{"id":58444,"date":"2026-02-13T04:08:32","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T08:08:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/european-stocks-fluctuate-as-loreal-tumbles-taiwans-economic-outlook-soars\/58444\/"},"modified":"2026-02-13T04:08:32","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T08:08:32","slug":"european-stocks-fluctuate-as-loreal-tumbles-taiwans-economic-outlook-soars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/european-stocks-fluctuate-as-loreal-tumbles-taiwans-economic-outlook-soars\/58444\/","title":{"rendered":"European Stocks Fluctuate as L&#8217;Oreal Tumbles, Taiwan&#8217;s Economic Outlook Soars"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>L&#39;Oreal Shares Plunge:<\/strong> <strong>L\u2019Oreal<\/strong> (<a href=\"\/stock\/OR%20FP\">OR FP<\/a>) shares dropped over 6% after its fourth-quarter sales missed analyst expectations.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Taiwan&#39;s Booming Economy:<\/strong> Taiwan significantly revised its 2026 economic forecasts, now expecting GDP growth of <strong>7.71%<\/strong> (up from 3.54%) and export growth of <strong>22.22%<\/strong> (up from 6.32%), following a preliminary Q4 GDP rise of <strong>12.65%<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>NatWest Beats Expectations:<\/strong> <strong>NatWest<\/strong> (<a href=\"\/stock\/NWG%20LN\">NWG LN<\/a>) reported a Q4 2025 pretax operating profit of <strong>\u00a31.94 billion<\/strong>, surpassing estimates of \u00a31.72 billion, and sees its 2026 Return on Equity (ROE) exceeding 17%.<\/li>\n<li><strong>European Market Movers:<\/strong> <strong>Ubisoft<\/strong> (<a href=\"\/stock\/UBI%20FP\">UBI FP<\/a>) surged <strong>11.5%<\/strong>, while other winners included <strong>Safran<\/strong> (<a href=\"\/stock\/SAF%20FP\">SAF FP<\/a>) and <strong>Capgemini<\/strong> (<a href=\"\/stock\/CAP%20FP\">CAP FP<\/a>). On the downside, <strong>Mercedes Benz<\/strong> (<a href=\"\/stock\/MBG%20GY\">MBG GY<\/a>) saw a minor dip.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Geopolitical Tensions:<\/strong> High-level talks between the <strong>U.S., Russia, and Ukraine<\/strong> are planned for next week, potentially in Miami or Abu Dhabi, as leaders gather in Munich to discuss the ongoing conflict.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr>\n<h2>European Markets: A Mixed Picture as L&#39;Oreal Disappoints<\/h2>\n<p>European markets are showing a mixed performance this morning, heavily influenced by corporate earnings. The most significant mover is French cosmetics giant <strong>L\u2019Oreal<\/strong> (<a href=\"\/stock\/OR%20FP\">OR FP<\/a>), which saw its shares fall sharply by <strong>6.5%<\/strong>. The drop came after the company reported fourth-quarter sales that fell short of analyst estimates, overshadowing an otherwise accelerating growth trend.<\/p>\n<p>In contrast, French video game maker <strong>Ubisoft<\/strong> (<a href=\"\/stock\/UBI%20FP\">UBI FP<\/a>) was the star performer, with its stock jumping <strong>11.5%<\/strong>. This surge follows the company&#39;s confirmation of its full-year financial targets after third-quarter bookings exceeded forecasts, driven by the strong performance of its &quot;Assassin&#39;s Creed&quot; franchise. Other notable gainers included aerospace company <strong>Safran<\/strong> (<a href=\"\/stock\/SAF%20FP\">SAF FP<\/a>), up <strong>5.4%<\/strong>, and IT consulting firm <strong>Capgemini<\/strong> (<a href=\"\/stock\/CAP%20FP\">CAP FP<\/a>), which rose <strong>3.1%<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h2>Economic Data: Taiwan&#39;s Stunning Forecast, Inflation Cools in Europe<\/h2>\n<p>The major economic news comes from Asia, where <strong>Taiwan<\/strong> has dramatically upgraded its economic forecasts for 2026. The government now projects <strong>GDP growth of 7.71%<\/strong>, a significant increase from the previous forecast of 3.54%. This optimistic revision is supported by a preliminary fourth-quarter GDP increase of <strong>12.65%<\/strong> year-over-year and a revised 2026 export growth forecast of <strong>22.22%<\/strong>, up from 6.32%.<\/p>\n<p>In Europe, inflation data from <strong>Spain<\/strong> and <strong>Switzerland<\/strong> points to easing price pressures. Spain&#39;s final January CPI came in at <strong>2.3%<\/strong> year-over-year, slightly below the estimate of 2.4%. Swiss CPI for January was flat at <strong>0.1%<\/strong> year-over-year, in line with expectations.<\/p>\n<h2>Corporate Earnings Spotlight: NatWest Surpasses Forecasts<\/h2>\n<p>UK lender <strong>NatWest Group<\/strong> (<a href=\"\/stock\/NWG%20LN\">NWG LN<\/a>) delivered a strong fourth-quarter earnings report, beating analyst expectations. The bank posted a pretax operating profit of <strong>\u00a31.94 billion<\/strong>, comfortably above the estimated <strong>\u00a31.72 billion<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Key metrics such as net interest income and net interest margin also topped forecasts. Looking ahead, <strong>NatWest<\/strong> provided an optimistic outlook, projecting a Return on Equity (ROE) of over <strong>17%<\/strong> for 2026.<\/p>\n<h2>Geopolitical and Regulatory Developments<\/h2>\n<p>On the geopolitical front, diplomatic efforts to address the conflict in Ukraine are intensifying. According to a report from Politico, officials from the <strong>United States, Ukraine, and Russia<\/strong> are planning to meet again next week, with <strong>Miami<\/strong> or <strong>Abu Dhabi<\/strong> being considered as possible locations. This comes as world leaders gather for the Munich Security Conference, where Ukraine&#39;s fate is a central topic.<\/p>\n<p>In other news, China&#39;s Ministry of Commerce held a roundtable with German firms, expressing hope for increased investment. Meanwhile, Chinese regulators have ordered e-cigarette makers to halt the construction of new plants. In France, the finance minister announced an ambitious plan to have <strong>7 million electric vehicles<\/strong> on the road by 2035.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key Takeaways L&#39;Oreal Shares Plunge: L\u2019Oreal (OR FP) shares dropped over 6% after its fourth-quarter sales missed analyst expectations. Taiwan&#39;s [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50383,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"rank_math_schema_Article":[],"rank_math_focus_keyword":[],"rank_math_description":[],"financial_data_references":[],"stock_symbols_mentioned":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[5012],"tags":[4223,4394,4824,5160,5480,5786,6744,7242,8878],"class_list":["post-58444","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking-news","tag-inflation","tag-corporate-earnings","tag-geopolitics","tag-economic-data","tag-roe","tag-european-equities","tag-natwest","tag-loreal","tag-taiwan-economy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58444","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58444"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58444\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58444"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58444"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58444"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}