CAC 40 Stalls as Stellantis Slumps: European Markets Digest Fed & ECB Decisions (Oct 2025)

Why Did European Markets Struggle for Direction Today?

The CAC 40 slipped 0.53% to 8,157 points, marking its third consecutive losing session, while the EuroStoxx 50 dipped 0.15% to 8,697 points. This hesitant trading followed the Federal Reserve's decision to maintain rates and the European Central Bank's expected status quo stance. "Markets are caught between relief that central banks aren't tightening further and disappointment that rate cuts aren't coming sooner," noted BTCC analyst James Chen. The ECB maintained its position that inflation remains NEAR its 2% medium-term target, leaving investors to parse through a flood of earnings reports.

Which Stocks Were Today's Biggest Movers?

Stellantis (-8.75% to €8.85) became the CAC 40's worst performer despite reporting 13% revenue growth to €37.2 billion for Q3. Analysts at RBC Capital, Oddo BHF, and Jefferies agreed the results were merely "in line" with expectations - proving that in today's market, good isn't good enough without positive surprises.

Airbus bucked the trend, climbing on robust quarterly performance. Meanwhile, London's WPP cratered 14.39% to 308.70 pence after slashing forecasts, dragging Paris-listed Publicis (-1.92% to €85.66) down with it. The advertising giant hit its lowest share price since the 2008 financial crisis after reporting a steeper-than-expected 5.9% revenue decline to £3.26 billion.

How Did Remy Cointreau Shock Investors?

The spirits Maker plunged 6.73% to €43.78 after dramatically scaling back guidance. Q2 sales fell 11% to €268.8 million (versus €316.7 million last year), missing the €273.3 million consensus. Management now expects organic sales growth of just 0-4% (down from 4-6%) and warned operating profit could drop 11-15% versus previous expectations of ~5% growth. "This isn't just a miss - it's a complete recalibration of expectations," observed a TradingView market strategist.

What Do Today's Macroeconomic Figures Reveal?

Eurostat reported stable eurozone unemployment at 6.3% in September, with EU-wide joblessness holding at 6%. More encouragingly, Q3 GDP grew 0.2% in the eurozone and 0.3% across the EU - modest accelerations from Q2's 0.1% and 0.2% respectively.

France outpaced expectations with 0.5% GDP growth (versus 0.2% forecast), while German unemployment held at 6.3%. However, Germany's October EU-harmonized inflation came in at 0.3% monthly (beating 0.2% expectations), with annual inflation at 2.3%.

How Did Consumer Trends Shape the Economic Picture?

French household spending showed resilience:

• Energy consumption rebounded (+0.5% after -0.1%)
• Food spending turned positive (+0.2% after -0.1%)
• Manufactured goods demand slowed (+0.3% from +0.5%)

Where Did the Euro Land After Today's Moves?

The common currency closed down 0.32% at $1.1568, reflecting the mixed signals from economic data and corporate earnings. Currency traders appear to be pricing in a prolonged period of policy divergence between the ECB and Fed.

Market data sourced from TradingView and Eurostat.