European indices are generally trending higher this morning, following in the wake of Wall Street, whose dramatic session on Friday helped reassure markets after several days of turbulence and uncertainty surrounding tech stocks. The S&P 500 gained 2%, ahead of the Nasdaq (+2.2%, notably with +8% for Nvidia) and the Dow Jones (+2.5%).

Paris is currently flat, balanced between gains for STMicro (+5.6%) and Thales (+3%) but declines for Vinci (-1.8%) and Eiffage (-1%).

"We are facing technical markets, dominated by algorithms and speculative strategies," analyzes Christopher Dembik, investment strategy advisor at Pictet AM, this morning. "During the week of January 30 to February 5, short positions on U.S. equities were at their highest in five years, mainly due to short selling."
According to him, last Friday's session seems to indicate that a short squeeze is underway. "It only takes a group of investors to see the current market price as a buying opportunity to force short sellers, who triggered the decline, to buy back their positions to limit their losses."

European markets are also welcoming the weekend victory of Sanae Takaichi's Liberal Democratic Party, with Japan's new Prime Minister taking office. The Tokyo Stock Exchange jumped nearly 4% following the election, reaching record highs. This success should allow the Japanese leader to pursue her expansionary monetary policy and implement an ambitious public spending program.

Stocks on the Move

On both sides of the Atlantic, quarterly earnings releases will continue to pour in this week. In this context, UniCredit is up 5% this morning in Milan after raising its profit forecasts for 2026. Investors will have to wait another 24 hours to see results from several market heavyweights, such as Coca-Cola, AstraZeneca, Spotify, BP, Barclays, Ferrari, Ford, and Kering.

Elsewhere in corporate news, Citi has downgraded its recommendation on Amundi from "buy" to "neutral," remaining positive on the medium-term outlook but judging the asset manager's valuation to be "fairer."
According to Reuters, citing Italian union sources, ACC (Automotive Cells Co), a joint venture equally owned by Stellantis, TotalEnergies, and Mercedes-Benz, has scrapped its gigafactory projects in Germany and Italy.

Within this context, Deutsche Bank maintains a "hold" rating on Stellantis with a target price cut from 8 EUR to 7 EUR. HSBC also stays at "hold" with a target reduced from 10 EUR to 7 EUR. Oddo BHF keeps its neutral recommendation and lowers the target from 9 EUR to 7 EUR. Oxcap Analytics remains at "overweight" with a target cut from 12 EUR to 9 EUR. RBC Capital maintains its "sector perform" rating and reduces the target from 8 EUR to 6 EUR. UBS keeps its "buy" recommendation and cuts the target from 12 EUR to 9.70 EUR. Wells Fargo remains at "underweight" with a target cut from 6 EUR to 5 EUR.

Novartis announced Friday evening it is starting construction of a new global biomedical research center in San Diego, California, "designed to provide world-class scientific infrastructure and drug discovery capabilities."

Few Statistics on the Agenda

On the data front, the calendar is particularly quiet today. Again, investors will have to wait until tomorrow to see France's Q4 unemployment rate and, across the Atlantic, retail sales, import and export prices, as well as business inventory levels.
In London, Brent crude is trading at 67.4 USD (-1%), gold has risen above the 5,000 USD per ounce mark (+1.4%, at 5,030 USD), and the euro is up 0.4% against the greenback at 1.186 USD.