US stock index futures all fell, while European stocks rose across the board, with LVMH surging 8%.

On Friday, January 26th, US stock index futures fell collectively before the market opened, as the market further bet on a rate cut by the European Central Bank, leading to a rise in European stocks.

US stock index futures decline

As of the time of writing, Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) futures, which are mainly composed of blue-chip stocks, fell by 0.28%; S&P 500 index futures fell by 0.34%; Nasdaq 100 index futures, which are mainly composed of technology stocks, fell by 0.79%.

Continued rise in European stocks

European stocks continued to rise, following the upward trend from the previous day. The major European stock indices did not rise together, with the stock indices of France and the UK rising for three consecutive days, while the German stock index slightly declined. The Euro Stoxx 50 index opened with a 0.2% increase, the German DAX index fell by 0.2%, the UK FTSE 100 index rose by 0.6%, and the French CAC 40 index rose by 0.2%.

As of the time of writing, driven by the luxury goods giant LVMH, the French CAC 40 index expanded its gains to 1.36%, and the Euro Stoxx 50 index rose by 0.26%.

The European Central Bank (ECB) held a monetary policy meeting yesterday and decided to keep the three key interest rates unchanged. ECB President Lagarde reiterated at the press conference that the policy decisions will continue to rely on data, but her remarks indicated a greater confidence in the slowdown of wage growth.

After the meeting, investors began to further bet on an early rate cut by the ECB. Currently, the market believes that there is a 90% chance of a 25 basis point rate cut by the ECB in April, compared to 60% before the meeting. The market is pricing in a total of 140 basis points of rate cuts for the year, compared to 130 basis points before the meeting.

LVMH surges

LVMH opened high and continued to rise in European stocks, rising more than 8% as of the time of writing. The financial report shows that the company's sales growth unexpectedly rebounded in the fourth quarter of 2023, and its performance is expected to reach a new historical high in 2023.

In the fourth quarter of 2023, LVMH's revenue was 23.95 billion euros, higher than the analyst's expected 23.72 billion euros. The organic revenue growth for the quarter was 10%, which was not as slow as the analysts' expected growth rate of 8.17%.

LVMH also announced its full-year performance for 2023, which exceeded expectations. The annual revenue and net profit both reached new highs compared to 2022. LVMH's full-year revenue was 86.15 billion euros, an increase of approximately 8.8% compared to the previous record in 2022, and analysts expected 85.88 billion euros. The full-year net profit was 15.02 billion euros, an increase of approximately 6.6% compared to the previous record in 2022. Profit from recurring operations was 22.8 billion euros, an increase of 8.2% YoY.

(Updating continuously)