European equity markets moved modestly upward at the start of a busy week dominated by quarterly corporate reports and a string of high-profile economic data releases. At 03:05 ET (08:05 GMT), Germany's DAX was up 0.5%, France's CAC 40 climbed 0.1% and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 rose 0.2%.
Activity this week centers on further corporate results across the region, with a number of large banking groups among the companies reporting. The market-wide Stoxx 600 index, which is board-based, sits close to record highs after registering its seventh positive week in eight. The ongoing earnings season has generally been received well by markets to date.
UniCredit takes the spotlight
UniCredit SpA announced a record annual profit of 22.6 billion for 2025, a 14% increase year-over-year. The bank also unveiled a multi-year ambition to reach 213 billion in net profit by 2028 and pledged 230 billion in shareholder distributions across three years. In addition, UniCredit has deployed substantial portions of its excess cash to become the main shareholder in Germany's Commerzbank and Greece's Alpha Bank, while stopping short of full takeovers.
UniCredit's results and strategic moves have put it at the forefront of this week's corporate calendar, as investors parse both current profitability and management's longer-term targets.
Other scheduled corporate releases
Commerzbank AG will report results this week as well. U.K. banks Barclays PLC and NatWest Group PLC are also on the earnings calendar. Outside the banking sector, companies scheduled to report include Koninklijke Philips NV, AstraZeneca PLC, TotalEnergies SE, Heineken, Mercedes Benz Group AG, Siemens AG and L'Oreal SA.
Markets will be watching these releases for fresh data points on corporate earnings momentum and sector-specific performance across healthcare, energy, consumer goods, industrials and financials.
Economic calendar shifts attention to U.S. data
Beyond corporate reports in Europe, the economic calendar this week includes growth data from the eurozone and the U.K. The principal focus for global investors, however, is a set of major U.S. economic reports that are expected to offer insights into the health of the world's largest economy. These releases were delayed slightly following a recent short-lived government shutdown.
Key U.S. data due later in the week include the January nonfarm payrolls report and the consumer price index for January. Those data points arrive in the wake of the nomination of Kevin Warsh for the role as the next Federal Reserve chair and could influence market expectations about monetary policy and economic momentum.
Oil eases after diplomatic progress
Oil prices retreated on Monday after reports that the U.S. and Iran agreed to negotiate over Iran's nuclear ambitions. Brent futures fell 0.9% to $67.46 a barrel, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures declined 0.9% to $62.98 a barrel. Both benchmarks dropped more than 2% last week as easing tensions led to their first weekly decline in seven weeks.
The two countries said they would continue indirect nuclear talks following discussions in Oman, a development that reduced concerns about a potential military conflict in the Middle East and the associated risk of disruptions to crude supplies from a major producing region.
What to watch this week
Investors will focus on the flow of earnings from major European companies and the U.S. economic data releases later in the week. The combination of corporate results, macroeconomic indicators and geopolitical developments is likely to shape sentiment across financials, energy, healthcare and industrial sectors as the week unfolds.
Data snapshot
- DAX: +0.5% at 03:05 ET (08:05 GMT)
- CAC 40: +0.1%
- FTSE 100: +0.2%
- Brent crude: $67.46 a barrel (-0.9%)
- WTI crude: $62.98 a barrel (-0.9%)