:GSK) also drew attention after projecting slower sales growth in 2026 in the first outlook delivered by its new chief executive, Luke Miels. The drugmaker is shifting its strategic focus toward strengthening its pipeline as it prepares for future patent expiries affecting key HIV treatments.
Novartis (NYSE:NVS) said it expects operating profit to fall by a low single-digit percentage in 2026, citing mounting pressure from lower-cost generic competition, including on established products such as heart drug Entresto.
In the banking sector, Banco Santander (LSE:SAN) reported a 12% increase in attributable profit for 2025, marking its fourth straight year of record results, supported by resilient net interest income and record fee generation.
Meanwhile, Crédit Agricole (EU:ACA) posted a 24% drop in fourth-quarter net income after a sizable first-consolidation charge linked to its Banco BPM stake weighed on results, despite record revenues for the year and a proposed dividend increase.
Attention will also turn to Wall Street later in the day, with markets awaiting results from Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) after the close. The group is expected to report a 15.5% rise in revenue to $111.37 billion, with investors keenly focused on its 2026 spending plans, cloud demand outlook and updates on AI capacity constraints.
Eurozone inflation data ahead
Away from earnings, preliminary eurozone inflation figures for January are due later on Wednesday, just ahead of the European Central Bank’s policy decision. Consensus expectations point to headline inflation easing slightly to 1.7% year on year, comfortably below the ECB’s 2% target.
The central bank is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged at 2% for a fifth consecutive meeting. However, a significant deviation from expectations could unsettle policymakers, who have recently voiced concerns about the euro’s rapid appreciation against the dollar and its potential disinflationary impact.
Oil prices extend gains
Oil prices continued to edge higher, supported by geopolitical tensions between the United States and Iran, which have raised concerns about potential supply disruptions from the region.
Brent crude futures for April added 0.1% to $67.40 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate rose 0.2% to $63.38. Both benchmarks had climbed nearly 2% in the previous session.
Reports on Tuesday said the US had shot down an Iranian drone approaching a US aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea, while Iranian gunboats were also observed near a US-flagged tanker in the Strait of Hormuz. The incidents came just ahead of scheduled talks between Washington and Tehran this week, casting doubt over whether the discussions will proceed as planned.
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