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STOXX 600 up 0.3%
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Oil leads gainers
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Eyes on Powell speech
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U.S. stock futures edge up
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ENERGY UPLIFT FOR THE STOXX (0919 GMT) Support from energy stocks following BP's record profit and stronger oil prices is giving a small lift to the STOXX 600 , offsetting weakness in the tech sector and muted moves elsewhere as traders tread carefully given the uncertainty over the outlook for interest rates. The pan-European index is last up 0.3%. Oil & gas is the biggest sectoral gainer, up 1.4%, while tech dips slightly, weighed down by double-digit drops in ams-Osram and Nordic Semi after disappointing results. Banks are again in demand after BNP Paribas lifted its 2025 targets and proposed a $5 bln share buyback, in the latest sign of improving prospects for the rate-sensitive sector. Shares in the euro zone's No.1 lender are last up 1.4%. Here's your opening snapshot:
(Danilo Masoni)
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EUROPE EYES STEADY START (0739 GMT)
European shares look set to stabilise this morning following Monday's losses with investors awaiting a speech by Fed Chair Jerome Powell later in the day for fresh hints on the monetary policy outlook after rate hike jitters resurfaced.
EuroSTOXX 50 futures are up 0.2% and U.S. contracts are also pointing to a steady start for Wall Street, while in Asia, shares stabilised after steep losses in the past 24 hours. Meanwhile, the European earnings season is still keeping investors busy. BNP Paribas posted lower-than-expected quarterly profits as a jump of its cost of risk and higher operating expenses offset a boom in its trading sales. The euro zone's biggest lender however, raised its 2025 targets and announced a 5 billion-euro share buyback. UK oil major BP reported a record profit of $28 billion in 2022 and as increased its dividend by 10% in a sign of confidence in the market's continued strength. Downbeat numbers in tech with traders pointing to ams-Osram and Nordic Semiconductor missing revenue forecast and quarterly core profit estimates respectively. Eyes also on Bayer after Reuters reported that investor Jeff Ubben has contacted fellow shareholders in an apparent attempt to rally support for big changes at the drugs-to-pesticides company.
(Danilo Masoni)
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MARKET TO CHATGPT: WHAT'S POWELL GOTTA SAY? (0656 GMT)
Investors are just about coming to terms with the
eye-popping payrolls number from Friday, but with Fed Chair
Jerome Powell due to speak later in the day, the market will
ponder which Powell will turn up (the hawk or the dove). Perhaps
ChatGPT has the answer.
Google owner Alphabet unveiled a rival to super popular ChatGPT, saying it will launch a chatbot service named 'Bard'. And so the battle for generative AI, technology that can create prose or other content on command and free up white-collar workers' time, heats up, with Microsoft planning its own AI reveal for Tuesday. The meteoric rise of ChatGPT, a chatbot from Microsoft-backed OpenAI, has also helped attract retail investors in other smaller firms as artificial intelligence becomes the latest buzzword on Wall Street. (More than 20 years after AI the movie was released)
The main event in Asia was Australia's central bank raising its cash rate by 25 basis points to a decade-high of 3.35% and reiterating that further increases would be needed to fight inflation. The Aussie dollar spiked higher, while short term bonds tumbled. Asian shares held their ground while the rally in the U.S. dollar took a breather on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, a deadly earthquake killed more than 3,700 people across a swathe of Turkey and northwest Syria, sending Turkey's lira to a record low.
Before Powell takes centre stage and hogs the limelight, Bank of England's Huw Pill is also due to speak and his comments on monetary policy will likely move markets. Key developments that could influence markets on Tuesday:
Economic events: U.K. Halifax house prices for January, Swiss unemployment data
Speakers: Bank of England's Huw Pill, ECB's Peter Kazimir and Klaas Knot and Fed Chair Powell
Earnings: BNP Paribas SA Q4 results
(Ankur Banerjee)
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