Squawk Box Europe Express

Streaming giant Netflix suffers its first subscriber loss in more than a decade as consumers cut back on entertainment and the company forecasts worse to come. CEO Reed Hastings has suggested a cheaper advert-supported plan now “makes a lot of sense”. In banking news, Swiss lender Credit Suisse warns it will take a CHF200m hit in the first quarter through exposure to the war in Ukraine while also...

The World Bank has slashed its global growth outlook for the year as price pressures, the conflict in Ukraine and ongoing lockdowns in China begin to weigh. President David Malpass tells CNBC that it’s up to advanced economies to do more to subdue rampant inflation. St Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard tells us he would not rule out a 75-basis point hike in a single meeting, as the 10-...

JPMorgan sees Q1 profits slump by 42 per cent. The bank’s CEO Jamie Dimon explains that inflation and the war in Ukraine are “powerful forces that threaten the economy” and that could potentially cause recession. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq snap three-day losing streaks as producers prices soar at their fastest rate on record. Federal Reserve governor Christopher Waller says the central bank mu...

U.S. CPI hits its highest level since 1981 with energy and food prices soaring. But the core inflation read provides hope that price pressures may be peaking. President Joe Biden blames Russian president Vladimir Putin for the hike in costs. Biden also labels the Russian invasion of Ukraine as ‘genocide’ for the first time, while Putin declares peace talks with Kiev are at a ‘dead end’.  Sino...

U.S. equities tumble ahead of today’s inflation report with CPI forecast to hit its highest level in 41 years. All non-essential U.S. consular staff are ordered to leave Shanghai whose 25 million residents are locked down, battling the country’s worst Covid outbreak since the start of the pandemic. We speak exclusively to Mercedes Benz chairman, Ola Källenius, who says that the recent co...

Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen advance to the second round of the French presidential elections with both candidates increasing their voting share from 5 years ago. Some polls are predicting a Macron victory within the margin of error, but a member of Le Pen’s Rassamblement National tells CNBC his party is confident it can pick up votes from unsuccessful candidates. We are live in Paris for the...

The UNGA has voted to expel Russia from its Human Rights Council while NATO members have announced additional arms supply to Ukraine. Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has warned that, with the fighting shifting to the Donbas, the conflict is entering a new, intensified phase. In France, last-minute campaigning ahead of the Sunday’s presidential election first round sees Marine Le Pen closing the...

The Fed’s March meeting minutes indicate policy makers might be willing to adopt a more aggressive tightening schedule than previously thought. FOMC members are broadly in agreement to slash $95bn per month from the balance sheet over three months, probably starting in May. Half-point rate hikes are also highly likely to come into effect in future meetings. U.S. equities fall as a result, while th...

The U.S. moves to ban Russian investment and crack down on the country’s banks and state firms. Across the Atlantic, the EU launches a fifth round of sanctions aimed at coal exports and shipping. Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy calls on the UN Security Council to launch Nuremburg-style trials to punish alleged Russian war crimes in his country. Meanwhile, U.S. and Asian markets take a dip,...

Ukraine has accused Russian troops of war crimes after hundreds of civilian deaths were revealed in Kyiv satellite towns. Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy has been joined by world leaders in condemnation of the alleged atrocities. European Union leaders promise more sanctions, while the bloc doubles down on its rejection of President Putin’s decree that all payments for Russian gas be made...

Vladimir Putin issues a presidential decree to demand that “unfriendly” nations pay for energy bills in Russian rubles or have their supplies suspended. We are live on the shores of Lake Como where CEO of the European House Ambrosetti, Valerio De Molli, tells CNBC Europe’s energy strategy in the face of Russian aggression has been “naïve”. In the U.S., President Biden announces he will again tap A...

Crude prices fall on news that President Biden will release the largest ever volume of strategic oil reserves – the third time in six months. There are intelligence reports that Russian military top brass is deliberately misinforming President Vladimir Putin about personnel and territorial losses in Ukraine. Chinese March economic data suffers a double-whammy in March with both manufacturing and s...

Russian negotiators announce there will be a dramatic scale-back of troops around Kiev after Ukraine agrees to take a neutral position regarding NATO membership in exchange for security guarantees. The Istanbul talks are met with scepticism. U.S. President Joe Biden says he is adopting a ‘wait-and-see’ approach. U.S. markets, however, close higher on hopes of tensions easing. Following a short inv...

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba says his country will not trade off its sovereignty but he hopes a ceasefire will result from today’s peace talks in Istanbul. U.S. President Joe Biden doubles down on his ad-libbed comments at the weekend regarding leadership change in Russia. G-7 nations have rejected Russia’s demand to be paid in rubles. German Finance Minister Christian Lindner says he...

Russia and Ukraine are set for renewed peace talks in Istanbul today. The White House battles the fallout from U.S. President Joe Biden’s Warsaw speech, denying it is targeting regime change in Moscow. We speak to TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyannée who says his company will not do business with Russian President Vladimir Putin but defends his refusal to completely write off the company’s Russian...

President Biden warns Russia of a strong response from NATO should it use WMDs in Ukraine. He touted the alliance’s renewed sense of unity, announcing fresh sanctions on Moscow and promising humanitarian aid to Kiev. The NATO, G-7 and EU meetings were dominated by talk of China’s tepid attitude to Russian aggression. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg tells CNBC that Beijing must join the int...

One month after the invasion of Ukraine, NATO leaders hold another emergency meeting in Brussels with new measures expected to be introduced. President Biden is to hold a series of summits with allies promising a serious reinforcement of the bloc’s eastern flank while NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warns of the long-term security consequences of the conflict in Ukraine. Russian President...

The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield spikes to its highest level since 2019 on Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s recent hawkish comments. Asian equities, however, enjoy a three-week high with the Nikkei leading gains for the session. Billionaire investor Carl Icahn warns CNBC of a coming recession “or worse” as runaway U.S. inflation is compounded by the Ukraine invasion. CNBC learns that the EU is now unli...

U.S. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell issues a stark warning about rising inflation, saying he is prepared to ‘move more aggressively’ if necessary. U.S. markets tumble and 10-year Treasury yields hit their highest levels since 2019 as a result. U.S. President Joe Biden believes that as the Ukraine conflict continues, desperation may lead to President Putin to using chemical or biological weapons in the...

Ukraine rejects Russian demands to surrender Mariupol as fighting intensifies in the besieged south-eastern city, while Russian forces cut the region off from the Sea of Azov amid a growing humanitarian crisis. China deflects criticism, insisting it is on the "right side of history" over the invasion of Ukraine, as President Biden warns of consequences if Beijing provides material support to Mosco...

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken dials up the pressure on China ahead of talks between Presidents Biden and Xi, slamming Beijing for refusing to condemn Russian aggression in Ukraine. Nato, meanwhile continues to reinforce its Eastern flank. We are live at an Estonian military base, where the Russian threat seems to have galvanised the alliance. Moscow avoids defaulting on its dollar- denomi...

The U.S. Federal Reserve hikes rates for the first time since 2018 and indicates that there are six more to come in 2022. Wall Street jumps at the close on Chairman Jerome Powell’s assertion that the U.S. will likely avoid a recession. The central bank, however, downgrades growth forecasts while predicting core PCE will hit 4.1% at the end of the year. President Joe Biden calls Russia’s Vladimir P...

Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy says that talks with Moscow are becoming more realistic, admitting that NATO membership is unlikely. Zelenskyy hosted the prime ministers of Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovenia in Kiev. President Biden is to attend an extraordinary meeting with NATO leaders in Brussels next week. Meanwhile, Russia faces its first sovereign default on foreign currenc...

U.S. and Chinese security officials hold seven-hour talks in Rome regarding the invasion of Ukraine but differing accounts of the meeting emerge. U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo tells CNBC there will be no let-up in sanctions pressure on Moscow. In Brussels, EU finance ministers agree to a fourth package of sanctions measures against Russia, including the removal of WTO ‘favoured nati...

Washington and Beijing plan to hold high-level talks in Rome following reports that Russia has approached China for military equipment to support its Ukraine invasion. Moscow has also threatened to honour bond payments in rubles in retaliation to the freezing of more than half of its reserves. IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva says that a Russian default is no longer “improbable”. Russian...