Squawk Box Europe Express

As the week-long Chinese Lunar New Year holiday ends and trade restarts, the CSI 300 index nears bull market territory. Renault and Nissan are set to announce the details of their restructured tie-up. Renault is to slash its stake in the Japanese car maker down to 15 per cent. Oil is up on optimism following the end of the Chinese New Year. BP, however, is bearish on the demand outlook and has par...

U.S. markets are up following a slew of economic data and Q4 earnings. Tesla helps bump the Nasdaq up by almost 2 per cent. The American economy grows more than expected in the final quarter of 2022 with hopes that the Federal Reserve can attain a ‘soft landing’. President Biden hails the numbers, saying it proves his economic plan is having a positive effect. Russia launches attacks on several Uk...

Tesla posts a Q4 earnings and revenue beat on both the top and bottom lines, causing the stock price to surge. CEO Elon Musk says price cuts for Tesla cars have boosted demand. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng moves almost 2 per cent as it kicks off the Chinese New Year of the Rabbit. In Japan, the Nikkei is down as BoJ minutes reveal division about the country’s inflation. The U.S. and Germany sign of...

Microsoft stutters in extended trade after it posted the slowest quarterly revenue growth since 2016. The NYSE suffers a technical glitch which stops trade in 251 stocks. Several trades will now be cancelled. Markets closed mixed but the Dow posted its third consecutive session in the green. Tesla CEO Elon Musk tells a California jury he was not bound by any commitments in 2018 when he tweeted he...

U.S. equities rally lead by tech stocks as the market anticipates a 100 per cent chance of the Federal Reserve paring back next week’s rate hike to 25bps. Audio streaming giant Spotify is to announce job cuts of up to 6 per cent as Google boss Sundar Pichai says he had to act decisively in the face of faltering growth. Qatar’s investment arm has upped its share of Credit Suisse as the lender turns...

The IMF hints it may upgrade the global growth outlook for the year as the economic forecast shows early signs of brightening. Speaking during a CNBC panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos, managing director Kristalina Georgieva warned that rising rates could still hamper an upturn. The dollar falls on expectations of less aggressive Fed rate increases while the euro hits a nine-month high aft...

Japanese inflation hits a 41-year high of 4 per cent last month, which is twice the BoJ’s target as the central bank sticks with its ultra-loose policy. We hear from Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte who says he does not believe the U.S. IRA was intended to hurt EU economies but the move has impacted businesses within the bloc. U.S. markets are in the red for the week as jitters over the Federal Res...

There are renewed U.S. recession fears following weaker-than-expected retail and PPI data. Wall Street plunges into the red while the 10-year Treasury yield hits its lowest level since September. Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon, however, tells CNBC he believes sentiment is softening and is hopeful of a softer landing both Stateside and in Europe. Several Fed officials, including James Bullard and...

Stocks in Japan surge as the yen posts its worst session in almost three years and the JGBs fall back as the BoJ insists it will continue its yield curve control procedure. We hear from Polish President Andrzej Duda who says that Russian President Vladimir Putin is on the back foot in Ukraine, calling on allies to further increase support for the nation. German Finance Minister Christian Lindner t...

Chinese annual GDP has come in at its second-worst rate since the Cultural Revolution, growing at only 3 per cent – well below its official 5.5 per cent target. The country’s population also contracted for the first time in six decades. We hear from Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez who says the EU should follow the U.S. lead on fighting inflation and that he hopes a trade war could be avo...

The 10-year JGB breaks the BoJ’s ceiling for a second day while the yen surges. The central bank is now under pressure to begin tightening monetary policy. The IMF has a dire warning ahead of this year’s World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, predicting that economic fragmentation could cause global GDP to fall by up to 7 per cent. On Wall Street, U.S. banks post a mixed set of Q4 results amid inc...

US consumer prices for December plunge at their steepest rate since April 2020. The headline CPI of 6.5 per cent is the smallest annual rise in more than a year. Despite Fed officials Patrick Harker and James Bullard insisting that rates will continue to rise, there are hopes the central bank could start cutting them later this year as inflation eases. In China, December exports hit their lowest l...

Asian markets are at a seven-month high on the back of the Nasdaq’s first four-day rally since last September. Investors are now awaiting the U.S. inflation data later today. In China, the CPI accelerates in line with falling Covid restrictions. However, factory prices are unexpectedly down, hampered by continuing snags in the global supply chain. Disney shares are up on the announcement that Mark...

U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell says he recognises the pain of rising interest rates but insisted that the central bank needs to maintain its independence to successfully make difficult policy decisions. The Hang Seng leads Asian markets into the green as China continues to reopen follow. The World Bank cuts its global growth forecast almost by half warning that the economy is on pace...

The New Year Wall Street rally stumbles with the Dow and S&P 500 closing in the red after the Fed Reserve’s Raphael Bostic and Mary Daly confirm that although hikes will slow the terminal rate will likely surpass the 5 per cent mark. Markets in China pull back somewhat following the reopening bounce. State officials say that several regions are now past the peak of Covid infections. Pfizer CEO...

U.S. indices rally to their best daily performance since November as a favourable December jobs reports raises hopes of a soft landing Stateside. CNBC hears exclusively from Atlanta Federal Reserve President Raphael Bostic who says that the pace of hikes could slow if there are signs of loosening in the labour market. Asian markets are in the green as China opens its borders and scraps Covid quara...

Stronger-than-expected employment data Stateside fuels concerns about further Fed tightening, pushing U.S. markets into the red. Kansas City Federal Reserve President Esther George tells CNBC that she believes rates will stay higher until at least 2024. In China, mortgage rules are loosened to help boost a flagging property sector and authorities are reportedly prepared to ease ‘three red line’ li...

The Federal Reserve signals that it will maintain rates at a higher level for longer following the release of December’s FOMC meeting’s minutes. It is expected to slow the pace of hikes while ruling out any cuts this year. U.S. markets are in the green for the first time this year amid a dip in manufacturing activity and a strong employment scenario. China’s service sector contracts for the fourth...

Apple’s market cap falls below $2tn on the first trading day of the year as shares slump. The iPhone maker’s decline continues into 2023 after a year which saw its valuation drop by $1tn. Tesla misses Q4 delivery estimates, causing shares to slump 12 per cent. CEO Elon Musk now faces an investor backlash over demand and supply chain concerns. Forecasts of warmer winter temperatures push U.S. and E...

Global markets start the new year positively after Wall Street posted its worst-performing year since 2008. IUMF Managing director Kristalina Georgieva has warned of a tough 12 months ahead. Chinese manufacturing activity at state firms hovers near a three-year low following the abolition of Covid regulations. President Xi Jinping has told his nation that the next phase in its Covid response would...

U.S. markets end 2023 in the green with the S&P500 recording its best day all month and the Nasdaq claws back some of December’s losses. However, Wall Street as a whole is still on track to mark its most torrid year since the Great Financial Crisis. In China stocks are up despite the country suffering a huge Covid exit wave with several nations imposing travel restrictions on Chinese nationals...

Equities around the world continue to pull back at year-end. U.S. markets are set for their worst year since 2008, amid the backdrop of China’s post-Covid reopening. Several Asian nations, the U.S. and Italy re-impose testing demands on Chinese travellers following positive Covid results among 50 per cent of passengers arriving on two flights in Milan. Exxon is taking the EU to court over its...

U.S. markets make a tepid return to trade as the China re-opening rally stutters. The S&P500 is now on course for its seventh-worst year ever. As Beijing unwinds its zero-Covid restrictions, the Hang Seng outperforms in Asia. Hong Kong is reportedly set scrap its Covid testing and vaccine mandate rules for international travellers. Russia has vowed to ban oil sales to any country abiding by th...

China scraps its quarantine rules for international travellers as its continues to wind back Covid restrictions, marking its biggest push yet towards reopening its borders since the pandemic. Violent blizzards hit much of the U.S. through the Christmas weekend, with tens of thousands of homes left without power and scores of flights grounded. Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba says Kyiv woul...

U.S. equities see the sell-off resume, killing off hope of a Santa Clause rally with tech stocks leading the losses. Billionaire investor David Tepper tells CNBC he is bearish on stocks. Tesla shares are down almost 9 per cent on demand concerns but manages to claw back some losses in extended trade. CEO Elon Musk will now not sell off any more shares until 2025. Border Force staff in the UK go on...