On April 27, 2026, Adizero shoes were displayed at the Adidas store on Oxford Street in London.
By Richard Baker Photography | Getty Images
LONDON – European stock markets fell sharply on Wednesday as investors again monitored a flurry of corporate earnings reports and weighed the United Arab Emirates’ shock exit from the OPEC oil cartel.
pan-european Stocks 600 fell 0.7%, with most sectors and major exchanges closing in negative territory.
It was a busy morning with financial results announcements for the local banking sector.
UBS The company rose 3.6% after reporting net income of $3 billion in the first quarter, beating consensus estimates. The Swiss bank posted strong results across its capital markets business as its asset management division attracted net asset inflows.
deutsche bank Shares fell 1.9% after the company announced first-quarter profit after tax of 2.17 billion euros, up 8% year-on-year, beating analysts’ expectations of 2.01 billion euros. However, the German lender also disclosed higher-than-expected credit loss provisions of 519 million yen due to single-name exposure.
meanwhile, Santander‘s first-quarter profit showed an underlying profit of 3.56 billion euros, exceeding analysts’ expectations of 3.46 billion euros and increasing 12% year-on-year. Net interest income for the quarter amounted to 11 billion euros, driven by an increase in revenue from 8 million new customers. The Spanish multinational financial company’s stock ended the day up 1%.
Other than banking, adidas Shares rose 8.9% after the German sportswear giant reported better first-quarter profits. Sales rose 14% year-on-year to 6.6 billion euros ($7.73 billion), and operating profit rose 16% to 705 million euros, exceeding analyst expectations.
Elsewhere, OPEC is in the spotlight after the United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced on Tuesday that it would break away from the oil-producing cartel on May 1, in a major blow to the group that coordinates production between the world’s biggest oil producers, particularly in the Middle East.
The move complicates the outlook for oil supplies. The UAE, currently the third largest oil producer from OPEC, may move to increase production after withdrawing from OPEC, but global oil imports and exports remain severely restricted due to the continued blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
Investors are also focusing on tech stocks after the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that OpenAI’s revenue and new user growth fell short of internal targets.
CFO Sarah Fryer told company executives that she was concerned that if OpenAI’s revenue didn’t grow fast enough, it wouldn’t be able to pay its computing contracts in the future.
Traders around the world are also awaiting the US Federal Reserve’s latest interest rate decision, expected later on Wednesday. Markets are pricing in a 100% chance that the central bank’s Federal Open Market Committee will leave key interest rates unchanged.
