The Paris Stock Exchange closed the first session of the week with a modest gain of 0.2%, ending at 8,211 points, buoyed by Eurofins Scientific (+8.3%), Thales (+4.7%), and Bureau Veritas (+2.9%).
Meanwhile, the DAX advanced by 1.3%, driven by Rheinmetall’s impressive +9.4% and Infineon’s +4.3%.

Across the Atlantic, markets began the week on an optimistic note: the Dow Jones rose 1.3%, outpacing both the Nasdaq (+0.9%) and the S&P500 (+0.8%).
Investors appeared notably calm following the surprise intervention by the United States in Venezuela and the deportation of the South American president to New York.

By carrying out this bold operation, Washington signaled to the world its intention to maintain its superpower status, notably through control over global energy resources.

On a more pragmatic level, the decision reflects the American desire to bring its major oil companies back to a country where infrastructure is considered degraded and oil reserves remain largely underexploited: the U.S. financial and technological embargo imposed on Venezuela for over a decade has proven highly effective.

For now, the reaction in oil prices has been extremely muted: WTI initially lost 1% before rebounding symmetrically by +1% (USD 58 per barrel), while Brent also gained 1.3% to USD 61.6.

"Venezuelan oil exports remain modest, and there is currently no indication that the situation will cause disruptions in production or sales," analysts at Danske Bank commented this morning.

Venezuela was one of the few countries to denominate its oil in currencies other than the dollar (notably in yuan): those who tried this before (Iraq, Libya) did not fare well. The greenback remained steady, trading at USD 1.17 against the euro.

Asian market reactions may be even more telling. In Tokyo, the Nikkei surged by nearly 3% late Monday, while the MSCI index grouping Asia-Pacific stocks rose more than 1.2%.
But this sense of calm may be only superficial, as evidenced by a +4% spike in silver towards USD 77 and a +2.5% rise in gold towards USD 4,450 per ounce.

Investors seem eager to kick off 2026 by clinging to the well-known adage that the first month of the year is often positive for stock indices, a phenomenon known as the "January effect."

Goldman Sachs forecasts a slight acceleration in eurozone growth for 2026, driven by German fiscal stimulus and resilient consumption, despite increased Chinese competition and interest rates remaining at current levels.

Eurozone GDP is expected to grow by 1.3% in 2026, supported by three major cyclical levers: Germany’s fiscal expansion, easing global trade tensions, and robust real household income growth, according to the bank.

However, this momentum will be limited by structural headwinds, notably the surge in Chinese exports weighing on the industrial competitiveness of Italy and Germany, as well as persistently high energy costs.

On the data front, the contraction of the U.S. manufacturing sector slightly worsened at the end of last year, according to the Institute for Supply Management (ISM), whose index for the sector just came in at 47.9 for December 2025, compared to 48 the previous month.
The real test is expected Friday with the release of December’s employment figures—a market favorite and all the more closely watched since the Fed has explicitly made the labor market a key determinant of its monetary policy.

This will be followed by the kickoff of "earnings season" with the first quarterly results from major banks, including JP Morgan.

Strategists warn that listed companies will need to deliver profit growth to justify the lofty valuations of American stocks, but the prospect of both earnings growth and confirmation of U.S. economic resilience would certainly pave the way for further strong performances in 2026.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Bund, which had peaked on Friday, January 2, eased slightly by -1.5 basis points to 2.883%, while the OAT of the same maturity fell -2.5 basis points to 3.5860%, and Italian BTPs dropped -3.6 basis points to 3.54%.

In French corporate news, BNP Paribas reported it had reached a "major milestone" in integrating its asset management activities following the acquisition of AXA Investment Managers (AXA IM), which was finalized more than six months ago.
Crédit Agricole announced today the repayment, effective January 26, 2026, of all its senior non-preferred fixed-to-floating rate notes issued on January 26, 2021, for a total of USD 1.5 billion.

Sanofi indicated that the U.S. FDA has accepted for priority review the supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) for its Tzield (teplizumab-mzwv) for young children with stage 2 type 1 diabetes.

Alstom has secured three orders totaling EUR 2.5 billion. Specifically, the smart and sustainable mobility specialist was chosen to supply rolling stock to a client in the Americas region for approximately EUR 1.4 billion.

Saint-Gobain has formed a joint venture with a subsidiary of Indocement Tunggal Prakarsa (an Indonesian cement producer 53% owned by Heidelberg Materials), with the French group holding 60% and its local partner 40%. The aim of this joint venture is to acquire Indocement’s mortar business in Indonesia.

Finally, Oddo BHF reiterated its "outperform" rating and price target of EUR 236 on Airbus Group, "a stock set to benefit from the gradual improvement of the supply chain and the work done to enhance the agility of its industrial operations."