Squawk Box Europe Express

Europe and Wall Street notch their best quarter since 2020 with tech and A.I. stocks leading the gains. The energy sector continues to suffer amid Middle East uncertainty. The euro zone’s largest economies see June inflation slowing but Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey tells CNBC he is frustrated the conflict with Iran is still keeping prices high. We are live at the ECB Forum in Sintra host...

We are live at the Sintra Forum where ECB President Christine Lagarde has backed the central bank’s decision to hike rates in June as necessary to rein in inflation. However, Lagarde insists ‘unconventional instruments’ are no longer needed since the last inflation shock. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that President Trump does not currently have the power to remove Federal Reserve governor Lisa...

The U.S.-Iran peace deal falters over the weekend but a U.S. official tells CNBC hostilities have abated with talks set to resume in Doha tomorrow. European and U.S. futures are up on de-escalation hopes but crude prices hover around the $70 per barrel mark. In autos news, Volkswagen announces it will cut 100,000 jobs. We hear from the CEO of Germany’s state-owned bank KfW Stefan Wintels who says...

European equities end the week as Asian markets continue to sell off sharply. Apple and Microsoft announce price rises as the A.I. race constrains chip supplies and prompts concern over higher inflation. The UN’s International Maritime Organisation suspends vessel escort operations through the Strait of Hormuz following an attack on a container ship in the Gulf of Oman. U.S. officials have blamed...

Equities in Asia are boosted by the chip sector through positive earnings from Micron and SK Hynix’s announcement it plans a $30bn listing on the Nasdaq. Brent dips to levels last seen before the conflict in the Gulf as the Strait of Hormuz reopens. Futures indicate the world may soon be facing an oil glut. UK Prime Minister in waiting Andy Burnham is reportedly planning an overhaul of No.10 and t...

The global tech sell-off continues with U.S. memory and A.I. related companies firmly in the red as investors reassess the A.I. boom. Micron is set to deliver its results later today. Strait of Hormuz traffic returns to its highest level since the start of the conflict in late February and U.S. President Donald Trump accuses oil companies of not lowering gas pump prices in line with falling crude....

Britain will have a seventh prime minister in a decade following yesterday’s resignation by Sir Keir Starmer. Newly elected Makerfield MP Andy Burnham could be handed the keys to No.10 in less than a month time should no challenger step forward. SpaceX sheds almost half a trillion dollars of its market cap in Monday’s session with further sell-offs seen among other tech mega-caps. South Korea’s KO...

Peace talks between the U.S. and Iran conclude in Switzerland for the time being with an agreement to reach a final deal within 60 days. The talks had been hampered by President Trump’s renewed threats to strike Iran and Tehran’s resealing of the Strait of Hormuz. Crude prices tumble following Iran’s announcement it would be resuming oil and petrochemical exports. Asian equities bounce on the news...

Andy Burnham wins the Makerfield by-election, returning him to Parliament and setting up a leadership challenge against U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer. In geopolitics, U.S.-Iran talks today are called off after U.S. Vice President JD Vance cancels his trip to Switzerland, as the administration hits back at criticism of the deal from both sides of the aisle. Meanwhile, OPEC welcomes an interim ag...

The U.S. and Iran both sign their MOU for their peace framework. Crude prices tumble with hopes growing that the Strait of Hormuz will now re-open. President Trump warns the U.S. will reserve the right to retaliate should Tehran violate the deal. The Federal Reserve holds rates steady during Kevin Warsh’s first decision as chairman of the central bank, but officials say hikes loom later in the yea...

More details of the U.S.-Iran peace agreement framework have been revealed with reports of a $300bn investment fund for Tehran along with renewed export capacities. We are live at the G7 summit in Evian, France where President Trump has said the deal also guaranteed Iran would no longer possess nuclear armament capabilities. A.I. and security are also in focus at the G7 with various top tech execu...

U.S. President Donald Trump arrives at the G7 summit in Evian, France, touting a win via the signing of a peace framework with Iran. The deal extends the ceasefire by 60 days and re-opens the Strait of Hormuz. Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy is also at the summit and is due to meet leaders with EU membership discussions on the agenda. The BoJ lifts its benchmark interest rate to 1 per cent...

The U.S. and Iran agree to a plan to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Negotiations about Iran’s nuclear capabilities will be discussed over the next 60 days. Crude prices fall back towards the $80-mark as President Trump declares ‘let the oil flow’. Asian equities move firmly into the green with European and U.S. futures also set to move higher. The U.S. moves to limit access to Anthro...

Global investors eagerly anticipate today’s SpaceX IPO – the biggest in history – with the company raising $75bn ahead of listing. President Trump postpones strikes on Iran, saying a peace agreement could be signed as early as this weekend. Tehran has responded that a deal has not been finalised despite Trump’s claims it has the Ayatollah’s backing. Renewed talk of peace in the Gulf sparks a tech-...

The U.S. and Iran exchange fire for a second night with Iran targeting U.S. bases in the Gulf, vowing to target any vessels crossing the Strait of Hormuz. President Trump has voiced frustration over stalling peace negotiations. Wall Street closes in the red as investors fret over A.I. valuations, tech and surging inflation. Asian equities and European futures have followed suit. A rate hike from t...

The U.S. and Iran exchange fire following the downing of an American Apache helicopter over the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran claims to have targeted U.S. bases in Jordan, Kuwait and Bahrain as a result. Asian markets see the tech sell-off gathering pace with trade on South Korea’s KOSPI briefly pausing. The negative sentiment has infected European and American markets, which are due to start the day i...

OpenAI decides to confidentially file to list with a reported target valuation of $1tn. Perplexity CEO Arvand Srinivas tells CNBC he hopes to take his company public in the medium term and that the success of larger companies will benefit his firm’s own growth. Israel and Iran announce they are halting attacks but leave the door open to a resumption in hostilities with President Trump sounding a p...

Israel and Iran have exchanged fire for the first time since April which pushes oil futures higher and potentially jeopardizing a peace agreement. The A.I. sell-off on Friday continues into the new week with South Korea’s KOSPI tripping circuit breakers. A stellar U.S. jobs print raises the chance of a rate hike but President Trump remains committed to lowering interest rates. In Italy, Intes...

Bankers tap the extraordinary valuation of SpaceX ahead of its listing next week. Goldman Sachs has reportedly forecast a 100-fold revenue increase by 2030 for the company. However, S&P Dow Jones Indices has ruled out a fast-track to the S&P 500, diverging from rivals Nasdaq. The AI rally stutters with the Nasdaq suffering a second day of losses while in Asia, the KOSPI nosedives. The head...

SpaceX eyes a valuation of almost $1.8tn at its listing next week. It has marketed more than half a billion shares at $135 which will make it the largest IPO of all time. The U.S. equity markets end a five-day winning streak with oil falling back. Renewed tensions in the Gulf come as negotiators attempt to broker a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu tells...

SpaceX is reportedly planning a float share price of $135, eyeing around a $75bn IPO raise. However, Morningstar analysts believe the figure is hugely overpriced while Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon tells our colleagues Stateside he believes that markets are living in a moment of ‘greed’. The U.S. proposes fresh tariffs on up to 60 countries it believes have failed to ban imports made with forced...

Anthropic is joining the A.I. IPO race, filing confidentially following last week’s latest funding session revealed the company being valued at close to $1tn. However, Open AI’s Sam Altman tells CNBC he is not rushing to list his company. We speak exclusively to Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son who says the A.I. revolution is the biggest mankind has ever experienced. President Trump tells CNB he is unfa...

We are live in Paris where Japan’s Softbank has pledged up to €75bn for Europe’s largest A.I. data centre project. Asian chip stocks are in the green as investors eye potential meetings with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang at the Computex trade show in Taipei. Brent crude inches higher on the news Israeli forces push deeper into Lebanon. France has called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Counci...

Oil dips after a White House official says the U.S. and Iran are close to a temporary peace agreement. Vice President JD Vance says he feels ‘pretty good’ about how negotiations are progressing. Today’s fall in crude prices are close to 20 per cent on the month. Equities in the U.S. have ended a stellar month of May while European markets lag behind. A.I. giant Anthropic builds up its latest round...

Oil prices whipsaw with Brent up almost 3 per cent following an Iranian missile and drone attack on a U.S. air base in Kuwait. The strikes were followed by the U.S. targeting of a ground control station in Bandar-e-Abbas just hours after optimistic peace talks comments from U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio had pushed crude lower. Federal Reserve governors Neel Kashkari and Austan Gool...