Financial Markets Daily Report30 octubre 2026
Markets traded cautiously in yesterday's session as investors digested earnings releases and the Fed's and the ECB's on-hold meetings. Sovereign yields declined across the board while stocks were mixed (rising in Europe but declining in the U.S., dragged down by AI concerns). The dollar eased modestly against the major currencies, and Brent oil held near $115.
Yesterday, the ECB left rates unchanged (depo rate at 2.50%) as it stuck to a "measured tightening" stance, and pointed to a likely rate hike in December. However, the focus was on the ECB's future leadership, as Lagarde announced that she will step down on February 7, 2027 (eight months earlier than the end of her mandate). Today, the BoJ also left policy unchanged.
On the data front, U.S. GDP grew by 0.8% qoq (3.4% qoq SAAR) in Q3 2026, driven by robust personal consumption expenditure and AI-related investment, while external demand subtracted 0.8 pp from GDP growth. Today, the focus will be on the release of European Q3 GDP data (including figures for Germany, Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, and the euro area).