Global Markets Sunday News
Tops of the week
Trustpilot +34,01 %: The stock of the online review platform surged following the release of its “5-star” figures. Net income for the fiscal year more than quadrupled. This was driven in no small part by AI search tools, which led to a 1,490% increase in website traffic and underscored the company’s importance as a key data source for AI models.
Springer Nature +20,63 %: Thanks to promising financial results, the publishing house saw its stock price rise. Revenue increased by 4.3% compared to the same period last year. At the same time, the company benefited from positive recommendations, particularly from Deutsche Bank and Barclays.
Exail +15,83 %: The French manufacturer of maritime drones surprised the market with promising figures. Free cash flow significantly exceeded investor expectations. The company also confirmed its outlook for 2026, projecting double-digit percentage growth. The announced share buyback, which will result in a capital reduction, also contributed to the positive performance.
Equinor +16,52 %: Like its competitors in the industry, the oil company benefited from higher gas prices, which are directly reflected in its revenue. In light of recent discoveries, the Norwegian company also reported a strong outlook for production volumes. Other factors driving the stock price include its involvement in the gas business and share buybacks.
Commerzbank +2,5 %: Following UniCredit’s public tender offer for its own shares, the major German bank is benefiting from renewed speculation. The market now expects the offer to be revised upward. Investors are speculating on a reasonable premium on UniCredit’s offer that is intended to convince Commerzbank’s shareholders and management board.
Flops of the week
Amplifon -20,44 %: The hearing aid giant saw its stock price plummet as investors viewed the terms of the acquisition of the hearing division of the Danish technology group GN Store Nord with great skepticism. While the deal is strategically significant, it is also costly. Analysts at Barclays and Jefferies subsequently downgraded their ratings from “Buy” to “Neutral.”
Inwit -19,65 %: Shares of the Italian mobile phone tower operator plummeted after TIM and Fastweb, a subsidiary of Telecom, announced an agreement to build nearly 6,000 towers in Italy. As a result, Inwit revised its 2026 outlook downward on Thursday.
Indra Sistemas -15 %: The Spanish defense contractor saw its stock price fall after it was announced that Escribano Mechanical and Engineering (EM&E) had withdrawn from plans for a takeover by Indra. EM&E cited what it considered to be unfavorable terms for the takeover as the reason for its withdrawal.
Hermès -12,64 %: Shares in the Paris-based luxury goods group fell after the financial group Oddo BHF revised its earnings forecast for Hermès downward and adjusted its price target accordingly.
TOPS – USA
Lumentum +13,47 %: The optoelectronics specialist unveiled a groundbreaking optical interconnect solution designed to support AI infrastructure. According to Morgan Stanley, Lumentum is expected to continue benefiting from rising demand.
Ciena +13,79 %: The company attracted attention at OFC 2026, as its innovations redefined the possibilities of modern networks. This solidifies Ciena’s position as a provider of next-generation AI infrastructure solutions.
FLOPS – USA
Tencent Music -28,89 %: The company announced this week a 5% decline in user numbers and a rise in costs. JP Morgan and Benchmark Company downgraded their ratings to neutral.
Wheaton Precious Metals -18,24 %: The decline in the price of gold dragged down the share prices of gold mining companies. Since its high on January 28, the stock has lost 16.7%. Agnico fell 12%, and Coeur Mining fell 15%.
Waw materials
Energy: Another week of tense crude oil markets, marked by high levels of anxiety following the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East. The Israeli military has attacked the South Pars natural gas field, which accounts for 70% of Iran’s gas production. In response, Tehran has targeted energy facilities in neighboring countries. Iran’s attacks have severely damaged the Ras Laffan industrial complex in Qatar, the world’s largest facility for the export of liquefied natural gas (LNG). Oil refineries in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Kuwait have also been affected. The Strait of Hormuz, a shipping route indispensable for oil and gas exports from the region, remains blocked—with only limited alternative routes available. Iraq has resumed exporting 250,000 barrels per day via a pipeline to Turkey. However, this volume is practically negligible given the enormous quantities of oil blocked in the Gulf. In light of the naval blockade and to avoid overloading storage capacities, major producing countries such as Saudi Arabia, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, and Kuwait are currently cutting their production by several million barrels per day. Against this backdrop, the market is showing a significant price difference between the two global benchmark grades. The North Sea Brent grade is currently trading at around $108 per barrel. At one point this week, the price had even reached $118. The Brent price depends heavily on production in the Middle East and international maritime freight traffic. Thus, current geopolitical risks are fully priced in. In contrast, the U.S. benchmark WTI remained below the $100 mark and closed at around $96 per barrel. The WTI price reflects the situation on the U.S. domestic market. U.S. production volumes remain stable and are not affected by the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
Metals: Metals trended downward this week. In the case of gold, this might seem surprising at first glance, as geopolitical tensions should be boosting demand for this safe-haven asset. However, skyrocketing energy prices are reigniting fears of a resurgence in global inflation. Consequently, central banks have been extremely cautious about easing monetary policy. This macroeconomic environment is strengthening the U.S. dollar and putting pressure on prices for precious and industrial metals. The price of one troy ounce of gold fell to around $4,620. In London, copper suffered its biggest weekly price drop in nearly a year. Spot contracts on the London Metal Exchange fell by about 5% this week to around $12,146 per ton.
Agricultural commodities: In Chicago, agricultural commodities showed a mixed picture at the end of the week. Tensions in the Middle East and fluctuations in oil prices are having a direct impact on the markets. Soybeans posted a significant decline over the course of the week, wheat also fell, and corn prices remained stable.
Cryptocurrencies: After a 10% price gain last week, Bitcoin (BTC) has slipped by 3.5% since Monday and is now trading near the $70,000 mark again. The week had started off well with a 4% gain over the first two days, before a significant reversal set in on Wednesday. BTC closely tracked the performance of the S&P 500, the most important U.S. stock index and a true barometer of global financial markets. BTC’s price performance thus remains heavily dependent on the climate in traditional markets, and conditions there have been anything but favorable since the escalation of the situation in the Middle East at the end of February. Volatility was even more pronounced for the second-largest cryptocurrency on the market, Ether (ETH). After a 10% rise from Monday to Tuesday, it turned negative again on Friday with a 2% decline to around $2,150. Similar trends were observed among other major cryptocurrencies: Binance Coin (BNB) fell 4.8%, Solana (SOL) lost 3.4%, and XRP dropped 1%. Overall, the crypto market’s total market capitalization has fallen by 45% since its peak in October 2025 and currently stands at $2.4 trillion. Of this, Bitcoin accounts for 58% and Ether for 11%.
S&P 500 Heatmap
S&P 500 performance in 2025
U.S. bond yield
2-year US bond yield
10-year US bond yield
Correlation between the price of gold and the US dollar
