Squawk Box Europe Express

Russian forces near the Ukrainian capital, while conditions within the besieged southern port city of Mariupol worsen following unsuccessful talks between foreign ministers Dmytro Kuleba and Sergei Lavrov. Asian markets are in the red with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng leading the losses following a poor session by tech stocks on Wall Street. Oil is on course to complete its worst-performing week since No...

Ukraine accuses Russia of genocide after its forces bombed a children’s hospital and maternity ward in the southern port city of Mariupol. Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy suggested he has cooled on potential NATO membership ahead of talks between Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Antalya today. The S&P 500 posted its best day since June 2020 an...

The U.S. has banned all imports of Russian oil as sanctions against Moscow are tightened. President Biden has admitted that the move will impact Americans further at the gas pump. As Russian forces inch towards the Ukrainian capital, the director of the CIA, William Burns, warns of “an ugly next few weeks”. In the UK, the House of Commons is addressed by Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy who...

Russia has increased shelling in Ukraine but says it has offered ceasefires in several regions to allow for humanitarian corridors to operate. Kyiv, however, says Russian forces have fired on fleeing civilians. Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy remains in the capital and vows to fight on. U.S. markets closed firmly in the red with the S&P 500 posting its worst session since October 2020....

The U.S. and EU inch closer to banning Russian oil imports, sending crude prices to levels not seen since the Great Financial Crisis. Asian equities plunge as a result with tech, consumer and autos weighing in particular. The Nikkei 225 posts its lowest level since late 2020. In Ukraine, President Volodomyr Zelenskyy accuses Russian forces on firing at civilian evacuation corridors in the besieged...

A fire at Europe’s largest nuclear plant rattles global markets after heavy fighting in Ukraine. Kyiv warns that an explosion at the site could dwarf the Chernobyl disaster ten times over. The U.S. activates its nuclear response team, and the EU’s Energy Commissioner, Kadri Simson, tells CNBC that targeting nuclear facilities would violate global regulations. We are live at NATO headquarters in Br...

The Dow snaps a two-day losing streak and Treasury yields surge after Fed Chair Jerome Powell confirms that a 25-basis point interest rate hike is still likely this month. Crude prices soar to highs not seen in around a decade as OPEC+ nations refuse to veer from a previously agreed gradual output increase. Russia claims to have captured the southern Ukrainian city Kherson, the first of its offens...

President Biden holds his first State of the Union address, slapping Russian President Vladimir Putin’s regime with the closure of U.S. airspace. He also announces an SPR release in a bid to re-balance crude prices which have hit their highest level in almost nine years. In Kiev, Russian airstrikes target the main TV tower as a huge convoy continues to crawl towards the capital. And China has indi...

Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, suffers sustained bombardment after yesterday’s peace talks in Belarus stalled and slowing Russian infantry advances reportedly frustrate Russian President Vladimir Putin. We hear from Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba who says every Russian rouble is now stained with his countrymen’s blood as the West intensifies sanctions on Moscow. French President...

Western allies launch a raft of new measures designed to hobble Russia’s economy following its invasion of Ukraine. Sanctions target the country’s central bank and lenders have been cut out of the SWIFT system. The rouble has collapsed to a fresh record low despite Russian central bank efforts. Russian President Vladimir Putin has placed his nuclear deterrent forces on high alert ahead of proposed...

Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy says Russian bombing has resumed, targeting both military and civilians throughout the country. The nation’s health ministry reports 57 casualties and up to 170 injuries. Western allies have outlined a huge package of sanctions designed to hit up to 70 per cent of Russian banks. However, EU leaders stop short of cutting Russia out of the SWIFT payment system...

President Putin launches a military invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba tells CNBC “this is an attack on the world order” as Kyiv calls an emergency UN Security Council session. President Biden pledges severe sanctions against Russia, and the sentiment is echoed by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz who calls the attack “a dark day for Europe”. Markets sell off with Brent cru...

U.S. President Joe Biden and Western allies impose a barrage of sanctions against the Kremlin and close associates, spooking markets with the S&P 500 sinking into correction territory. As part of the sanctions measures, Germany freezes the certification of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline but former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warns of a “brave new world” of spiralling gas prices in Europe. Th...

President Putin orders his forces into the rebel-held eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, sending Asian equities and U.S. futures into a nosedive. U.S. President Biden signs an executive order to slap sanctions on the breakaway regions, with further action promised – as well as from the UK and the EU. HSBC hikes guidance as FY profits more than double. And U.K. Prime Minister Boris J...

Presidents Biden and Putin agree to in-person talks proposed by French President Emmanuel Macron. The White House, however, says the meeting is contingent on Russia not crossing into Ukrainian territory. Speaking to CNBC at the Munich Security Conference, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz says he believes the West should refrain from revealing its sanctions plan for now – even as Ukraine’s President c...

The Dow suffers its biggest drop of the year, falling more than 600 points on renewed Russian-Ukrainian tensions. The White House claims Moscow is close to engineering a false-flag incident before invading, after border skirmishes. German insurance giant Allianz reports a Q4 loss on the back of a €3.7bn U.S. fund implosion charge. And Tesla CEO Elon Musk causes a storm on Twitter by likening Justi...

We have a slew of European earnings today. British Asia-focused lender Standard Chartered misses on the bottom line despite full-year pre-tax profits more than doubling. French plane maker Airbus smashes FY profit records and resumes dividend payouts. We will also have earnings from Schneider Electric, Commerzbank and Kering. U.S. markets have a mixed session and close flat following the release o...

U.S. equities snap a three-day losing streak as tensions between Russia and Ukraine show some signs of easing. Crude prices remain stable as Russia claims to withdraw some forces from the border, but President Biden warns that the West will remain alert to further moves by Moscow in the region. In China, factory prices surge more than 9 per cent for the year despite inflation figures coming in low...

The U.S. is to temporarily move its embassy from Kyiv to the western Ukrainian city of Lviv after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken warns of a dramatic increase in Russian troops along the border. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is due in Moscow later today for talks with President Putin. The tensions are felt throughout U.S. markets which closed lower and saw the 10-year Treasury yield briefly...

It’s been a weekend of high-end diplomacy throughout Eastern Europe. President Biden has spoken to both President Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodomyr Zelenskyy after U.S. intelligence suggested that a Russian invasion of Ukraine could happen “any day now”. Germany is among more than a dozen nations warning its citizens to leave Ukraine as Chancellor Olaf Scholz prepares to visit Kiev in...

US consumer prices surge to a 40-year high in January, sending the 10-year Treasury yield past the 2 percent mark. But, President Biden tells NBC he still believes price pressures will ease despite persistent inflation prints. Markets respond as yields spike and the Dow drops more than 500 points, with hawkish comments from St. Louis Fed President James Bullard compounding the tech stock losses. M...

Credit Suisse posts a more-than CHf2 billion net loss in the fourth quarter, as the embattled lender claims this will be a "transitional year" following a series of scandals. Net income at Société Générale almost quadruples in the fourth quarter, boosted by strong equity trading revenues as the French lender says it is entering 2022 with confidence. Strong demand in China and the U.S. sees L'Oréal...

Peloton shares surge after the exercise bike maker announces major overhauls, slashing targets, cutting thousands of jobs and installing a new CEO. It’s a busy day for global earnings, with cost pressures affecting most manufacturers. Toyota quarterly profit tanks 20 percent as the world's largest automaker cuts its production targets amid the global semiconductor shortage. Italian lender Banco BP...

Softbank's 66 billion dollar sale of ARM to Nvidia collapses under intense regulatory pressure, with the Japanese investment giant opting to pursue a 2023 IPO for the chip business instead. Still in the chip space, CNBC learns Tesla is tweaking steering components in some made-in-China cars, in a bid to meet sales targets amid the global chip shortage. Meanwhile the SEC subpoenas Tesla over fraud...

Chinese stocks kick off the Year of the Tiger on a high following a strong week on Wall Street, which saw the best performance from the S&P 500 so far this year. U.S. 10-year yields surged to their highest level in more than two years following a far better-than-expected January jobs report. Russia-Ukraine tensions continue to brew with Washington saying that Moscow has lined up to 70 per cent...