Europe Market Wrap 21 October: All Nine European Indices Rise as Technology Rebounds
Europe’s nine indices all rose on Wednesday as technology shares rebounded from the chip selloff. The Euro STOXX 50 gained 1.40 percent and Frankfurt’s DAX rose 1.35, while London’s FTSE 100 lagged at 0.19 percent higher after a hotter-than-expected British inflation report. Brent crude traded 1.04 percent above Tuesday’s settlement at 109.92 dollars a barrel on the 21:14 GMT reading.
Technology Leads the Rebound as the Chip Worry Fades
The Stoxx Europe 600 technology sector rose 2.07 percent to 1,039.25 in the day’s strongest sector move, a session after the selloff in the chip names crossed from Asia, and after Seoul’s Kospi had already rebounded 3.29 percent overnight. Banks added 1.27 percent and oil and gas rose 1.35 as crude climbed. The automobiles and parts sector fell 1.72 percent in the day’s deepest sector fall, basic resources lost 0.61 and telecommunications 0.52, leaving four of the eight supersectors we track higher. Earnings moved the single names: Randstad jumped 20.16 percent on its third-quarter results, EssilorLuxottica rose 15.48 after Tuesday evening’s quarterly revenue release, and in Frankfurt SAP led the DAX’s gainers at 3.52 percent, with Airbus up 2.69 and Bayer 2.64. The DAX closed 1.35 percent higher at 25,645.04 on its closing price.
London Lags as British Inflation Quickens
London’s FTSE 100 added 0.19 percent in the shallowest rise of the nine, held back after the Office for National Statistics said consumer prices rose 3.5 percent in the twelve months to September, up from 3.1 percent the month before. Reuters reported that the reading cemented expectations of a further Bank of England rate increase, that sterling gained on the day, and that September government borrowing came in above forecasts with public debt passing three trillion pounds. In Paris, the CAC 40 rose 1.06 percent even as France’s ten-year government bond yield touched 5 percent, a 24-year high, with euro zone yields rising broadly, per the same reports. Milan’s FTSE MIB added 1.17 percent and Amsterdam’s AEX 0.77, while Madrid’s IBEX 35, up 1.21 percent, and Zurich’s SMI, up 0.51, each rose for a second straight session. The STOXX Europe 600 closed 0.92 percent higher at 644.49 and the Euro STOXX 50 gained 1.40 percent to 6,207.52, each rebounding after two declines.
Strongest gains
| Index | Close | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Euro STOXX 50 (Euro area) | 6,207.52 | +1.40% |
| DAX (Germany) | 25,645.04 | +1.35% |
| IBEX 35 (Spain) | 19,323.50 | +1.21% |
| FTSE MIB (Italy) | 49,643.69 | +1.17% |
| CAC 40 (France) | 7,921.68 | +1.06% |
All nine indices closed higher, so the pair of tables splits tonight as the strongest and the shallowest gains. Closes of Wednesday 21 October from the exchanges’ and administrators’ own pages, ranked against Tuesday’s closes as published; run lengths are counted against our published closes.
Shallowest gains
| Index | Close | Change |
|---|---|---|
| FTSE 100 (UK) | 10,752.88 | +0.19% |
| SMI (Switzerland) | 14,552.39 | +0.51% |
| AEX (Netherlands) | 1,142.30 | +0.77% |
| STOXX Europe 600 (Europe) | 644.49 | +0.92% |
Same session and basis, ranked from the shallowest gain upward.
Stoxx Europe 600 sectors
| Sector | Close | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Technology | 1,039.25 | +2.07% |
| Oil and Gas | 580.44 | +1.35% |
| Banks | 396.58 | +1.27% |
| Telecommunications | 272.13 | -0.52% |
| Basic Resources | 780.00 | -0.61% |
| Automobiles and Parts | 420.34 | -1.72% |
The three strongest and three weakest of the eight supersectors we track, the administrator’s values at the calculation end, 15:50 GMT, against Tuesday’s closes; four of the eight rose; omitted middle: health care +0.82 percent at 1,177.69 and personal and household goods -0.11 at 974.10.
Commodities and currencies
| Instrument | Level | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Gold, COMEX (Dec’26), dollars an ounce | 4,159.50 | +0.41% |
| Silver, COMEX (Dec’26), dollars an ounce | 58.115 | +0.20% |
| Brent Crude, ICE (Dec’26), dollars a barrel | 109.92 | +1.04% |
| WTI Crude, NYMEX (Dec’26), dollars a barrel | 97.71 | -0.11% |
| US Dollar Index (DXY) | 101.70 | 0.00% |
| Euro/Dollar | 1.1230 | -0.02% |
| Sterling/Dollar | 1.3392 | -0.01% |
| Dollar/Yen | 158.10 | -0.02% |
Intraday quotes at 21:14 GMT, in fixed order; snapshots, not settlements. The gold, silver, Brent and WTI changes are against Tuesday’s settlements of 4,142.60, 58.00, 108.79 and 97.82 dollars, as published in our Commodities Wrap of 20 October 2026.
Asia, session of Wednesday 21 October
| Index | Close | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Kospi (South Korea) | 5,735.66 | +3.29% |
| Taiex (Taiwan) | 46,887.77 | +1.28% |
| Topix (Japan) | 4,043.73 | +0.86% |
| Nikkei 225 (Japan) | 64,621.24 | +0.85% |
| Straits Times (Singapore) | 5,437.99 | +0.63% |
| S&P/ASX 200 (Australia) | 8,831.30 | +0.16% |
| Nifty 50 (India) | 22,811.35 | -0.34% |
| Shanghai Composite (China) | 3,713.03 | -0.60% |
| Shenzhen Component (China) | 11,704.35 | -0.82% |
| Hang Seng (Hong Kong) | 23,651.87 | -0.90% |
Carried whole from our Asia Market Wrap of 21 October 2026, its gainers then its losers in their published order; the Nifty 50 row is the exchange’s own closing figure, measured against Monday’s close across Tuesday’s Dussehra market holiday, as disclosed there.
Middle East, session of Wednesday 21 October
| Index | Close | Change |
|---|---|---|
| EGX 30 (Egypt) | 52,854.95 | +1.47% |
| QE Index (Qatar) | 8,643.47 | +0.52% |
| DFM General (Dubai) | 5,859.94 | +0.43% |
| Bahrain All Share (Bahrain) | 1,857.54 | -0.14% |
| TASI (Saudi Arabia) | 9,926.62 | -0.26% |
| FTSE ADX General (Abu Dhabi) | 9,771.20 | -0.59% |
| ASE Index (Jordan) | 4,166.35 | -0.69% |
| Boursa Kuwait All-Share (Kuwait) | 8,330.00 | -0.82% |
| MSX 30 (Oman) | 7,439.921 | -1.51% |
Carried whole from our Middle East Market Wrap of 21 October 2026, its gainers then its losers in their published order; the Dubai and Bahrain changes are the exchanges’ own figures, as disclosed there.
Why it matters: The rebound was broad but uneven. The euro area’s big caps took back most of two days of losses in a single session, while London, carrying its own inflation problem, barely moved. The bond market did not confirm the optimism, with French borrowing costs still climbing even as Paris equities rose. Of the 28 indices we published on Wednesday, the Kospi led at 3.29 percent and Muscat’s MSX 30 lagged at 1.51 percent lower, on our count.
Outlook: SAP lifted its 2026 revenue expectations toward the top of its ranges after the European close, saying its current cloud backlog reached 24.1 billion euros, up 28 percent, and 26 percent at constant currencies, in its own statement. The IMF’s Regional Economic Outlook for the Middle East and Central Asia lands on Thursday at 06:15 GMT, with the Bank of Korea’s rate decision the same day. The session’s commodity settlements follow tonight in our commodities wrap, and our US wrap follows the New York close, carrying Meta Platforms and Tesla results.
How these wraps are prepared: Methodology.
Sources: London Stock Exchange, Deutsche Boerse, Euronext, Borsa Italiana, BME, SIX, STOXX, Office for National Statistics, SAP, Randstad, EssilorLuxottica, CNBC, Reuters, The Edge.
