The Stoxx 600 just hit a record high – here’s what’s driving the pan-European index

The Stoxx 600 touched a record high on Tuesday, closing 0.7% higher at 656.86 points. 

Europe’s headline index tracks 600 large, medium, and small capitalization companies across 17 European countries, and is essentially the continent’s equivalent of the S&P 500. The Stoxx 600 is up 10% in 2026 so far, lagging its North American counterpart.

Since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran in late February, European markets have had to contend with higher oil prices and sticky inflation, while the buildout of AI and its infrastructure has plowed ahead, albeit with significantly more volatility in recent weeks. 

As a result, the sectoral picture has been particularly mixed, with some pockets of the Stoxx faring better than others. GWN breaks down the leaders and laggards year-to-date. 

Technology stocks have fared particularly well over 2026 so far – despite a recent pullback in share prices among semiconductor names.

The five best-performing European stocks of 2026 are all related to the semiconductor industry. These are: Soitec, up 371%, AT&S, up 330%, Technoprobe, up 123%, Aixtron, up 116%, and ST Microelectronics, up 101%. 

“Buoyed by earnings upgrades and investor enthusiasm for all matters related to artificial intelligence, these stocks have helped to fire the Stoxx 600’s performance,” Russ Mould, AJ Bell investment director, told GWN on Tuesday. 

“Strong pricing, fat order backlogs, good visibility and talk of shortages across the semiconductor food chain are supporting earnings and persuading some to believe that the old days of boom and bust are behind us.”

Recently, however, that trade has come under pressure, with AT&S and Aixtron each falling over 20% from their mid-June peaks. 

“When it comes specifically to the semiconductor firms, AI shares might be seeing volatility as investors lose and regain confidence in the duration of the build-out, but the reality of the situation is that the cash is committed to capex and semiconductor firms are seeing the benefit of this spending,” Michael Field, Morningstar strategist Michael Field told GWN. 

Another strong-performing sector is banking. The Euro Stoxx Banks index has returned 18% with particularly strong gains among French and Italian lenders, fueled by a wave of takeover activity and consolidation across the sector.

AJ Bell highlighted Mediobanca Banca di Credito, BNP Paribas and ABN Amro as examples of winners so far. 

“The current operating environment is near ideal for the big lenders: the economy is hanging tough, loan impairments remain modest, net interest margins are holding up well and equity, bond, commodity and currency volatility are helping the investment banking operations at those broad-based firms who have them,” Mould added. 

Oil and gas stocks are the major energy beneficiaries since war broke out in February. 

Britain’s BP on Tuesday reported a sharp upswing in second-quarter profit, as energy supermajors reap massive profits from higher fossil fuel prices amid hostilities between the U.S. and Iran. 

Its shares are up 20% year-to-date.

Luxury goods have struggled this year. Sales in China, which has become responsible for around one-third of global luxury demand over the last decade, and the broader Asian market, have seen a significant slowdown. Analysts also highlight weaker tourism spend and demanding luxury stock valuations accumulated over recent years. There are bright spots, however, particularly in jewelry. Among the sector’s biggest names, LVMH, Hermes and Kering are down 24.43%, 26.05% and 8.31%, respectively, since the start of the year.

European autos are mired in a years-long structural crisis and 2026 has offered little respite. Slowing demand for electric vehicles, lost market share to Chinese competitors and higher borrowing costs have created the perfect storm for the sector over the past five years, as sales volumes continue to slump well below pre-pandemic levels.  

Then, the Stoxx Autos index is down 16% year-to-date. Porsche AG and Stellantis are among the worst performers, falling 27.6% and 48.7%, respectively.