Session at a Glance

Continental Europe surges on earnings blitz while FTSE 100 stalls after BoE holds rates at 3.75%.

A packed earnings calendar drove sharp divergence across European markets Thursday. The Euro STOXX 50 jumped 1.5% as AI-infrastructure names (Schneider Electric, Infineon, ASML) rallied hard and banks posted record profits — BBVA’s €6 billion first-half haul and a new €2 billion buyback lifted Spain’s IBEX 35 nearly 1.8%, the session’s best index.

The FTSE 100 flatlined after the Bank of England held rates at 3.75% for the fifth consecutive meeting (6-3 vote), offering no fresh catalyst. Switzerland’s SMI slipped 0.65% as Novartis weighed on the defensive-heavy index. The session’s biggest single-stock stories were polarised: Rolls-Royce surged on a guidance upgrade while Adidas cratered after a record marketing bill ate into profits despite the highest quarterly sales in the company’s history.

Cross-border, the theme was clear — investors rewarded earnings beats tied to structural growth (defense, AI power, semiconductors) and punished margin disappointments in consumer-facing names (Adidas, Stellantis, Sanofi pipeline cuts).

Here are the standout movers across Europe’s major exchanges for the session of Friday, July 31, grouped by market.

United Kingdom (LSE)

↑ RR +6.01%

Mid-cap · 1463 (local)

Why: Rolls-Royce reported H1 operating profit up 46% to £2.5 billion and raised full-year guidance to £4.7-4.9 billion, driven by defense and AI data-center power demand.

Pattern: Momentum continuation on a fundamental re-rating — guidance upgrades attract institutional flows into an already-trending name; watch for gap-and-go follow-through above the prior range high.

↓ REL -6.92%

Mid-cap · 2675 (local)

Why: No clear single-session catalyst — RELX has been under sustained selling pressure since its July 23 interim results, with the stock down roughly 40% from highs as multiple compression continues.

Pattern: Extended downtrend leg; the -6.9% drop looks like momentum selling into a weak tape rather than a breakout setup — watch for volume exhaustion near the 52-week low before fading.

Germany (Xetra / DAX)

↑ IFX +9.16%

Mid-cap · 59.47 (local)

Why: Infineon rallied alongside the broader European semiconductor complex as ASML and AI-infrastructure peers surged; likely benefiting from sector rotation into chip names after recent weakness.

Pattern: Sector-sympathy bounce off deeply oversold levels — Infineon has lagged peers in 2026, so the +9% pop reads as mean-reversion rather than a standalone breakout; needs follow-through confirmation.

↓ ADS -11.52%

Mid-cap · 161.2 (local)

Why: Adidas posted record €6.74 billion Q2 sales but operating profit missed by €49 million after a €924 million World Cup marketing bill — a 30% YoY increase — and the CFO’s departure added uncertainty.

Pattern: Classic sell-the-news on an earnings miss despite top-line strength — the -11.5% gap-down through support is a momentum breakdown; historically these take weeks to base before any reversal attempt.

France (Euronext Paris)

↑ SU +10.83%

Mid-cap · 284.6 (local)

Why: Schneider Electric surged after strong results and continued positioning as a key AI data-center infrastructure provider — the company’s power management and automation business is riding the hyperscaler capex wave.

Pattern: Breakout continuation on a structural growth theme — AI infrastructure spending is a multi-quarter tailwind; the +10.8% move on volume signals institutional accumulation, not a one-day spike.

↓ SAN -8.95%

Large-cap · 72.77 (local)

Why: Sanofi beat Q2 estimates with €13.25 billion revenue and raised 2026 guidance, but the stock dropped after the company disclosed pipeline cuts including discontinuing amlitelimab, itepekimab, and balinatunfib programs.

Pattern: Pipeline risk re-pricing in a pharma name — the -9% move despite a revenue beat signals that the market views future growth optionality as impaired; sector rotation out of big-pharma into biotech innovators.

Netherlands (Euronext AMS)

↑ ASML +5.71%

Mega-cap · 1440 (local)

Why: ASML rallied as the broader AI-semiconductor trade regained momentum in Europe, with EUV lithography demand underpinning the long-term thesis despite recent US-China export uncertainty.

Pattern: Momentum continuation within a high-beta AI proxy — the +5.7% move tracks the sector-wide bid for semiconductor capital equipment; ASML tends to lead European tech rallies and reversals alike.

↓ WKL -7.18%

Mid-cap · 68.78 (local)

Why: No specific headline catalyst — Wolters Kluwer has fallen roughly 55% from its 52-week high and the -7.2% drop looks like continued de-rating pressure ahead of August 5 earnings.

Pattern: Downtrend continuation in a former quality compounder; the stock is approaching its 52-week low near €54 — pre-earnings selling suggests the market expects weak results or guidance.

Switzerland (SIX)

↑ ABBN +3.09%

Large-cap · 78.66 (local)

Why: No clear catalyst in recent headlines — ABB likely benefited from the broader industrials and electrification theme as AI data-center power demand lifts the entire electrical-equipment complex.

Pattern: Sector-sympathy bid alongside Schneider Electric and the electrification trade — the +3.1% move is modest and consistent with broad rotation into power-infrastructure names rather than a standalone breakout.

↓ NOVN -2.28%

Mega-cap · 126.8 (local)

Why: Novartis drifted lower as the defensive pharma trade lost favour on a risk-on session — no specific negative headline, but sector peer Sanofi’s pipeline disappointment may have weighed on large-cap pharma sentiment.

Pattern: Mild risk-off-to-risk-on rotation — investors sold defensive mega-caps like Novartis to fund positions in cyclical and growth names; the -2.3% move is orderly, not a breakdown signal.

Italy (Borsa Italiana)

↑ UCG +2.42%

Large-cap · 81.7 (local)

Why: UniCredit advanced as the European banking sector rallied broadly on strong earnings — Deutsche Bank traders posted a revenue jump and BBVA’s record profit set a positive tone for the group.

Pattern: Sector momentum continuation — European banks have been re-rating on higher-for-longer rates and capital return programs; UCG’s +2.4% fits the ongoing grind higher in the banking index.

↓ STLAM -4.31%

Mid-cap · 5.061 (local)

Why: Stellantis reported Q2 revenue up 13% to €43.5 billion but adjusted operating profit of €773 million missed the €914 million consensus, with Europe still loss-making at -0.6% margin.

Pattern: Margin disappointment in a cyclical auto name — revenue growth without profit leverage is a red flag the market punishes quickly; the -4.3% drop extends the multi-quarter de-rating trend.

Spain (BME / Madrid)

↑ BBVA +5.00%

Large-cap · 23.96 (local)

Why: BBVA posted record H1 net profit of €6.05 billion, up 11%, lifted by Mexico lending strength, and announced a new €2 billion extraordinary share buyback on top of a completed €4 billion program.

Pattern: Earnings-driven momentum breakout — record profits plus aggressive capital return signals management confidence; the +5% gap reflects institutional re-weighting into European bank leaders.

↓ TEF -1.72%

Mid-cap · 3.602 (local)

Why: Telefónica slipped despite reporting growth in Spain and Brazil in Q2 — the modest -1.7% drop suggests the market sees limited upside in a low-growth telecom amid a risk-on session favouring cyclicals.

Pattern: Sector rotation away from defensive telecoms into higher-beta financials and tech — the move is small and orderly, consistent with relative underperformance rather than a fundamental deterioration.

Nordics (OMX / Stockholm)

↑ ATCO-A +3.14%

Large-cap · 200.2 (local)

Why: No clear catalyst in recent headlines — Atlas Copco likely benefited from the broader industrials bid as AI infrastructure and electrification themes lifted capital-goods names across Europe.

Pattern: Sector-sympathy move within the European industrials complex — the +3.1% is consistent with broad rotation into capex beneficiaries; Atlas Copco’s compressor and vacuum businesses have AI-adjacent exposure.

↓ ERIC-B -3.10%

Mid-cap · 93.26 (local)

Why: Ericsson continued to slide following its July 14 earnings miss and warning that rising memory-chip costs from AI-driven competition for DRAM will pressure telecom equipment margins going forward.

Pattern: Post-earnings downtrend continuation — the -3.1% adds to the 12% single-day drop two weeks ago; the thesis that AI capex crowds out telecom infrastructure spend is a structural headwind, not a one-off.

Reading the Session

The exchange-by-exchange breakdown above surfaces both market-specific catalysts and cross-border themes. When multiple European exchanges move together, look for a macro driver (USD/EUR move, ECB/BoE policy, commodity price, EU regulatory shift). Isolated single-exchange moves tend to reflect local earnings, regulatory news, or sector rotation.

Read next: Europe Markets · What Is a P/E Ratio? · What Is a Dividend?