Squawk Box Europe Express

U.S. President Joe Biden announces the first emergency SPR release in a decade. More than 50mn barrels will be freed up in a bid to blunt spiking prices. In Germany, the new coalition government is expected to be unveiled today, after an impasse over who would lead the Bundesbank, and a last-minute intervention from acting Chancellor Angela Merkel. A massive sell-off of the Turkish lira sends it t...

U.S. President Joe Biden renominates Jay Powell for a second term as Federal Reserve Chair. Lael Brainard gets the nod for Vice-Chair, after weeks of speculation that as the Fed Board’s only Democrat she could have been chosen for the top job. Biden stressed the need for the central bank’s continued neutrality and independence. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq hit fresh record highs but investors ar...

Anti-lockdown protests spread throughout Europe, with violent scenes rocking Brussels, Vienna and Amsterdam as cases continue to spike across the continent. A coalition government agreement in Germany is imminent with key roles for the FDP’s Christian Lindner and the Greens’ Annalena Baerbock and Robert Habeck. In corporate news, U.S. private equity giant KKR launches a €10.8 bn bid to take Teleco...

Germany unveils new restrictions limiting movement for the unvaccinated in a bid to curb further Covid infections, amid a spike in Europe. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq hit new record highs with investors awaiting the result of President Biden’s choice for Federal Reserve chair. Meanwhile, Chinese online retail giant Alibaba sees shares nosedive as it posts a quarterly miss and slashes its guidan...

Crude prices dip after OPEC and the IEA warn that supplies are building up, and the U.S. investigates whether prices are being manipulated, with President Biden calling for major consuming nations to release their reserves. In tech news, Nvidia beats expectations on strong demand for its AI chips but Cisco misses, cutting its full year guidance. Acting German Chancellor Angela Merkel says her coun...

Strong U.S. retail sales for October drive Wall Street gains as robust consumer spending continues despite rising prices. U.S. President Joe Biden is set to reveal the next Federal Reserve Chairman this week while CNBC hears from Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo, who says inflation will remain high all the while Covid is rampant. The fallout from Shell’s d...

U.S. President Joe Biden holds his first direct talks with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, and warns relations between the two nations should not descend into conflict. Cryptocurrencies slide as the U.S. infrastructure bill is signed into law. The Dutch government launches a last-ditch effort to convince Shell not to shift its tax base to the UK. Tesla CEO El...

A last-minute commitment to phase down the use of coal at Cop 26 in Glasgow has been undermined by China and India, both of whom say the use of fossil fuels is key to economic growth. Unexpectedly strong retail numbers in China boost October consumer data, while industrial output for the month was also higher. U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping are set to hold...

COP26 enters its final day with countries yet to agree on a 1.5°C limit to global warming. The UN’s Secretary General says the goal is on ‘life support,’ while COP President Alok Sharma warns time is running out. Presidents Xi and Biden will reportedly meet virtually on Monday—right as the U.S. President ramps up restrictions on Chinese tech. EV maker Rivian is now worth more than General Motors,...

U.S. consumer prices rise at their fastest pace in over 30 years in October, jumping 6.2% and pushing yields higher, while major indices close in the red. Disney shares drop after the bell, as the House of Mouse reports lower Disney+ subscribers than expected, and posts its first earnings miss since the beginning of the pandemic. But, CEO Bob Chapek reaffirms his guidance and expansion plans to CN...

China's factory gate prices hit a record high in October, inflated by rising raw material costs and continued supply chain concerns. U.S. producer prices also hit record levels, as attention turns to the crucial CPI data due today - while the Fed's James Bullard tells CNBC, exclusively, that the central bank is positioned to hike rates next year if needed. Rivian prices its IPO above the range, va...

The S&P breaks 4,700 for the first time, and the major indices close at record highs as infrastructure stocks pop on the back of President Biden's big spending bill. But Asian shares are mixed Tuesday, despite a surge in Softbank, after the group yields to investor pressure and unveils a $9 billion stock buyback. Crypto surges, with heavyweights Bitcoin and Ether both hitting new all-time high...

President Biden's $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill passes the House of Representatives after months of political infighting, with a vote on the larger 'Build Back Better' bill in the days ahead. Wall Street hits record highs, as investors cheer a massively improved jobs report. But a slump in tech valuations across Softbank’s Vision Fund pushes it into the red for the second quarter, as the Japan...

Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey hits back at criticism the central bank mislead markets after the surprise decision to keep rates on hold, telling CNBC the central bank hasn’t ever said it would raise rates this month. US jobless claims hit a fresh pandemic-era low, as attention turns to the nonfarm payrolls report, with 450,000 jobs expected to be added. OPEC+ nations dismiss US pressure t...

The Federal Reserve says it will start tapering its massive Covid-era stimulus programme and to slow bond-buying from this month. However, a rate hike is not on the cards. Meanwhile, the Bank of England is potentially willing to raise rates in the face of surging inflation, but the MPC vote is likely to be split with some members pushing to delay the move until December. A couple of big European l...

President Joe Biden slams Chinese President Xi Jinping’s decision not to attend the Cop26 climate summit and says that no date has yet been set for the pair to meet. We hear from BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, who says that the private sector risks ‘massive market arbitrage’ should it not catch up with public sector action on climate change. The Fed inches closer to tapering as markets hold at fre...

More than 100 nations attending the Cop26 summit in Glasgow have signed up to a deforestation pledge. We hear from U.S. climate envoy John Kerry who says negotiations so far have been ‘encouraging’. India’s Prime Minister has made one of the first major commitments of the conference, vowing to take his country to net zero emissions by 2070. Meanwhile, we have quarterly results from Standard Charte...

We are live in Glasgow, Rome and London ahead of the landmark COP26 summit. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson says humanity must not flinch in the face of the climate change. However, U.S. President Joe Biden voiced disappointment at the slow progress seen during the G20 in Rome and lashed out at the lack of climate commitment from China, Russia and Saudi Arabia. Washington and Brussels agree on lif...

Apple fails to beat quarterly earnings expectations for the first time in 5 years. Despite Q3 revenue jumping by nearly 30 per cent, the tech giant has felt supply chain bottlenecks bite on phone and computer sales. Amazon also misses forecasts as the pandemic-era e-commerce effect begins to wane and consumers start switching back to physical stores. Its outlook for the Christmas period ahead also...

Airbus boosts its FY guidance as profits dip less than forecast on the back of pandemic belt-tightening. Shell faces activist investor ire as hedge fund Third Point reportedly builds a $750m stake and demands a break-up of the company’s assets. In Canada, the central bank ditches its Covid-era bond-buying programme while European markets await today’s ECB rate decision. We also have a slew of Q3 e...

Google parent Alphabet posts record Q3 profits on the back of strong advertising sales, but its shares trade lower in extended hours despite the company shrugging off any perceived impact from Apple’s iOS changes. Microsoft also beats expectations on strong cloud performance – its best quarterly sales growth in 3 years. Meanwhile, Chinese industry reports booming profit growth in the face of suppl...

Swiss lender UBS smashes Q3 forecasts, with pre-tax profit surging by more than 30 per cent. Facebook earnings top expectations and the company increases its share buyback programme, but the numbers are overshadowed by whistleblower Frances Haugen’s testimony to UK lawmakers in which she accused the social media giant of political bias and putting profits over online user safety. Facebook has hit...

Europe’s largest lender, HSBC, posts stellar Q3 results with a 74 per cent surge in profits and announces a £2bn share buyback programme. CFO Ewen Stevenson tells CNBC the bank is well positioned for any interest rate hikes. Meanwhile, Italy’s attempts to save distressed lender BMPS takes a hit after discussions between Unicredit and the state treasury collapse. Evergrande sees shares spike for it...

The S&P 500 closes at a record high – the seventh consecutive day in the green – boosted by Tesla’s performance. However, IBM shares close nearly 10 per cent lower, pushing the Dow to close lower on the day. In China, property giant Evergrande has reportedly paid a key interest payment, bumping shares higher and raising hopes in the sector that the company can avoid a default. European corpora...

Strong U.S. earnings push the Dow to a new intra-day high, while Bitcoin hits its own record. Tesla shares sink in extended trade after the EV maker issues a warning about supply chain problems affecting margins. In France, retail giant Carrefour holds its FY cashflow outlook steady despite taking a hit from Covid restrictions. And Swiss-Swedish robotics and...