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European Commissioner Albuquerque: Europe must maintain control over the key technologies that underpin our economy.

Italy's FTSE MIB index rose 1.00% on the day.

February 3rd - The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and eight other departments issued a notice on the "Guidelines for Cross-border Vehicle Data Security (2026 Edition)". Vehicle data processors providing vehicle data overseas must apply for a data export security assessment if any of the following conditions are met: (1) Providing important data overseas; (2) Providing personal information of more than 1 million people (excluding sensitive personal information) to overseas entities cumulatively since January 1st of the current year; (3) Providing sensitive personal information of more than 10,000 people to overseas entities cumulatively since January 1st of the current year; (4) Operators of critical information infrastructure providing personal information to overseas entities; (5) Other circumstances requiring a data export security assessment as specified in relevant national regulations.

Chart: Performance of major currency pairs on Tuesday, February 3, 2026

On Tuesday, February 3, the German DAX 30 index opened 167.33 points higher, or 0.68%, at 24,952.25; the UK FTSE 100 index opened 12.34 points higher, or 0.12%, at 10,353.90; the French CAC 40 index opened 25.23 points higher, or 0.31%, at 8,206.40; the Euro Stoxx 50 index opened 30.24 points higher, or 0.50%, at 6,037.75; the Spanish IBEX 35 index opened 69.38 points higher, or 0.38%, at 18,173.08; and the Italian FTSE MIB index opened 211.29 points higher, or 0.46%, at 46,216.50.

Spain's unemployment figures changed by 30,400 in January, compared to a decrease of 16,300 in the previous month.

Spain's unemployment rate rose 1.26% month-on-month in January, compared with a previous reading of -0.67%.

February 3rd - Yutong Bus announced that its production volume in January 2026 was 2,167 vehicles, a year-on-year decrease of 15.35%; among them, large buses accounted for 1,205 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 2.55%; medium buses accounted for 447 vehicles, a year-on-year decrease of 42.91%; and light buses accounted for 515 vehicles, a year-on-year decrease of 14.45%. Sales for the month totaled 1,728 vehicles, a year-on-year decrease of 32.24%; among them, large buses accounted for 892 vehicles, a year-on-year decrease of 36.42%; medium buses accounted for 432 vehicles, a year-on-year decrease of 31.54%; and light buses accounted for 404 vehicles, a year-on-year decrease of 21.71%.

February 3rd - French inflation unexpectedly slowed to a five-year low in January, well below the European Central Bank's (ECB) 2% target, due to falling energy prices. The French National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE) reported that the consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.4% year-on-year in January, a slowdown from 0.7% in the previous month. This result was lower than the median forecast of 0.6% from a survey of 20 analysts. Only one analyst surveyed predicted this result, marking the lowest pace since December 2020. Among the major Eurozone economies, France's inflation data has been an outlier. Tuesday's data is not expected to cause concern among ECB officials this week. With inflation across the Eurozone approaching 2%, the market widely expects officials to keep deposit rates unchanged. In fact, inflation rates in other parts of the Eurozone are closer to the ECB's target: Germany's was 2.1% and Spain's was 2.4% last month.

Hong Kong-listed commercial aerospace stocks rose amid volatility, with Junda Shares (02865.HK) surging over 27%, Asia Pacific Satellite (01045.HK) rising over 12%, and other stocks such as Goldwind Technology (02208.HK), AVIC Science & Technology (02357.HK), and Lens Technology (06613.HK) following suit.

Tip: French inflation unexpectedly fell to a five-year low.

France's harmonized CPI preliminary reading for January was -0.4%, compared to a forecast of -0.2% and a previous reading of 0.10%.

France's preliminary January CPI annual rate was 0.3%, below the expected 0.6% and the previous value of 0.80%.

France's December government budget was -€124.742 billion, compared to -€155.4 billion in the previous month.

France's harmonized CPI annual rate preliminary reading for January was 0.4%, below the expected 0.6% and the previous reading of 0.70%.