Market Wrap: A 12% decline in Hermès weighs on the market (29.07.2026)

Despite strong results from the banking sector, many European indices are in the red today. The pan-European Euro Stoxx 50 (-0.3%) is primarily hindered by unconvincing sales recovery for Hermès in China. Rising energy commodity prices may also weigh on indices. Brent crude oil is currently trading at approximately 90 dollars per barrel.

Figure 1: Dashboard for the Euro Stoxx 50 (29.07.2026)

Source: XTB Research, 29.07.2026

Companies

Figure 2: Winners and Losers in the Euro Stoxx 50 (29.07.2026)

Source: XTB Research, 29.07.2026

Hermès

Despite publishing solid financial results, Hermès shares recorded a sharp decline today (-11.6%), leading to a temporary suspension of trading.

In the second quarter, the French fashion house generated 4.1 billion euros in revenue (a 7% year-on-year increase, in line with analyst expectations), and recurring operating profit for the first half of the year stood at 3.4 billion euros, with a high margin of 41%.

However, double-digit sales growth in Japanese and American markets and strong demand for leather goods (a 10.2% increase) were overshadowed by investor concerns regarding the company's high valuation, given the ongoing slowdown in the key Chinese market and declines in the Middle East.

Additional concerns were raised by a 9.5% drop in revenue in the perfumes and cosmetics segment, although company management remains confident about long-term development, announcing, among other things, the presentation of its first haute couture collection in 2027.

Banking sector

European banking giants, UBS and Deutsche Bank, recorded strong profit growth in the second quarter, driven primarily by a recovery in investment banking and increased trading activity.

• UBS net profit rose by 17% to 2.8 billion dollars, supported by record revenue from equity trading and a significant inflow of new assets (36 billion USD) in the wealth management division.
• Meanwhile, Deutsche Bank generated a net profit of 1.9 billion euros (a 10% increase), mainly due to higher revenue from trading debt instruments and interest rates.

These excellent results align with a broader global trend recently observed on Wall Street, where market volatility and the boom in AI-related stocks have significantly boosted trading profits.

Indices

Among the biggest losers, apart from the French CAC 40 (-0.7%) and the pan-European Euro Stoxx 50 (-0.4%), which are weighed down by the declines at Hermès, we find the Spanish Ibex 35. The sharp decline of CaixaBank (-6.2%) is a significant factor here. Investors appear to be selling off shares for two main reasons:

• The bank's management decided to maintain conservative guidance for the rest of the year and did not raise forecasts, which the market quietly expected following such strong first-half results.
• Net interest income (NII) was slightly lower than the market expected, and the bank's provisions increased by nearly 40%.

Other large companies also fell, including airport operator Aena (-2.2%), which also published results today.