Squawk Box Europe Express

HSBC leads a slew of earnings on both sides of the pond with the UK lender posting its best quarter since the start of the pandemic as profits surge 79 per cent. CFO Ewen Stevenson tells CNBC shareholders can expect dividend payouts once again. UBS also has a strong Q1 but results were dented by a CHF434m hit from exposure to the collapse of Archegos. Stateside, Tesla posts a record first quarter....

Asian equities hit a six-week high to kick off a week when more than a third of companies listed on the S&P 500 are set to report Q1 earnings and markets await the Fed’s rate decision. Meanwhile, India continues to suffer from record Covid case and death levels over the weekend. Hospitals are overwhelmed and oxygen in short supply as the UK announces it is shipping urgent medical equipment to...

U.S. equities tumble with the Dow leading losses on the news that President Biden is set to hike capital gains tax to more than 40 per cent. Biden also held a virtual world leaders’ climate summit where he pledged the U.S. would slash its carbon emissions in half within a decade, reasserting the nation’s commitment to tackling climate change. Meanwhile, the pandemic rages on in India, which saw a...

Credit Suisse slumps to a CHF252m Q1 loss with CEO Thomas Gottstein calling the Archegos and Greensill scandal-linked losses “unacceptable”. The Dow regains more than 300 points and the Nasdaq bounces back by 1 per cent on strong pandemic recovery stocks. Airbus reorganises aero-parts production lines in France and Germany in a bid to cut costs. President Biden’s environmental summit is set to beg...

Asian markets mirror losses Stateside. The Dow posts Wall Street’s biggest declines as virus-related pessimism overshadows strong corporate earnings. Netflix, however, is not among the positive performers. Its shares plunge in after-hours trading following faltering subscription numbers as lockdowns ease. Kering, however, tops Q1 sales expectations, spearheading the luxury sector’s revival. The Fr...

Armin Laschet wins the CDU’s nomination for German Chancellor, moving one step closer to succeeding Angela Merkel. U.S. equities are lower as tech stocks stumble following a deadly driverless Tesla car crash in Houston. Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping addresses the Boao Forum, calling for global cooperation and equitable governance to avoid a new ‘Cold War’. In autos news, BMW releases a s...

The S&P 500 and Dow close the past week at new record highs following a strong start to the U.S. corporate earnings season, ahead of another week of key numbers. Meanwhile, pandemic deaths have reached the grim milestone of 3 million deaths worldwide. India alone has recorded up to 250,000 new infections in a single day. Research is ongoing to assess future risks from the virus, with Oxford Un...

Chinese Q1 GDP growth soars by a record-breaking 18.3 per cent on the year but falls short of analysts’ expectations. Strong U.S. earnings have pushed the Dow over 34,000 for the first time. Retail sales are also up by almost 10 per cent and first-time jobless figures hit a one-year low. Daimler posts a surprise jump in Q1 earnings as it unveils its flagship electric car, the EQS. However, CEO Ola...

Cryptocurrency trading platform Coinbase closes a dramatic inaugural day on the Nasdaq below its debut price after rallying to more than $400 a share. U.S. earnings season kicks off with big beats for Wall Street banks. Goldman Sachs posts a record Q1 net profit and revenue number. Unicredit is set to formerly unveil Andrea Orcel as its new CEO today but his €7.5m pay packet remains controver...

Rare blood clot incidents force Johnson & Johnson to pause the use of their vaccine in the U.S. where health officials have scrambled to reassure the public. The safety concerns also have implications for the rollout of the dose throughout the EU where it has been temporarily stopped just 24 hours since deliveries began. U.S. equities mostly shrug off the news, with the S&P 500 hitting rec...

China March exports rise by more than a third while imports come in at their fastest pace in four years. In Germany, the race to replace Angela Merkel as Chancellor heats up with the CDU’s Armin Laschet vying against CSU leader Markus Söder, who is pulling ahead in the polls. The U.S. is readying itself for key inflation data and first-quarter corporate earnings are also due, which weigh on Wall S...

The race for the German chancellery heats up after the CSU chairman and Bavarian minister-president Markus Söder throws his hat in the ring against the CDU’s Armin Laschet. Party leaders are set to decide on their preferred candidates today. Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell has said that the U.S. economy is at an ‘inflection point’ despite pockets of recovery risk remaining. The Do...

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell warns a CNBC IMF Spring Meeting panel that the pandemic will leave permanent scarring on the global jobs market but that an inflation hike will only be temporary. Vaccine access and recovery trajectories are also dominating the discussion. IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva says that poorer countries must not be left behind. Australia acknowledges the...

The UK has changed its guidance for the AstraZeneca Covid vaccine following reported rare blood clots. Younger recipients will now be offered an alternative dose but the British medical authorities say the benefits still outweigh any risks. The European Medical Agency has acknowledged a possible link between the vaccine and the side effects but has not age-restricted the jab on the Continent. In t...

CNBC launches Germany: Engine of Europe with the country’s finance minister Olaf Scholz telling the channel exclusively that Europe requires a streamlined and united front in tackling the COVID pandemic. The IMF raises its post-pandemic global guidance, saying that China’s response has driven growth but warns that asymmetrical vaccine rollouts will provide ‘daunting challenges’ ahead. According to...

Credit Suisse takes drastic action, axing 2 top executives, cutting its dividend, halting its share buy-back plan and slashing bonuses as the bank warns the Archegos fallout will cost $4.7bn. On Wall Street, a strong March jobs number and a service sector activity spike buoy the Dow and the S&P 500. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen announces the Biden’s administration return to the world s...

U.S. President Joe Biden unveils his massive $2tn infrastructure programme, which promises millions of jobs as part of a “once in a generation investment”. However, he’s immediately facing resistance over the tax hikes required to foot the bill. As March closes, U.S. equities have marked out their fourth consecutive positive quarter. Meanwhile, China’s post-virus recovery seems to stutter with the...

Recovering global demand pushes Chinese factory activity to expand at its fastest rate in three months. On the other side of the Pacific, U.S. markets are jittery as the 10-year yield reaches a 14-month high and the fallout from the Archegos collapse continues. JPMorgan warns that the banking sector could be hit for up to $10bn as a result. President Biden is set to outline his multi-trillion-doll...

Billions of dollars of losses on Wall Street are exposed to the Archegos Capital fire sale fallout, with Nomura, Viacom and Discovery following Credit Suisse into the red. In Washington, President Biden aims to stave off CDC warnings of a late winter surge, saying 90 per cent of Americans will be eligible for Covid vaccines within the next month. Global sea trade resumes along the Suez Canal after...

Almost a week after running aground, the giant container ship the Ever Given is at least partially refloated, but the backlog of vessels in the Suez Canal remains. Oil prices fall as a result with traders pricing in the re-opening of supply routes. In the U.S., futures dip after seeing a record high during Friday’s session, which was dominated by a fire sale from Archegos Capital. Meanwhile, fears...

Asian equities are in the green, mirroring Wall Street gains after President Biden says his rescue plan is working and the U.S. recovery is burgeoning. The European Union backs down from a vaccine export ban but Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen repeats calls for AstraZeneca to honour its delivery commitments to the bloc. The Ever Given container ship continues to block the Suez Canal, wit...

AstraZeneca has revised down vaccine efficacy data after doubts were raised over its U.S. trial results. The pharma giant is also at the centre of the ongoing vaccine export row between the UK and EU. But, London and Brussels are looking to ease tensions and ramp up supplies across the continent. In market news, U.S. equities fall with the Nasdaq leading declines, despite 10-year treasury yields a...

CNBC speaks exclusively to BIS general manager Agustin Carstens who says that clarity will come with rate normalisation but that investors should heed calls for patience. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell testify jointly in a bid to reassure Congress over asset valuations and recovery jitters. On the one-year anniversary of the bull market, U.S. stocks...

On the anniversary of the ECB’s emergency bond-buying programme, we hear exclusively from the central bank’s chief economist Philip Lane who says Treasury volatility will not necessarily spill over to Europe. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell are set to testify before Congress over the $1.9tn pandemic rescue bill. Meanwhile, President Biden is reportedly...

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is to confront EU leaders over threats to block AstraZeneca vaccine exports to Britain. Meanwhile the bloc’s two biggest economies face further Covid restrictions due to spiralling cases. Germany is set to extend the national lockdown for a fifth month and quarantine all arrivals into the country. The Turkish lira plunges to a record low against the greenback after...