The meeting in China between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping could help break the deadlock in the Middle East and clear some of the uncertainty surrounding global trade. The two leaders are expected to discuss regional geopolitical tensions as well as trade relations between the two powers. Donald Trump is accompanied for the occasion by a dozen top U.S. executives, including Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Tesla's Elon Musk, and Apple's Tim Cook.

In the Middle East, Israel is stepping up its strikes in Lebanon, where shelling has killed more than 20 people despite the ceasefire in effect, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health. This fresh escalation comes as direct talks between Israel and Lebanon are set to open in Washington on Thursday.

Stocks on the move

The main Paris index is led by Stellantis (+3.13%) and STMicroelectronics (+2.33%). Carrefour (-0.78%) and Airbus (-0.40%) are lagging.

In Madrid, Telefonica is soaring by more than 6% after reassuring investors about its financial trajectory. The Spanish operator confirmed its 2026 targets alongside the publication of quarterly results that were broadly in line with expectations, despite a net loss linked to its recent asset disposals in Latin America.

In London, Burberry is down 4.88% after reporting a decline in annual revenue and announcing the suspension of its dividend. However, for the 2025-2026 fiscal year, the British luxury giant indicated that adjusted operating profit rose to 160 million pounds sterling, compared with 26 million GBP a year earlier. The adjusted operating margin of 6.6% is up 570 basis points at constant exchange rates and 560 basis points at actual rates, supported by 80 million GBP in Opex savings achieved during the period.

Investors are also keeping a close eye on the economic outlook. In the UK, GDP grew by 1.2% year-on-year in March, beating analyst expectations of a 0.7% increase, following 1% growth in February.

This afternoon in the U.S., markets will monitor retail sales and import price data amid a resurgence of inflationary pressures. Both the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Producer Price Index (PPI) showed an acceleration in inflation this week, reviving fears over the consequences of the war in the Middle East and soaring oil prices.

On the foreign exchange market, the euro is down 0.03% at 1.1712 dollars.