European share benchmarks made small gains on Monday as a generally positive cycle of corporate reporting supported sentiment, though activity remained subdued with major holidays curbing turnover.
At 03:02 ET (08:02 GMT), Germany's DAX climbed 0.4%, France's CAC 40 added 0.2% and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was up 0.2%.
Quiet market conditions amid holidays
The start of the week coincided with the Lunar New Year in much of Asia and George Washington's birthday in the United States, contributing to a softer trading backdrop. Despite the quieter environment, corporate results across Europe have generally been favorable, helping underpin prices.
Data from LSEG show that firms representing 57% of Europe’s market capitalization have reported results so far for the fourth quarter, posting average earnings growth of 3.9%. That outcome exceeds expectations for the quarter as a whole, where consensus pointed to a contraction of 1.1%.
Beat rates have also been stronger than normal: 60% of European companies that reported have topped analyst estimates, versus a typical beat rate of 54% in a standard quarter.
Corporate calendar and company headlines
Monday was relatively light for earnings releases, but attention this week will center on results from Europe’s four largest mining companies - Rio Tinto (RIO), Glencore (GLEN), Anglo American (AAL) and Antofagasta (ANTO) - as metals markets have recently pushed to higher price levels.
Volkswagen (VOWG) is another name in focus after a report in Manager Magazin cited plans by the German automaker to reduce costs by 20% across all brands by the end of 2028, a development that market participants will parse for implications on profitability and restructuring timelines.
Across the Atlantic, investors are watching Walmart (WMT), which will post quarterly results on Thursday and provide updated evidence on U.S. consumer spending through the holiday season and into the new year.
Economic releases and regional data
On the data front, Eurozone industrial production for December is the principal release in Europe on Monday, with expectations for a monthly contraction of 1.5%.
In the U.K. housing market, asking prices were effectively unchanged in February. The average asking price for newly listed properties fell by £12 to reach £368,019, following a 2.8% jump in January, according to Rightmove.
Japan’s growth figures, released earlier in the session, disappointed. Gross domestic product expanded by just 0.2% on an annualised basis in the December quarter, substantially below forecasts of 1.6%. The print showed minimal improvement following a steep contraction in the third quarter, a picture that the report said could strengthen the case for aggressive fiscal stimulus under Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.
Energy markets and geopolitics
Oil markets were steady on Monday amid the holiday-thinned trading. Brent futures eased 0.1% to $67.66 a barrel and U.S. West Texas Intermediate fell 0.1% to $62.68 a barrel.
Both contracts had declined between 0.5% and 1% the previous week after comments from U.S. President Donald Trump suggesting Washington could strike a deal with Tehran within a month. The two countries are scheduled to hold a second round of talks in Geneva on Tuesday, renewing negotiations focused on long-running issues tied to Tehran’s nuclear program.
Overall, markets entered the week with a positive tilt driven by earnings outperformance, while attention remained on a short list of corporate reports and economic releases that will likely set the near-term tone. With trading volumes constrained by holidays in major markets, individual company announcements and scheduled data are primed to exert outsized influence on moves in European equities.