Squawk Box Europe Express

Europe’s biggest bank HSBC warns of challenges ahead after reporting an 18 per cent plunge in third-quarter pre-tax profit. It missed expectations due to a weak performance in the European market but Chief Financial Officer Ewen Stevenson tells CNBC business in Asia is holding up despite the impact of the global trade disputes and unrest in Hong Kong. A 'mixed' picture for electroni...

Market cap wipeout…Amazon shares fall sharply in after-hours trading as the e-commerce giant misses Q3 expectations for the first time in two years due to one-day shipping costs. The tech conglomerate has also predicted a weaker-than-expected holiday season this year. It’s also a busy day for earnings from across the board in Europe. The world’s biggest brewer AB Inbev lowers its guidance, wa...

Farewell Frankfurt…ECB president Mario Draghi prepares his final press conference before stepping aside for Christine Lagarde amid a backdrop of negative rates and weakening data in the euro zone. We are live in Frankfurt to look at his legacy. In corporate news, Tesla shares soar more than 20 per cent following a surprise Q3 beat but Ford slides and cuts its full-year profit forecast, warning of...

Yes, but…U.K. lawmakers vote to approve Boris Johnson's Brexit deal, but reject a three-day timeframe to pass the bill, leaving it up to EU leaders to grant an extension to next week's October 31st deadline. We are live in Westminster and Brussels as both sides react to the latest stalemate. In China, plans are reportedly afoot to replace embattled Hong Kong CEO Carrie Lam following months of...

Brexit block… House of Commons Speaker John Bercow denies Prime Minister Boris Johnson a straight yes or no meaningful vote on the Brexit deal he secured last week, saying that debating the motion would be ‘disruptive’. MPs will today debate the Withdrawal Bill being published by the government. In corporate news, Swiss lender UBS beats Q3 expectations on the bottom line but CEO Sergio E...

Brexit Bedlam…sterling dips following U.K. MPs’ Saturday delay to a vote on the deal struck by Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Brussels last week. The EU has received a forced extension request from No.10 but Johnson remains steadfast and is preparing to table another vote to get the divorce agreement through Parliament and ensure the U.K. leaves the bloc by October 31st. Lebanon is paralyse...

Boris scores a Brexit breakthrough in Brussels. We host a special Brexit Endgame edition of Squawk Box, live from London, Brussels and Belfast. It is now up to Prime Minister Johnson to convince MPs to pass the agreement during an extraordinary parliamentary session scheduled tomorrow in order for EU leaders to officially ratify the deal by October 31st. However, he faces pushback from Northern Ir...

Down to the wire... The U.K. and EU press on with last-ditch talks to try and secure a Brexit deal to present to leaders in Brussels. However, Northern Ireland’s DUP dashes hopes saying it cannot back the current proposal. We are live in Brussels for the latest on this fast-moving story. In the U.S., retail sales slump for the first time in seven months, increasing economic jitters. But on the tra...

Burning the midnight oil – U.K. and EU negotiators hold talks in London and Brussels late into the night, appearing to edge closer to a last-minute withdrawal deal, but certain sticking points remain unresolved. In Hong Kong, vocal protests in the Legislative Council session itself force the territory’s Chief Executive Carrie Lam to deliver her policy address via video link. In Washington, the IMF...

Turkey gets sanctioned. The U.S. imposes immediate penalties on several Turkish ministers and slaps Ankara with a 50 per cent tariff on steel , demanding a halt to its military incursion into Kurdish-held northern Syria. We are live in Istanbul for the latest. U.S. stocks slip and oil prices extend losses as questions arise over the U.S.-China trade deal, despite U.S. Treasury Secretary...

Trade deal light – Asian stocks follow the U.S. into the green after a tentative truce is agreed between Washington and Beijing. President Trump hails the progress but critics suggest concessions have been made to China. Meanwhile, data reveals Chinese imports and exports fell more than expected in September. We are live from Westminster at the start of a crucial week for Brexit, after the UK and...

Trade deal optimism fuels a rally as high-level talks between the U.S. and China get underway and President Trump hails the progress ahead of a planned meeting with Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He later today. In the U.K., sterling jumps to a two-week high against the dollar after Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said he saw a ‘pathway’ to a Brexit deal following positive talks with Prime Minister Bo...

Tit-for-tat becomes tittle-tattle… conflicting messages plague the progress of the U.S.-China trade talks, set to resume today. Asian equities and U.S. futures hold steady after sources tell CNBC that reports talks have collapsed are false. But the Federal Reserve’s September meeting minutes show that trade war concerns continued to weigh on the minds of board members when they voted to cut rates...

Restricted and blacklisted. Asian stocks dip following a sharp plunge on Wall Street after the U.S. administration slaps visa restrictions on Chinese officials for alleged human rights abuses of Xinjiang Uighurs ahead of trade talks tomorrow. The move comes one day after Washington blacklisted 20 Chinese entities, drawing a harsh response from Beijing, which has called on the U.S. to stop interfer...

The charm offensive ends. The Hong Kong Exchange drops its 39 billion dollar bid for the LSE, admitting it failed to convince the London bourse of its ‘strategically compelling’ vision. Asian stocks rise ahead of U.S.-China trade talks later this week, even as Washington blacklists more Chinese firms ahead of a new flashpoint between the two countries after an NBA official sends a tweet...

The Dow jumps more than 350 points after the jobs report puts the economy in a sweet spot, but it's a cautious trade in Asia as investors eye high level U.S.-China trade talks due to restart this week. A report suggests Beijing is looking to narrow the scope of the deal. HSBC is reportedly set to slash up to ten thousand jobs as the lender looks to cut costs under new interim CEO Noel Quinn. It’s...

U.S. equities bounce back following two days of selling off, while weak economic data raises hopes the Federal Reserve will cut rates later this month. We look ahead to the jobs report for more signs. President Trump doubles down on his call for Ukraine to investigate the Bidens and urges China to look into the former Vice-President too, as the impeachment inquiry gets under way. In tech news, Fac...

A new front opens…Washington escalates the trade war, this time hitting the EU with tariffs on up to $7.5bn worth of goods. The U.S. plans to impose a 25% levy on a range of European products, including French wine, Italian cheese and Scottish whisky. The moves comes after the WTO ruled against the EU in a 15-year-old dispute judging the bloc’s subsidies to plane makers Airbus and Boeing to be ill...

An October fright: global stocks see red and the Dow wipes out all of its third-quarter gains on the opening day of Q4 after U.S. manufacturing activity hits a decade-low. In the U.K., Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to reveal his final Brexit ultimatum to the European Union, ruling out asking for any extension should Brussels turn down his offer. Hong Kong experiences further unrest over...

“Reputational damage” – Credit Suisse CEO Tidjane Thiam survives the spying scandal, but the bank’s COO resigns following an internal probe that finds he acted alone in ordering the surveillance of former wealth management chief Iqbal Khan. We report from Zurich as the lender apologises for the affair that has gripped the Swiss banking community. We are also live from Hong Kong and Beijing, w...

Shares in AB Inbev’s Asia Pacific unit jump in its Hong Kong debut, in the second largest IPO of the year. On the city streets, protests turn violent, as police use tear gas and water cannons against anti-government demonstrators ahead of the 70th anniversary of Chinese communist rule. In the U.S., the whistleblower at the heart of the impeachment inquiry into President Trump is set to testif...

Capitol Hill remains front and centre. A whistleblower report alleges President Trump abused his power in a call with Ukraine's leader, and that the White House tried to cover it up. We’re live in Kiev as the U.S. president once again denies any wrongdoing, while the House Intelligence Committee chairman says the complaint provides a roadmap of allegations that need to be investigated. China's ind...

Noted. The White House releases the transcript of the phone call between President Trump and Ukrainian president Volodomyr Zelensky, which reveal the U.S. president asked for help in investigating Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son over links to a Ukrainian energy company. We are live with the latest from Kiev as attention turns to the complaint from the whistleblower - expect...

Impeachment inquiry… U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi launches an official probe into President Trump over alleged abuse of power during a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskiy, saying “no one is above the rule of law.” The news sends the S&P 500 lower, with the index logging its worst day in a month, and garners a furious reaction from Trump who calls the m...

A long goodbye… Outgoing ECB President Mario Draghi says the bank is ready to cut rates again ahead of his final meeting next month. His successor, Christine Lagarde, tells CNBC she is concerned that on-going trade tensions between the US and China will hang over economic growth like a ‘big, dark cloud’. We are live in Westminster ahead of the U.K. Supreme Court ruling over Prime Minister Boris Jo...