European shares inch up ahead of ECB, Lagarde resigns

What happened: European equities inched higher on Thursday ahead of the European Central Bank's interest rate announcement. The ECB also announced that Christine Lagarde had resigned and will step down in February. Key numbers: STOXX 600 rose 0.4%, DAX rose 0.7%, CAC 40 rose 0.8%, FTSE 100 rose 0.2%. Deposit facility rate widely projected to hold at 2.50%. Why it matters: Markets held back ahead of Lagarde's press conference, a critical U.S. inflation print, and post-close earnings from Amazon and Intel. Lagarde's term was scheduled to run until the end of October 2027. Market: +0.6% today ($254.60), +12.4% YTD, 0.9x vol — as of 12:15 UTC Verified: Q3_2026 (Oct 29) revenue $203.9B vs $203.9B est; next print ~Jan 28 Coverage: 4 outlets in 24h

European equities inched higher on Thursday ahead of the European Central Bank's interest rate announcement. The ECB also announced that Christine Lagarde had resigned and will step down in February.

Markets held back ahead of Lagarde's press conference, a critical U.S. inflation print, and post-close earnings from Amazon and Intel. Lagarde's term was scheduled to run until the end of October 2027. Market: +0.6% today ($254.60), +12.4% YTD, 0.9x vol — as of 12:15 UTC Verified: Q3_2026 (Oct 29) revenue $203.9B vs $203.9B est; next print ~Jan 28