Advertisement
UK markets closed
  • NIKKEI 225

    37,552.16
    +113.55 (+0.30%)
     
  • HANG SENG

    16,828.93
    +317.24 (+1.92%)
     
  • CRUDE OIL

    83.41
    +1.51 (+1.84%)
     
  • GOLD FUTURES

    2,342.70
    -3.70 (-0.16%)
     
  • DOW

    38,501.31
    +261.33 (+0.68%)
     
  • Bitcoin GBP

    53,618.11
    +214.15 (+0.40%)
     
  • CMC Crypto 200

    1,436.36
    +21.60 (+1.53%)
     
  • NASDAQ Composite

    15,721.37
    +270.06 (+1.75%)
     
  • UK FTSE All Share

    4,378.75
    +16.15 (+0.37%)
     

LIVE MARKETS-European futures higher even after Intel warning

Welcome to the home for real-time coverage of European equity markets brought to you by Reuters stocks reporters and anchored today by Josephine Mason. Reach her on Messenger to share your thoughts on market moves: josephine.mason.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net

EUROPEAN FUTURES HIGHER EVEN AFTER INTEL WARNING (0744 GMT)

Futures for euro zone benchmarks are pointing to a pretty buoyant open this morning, with the headline EuroStoxx 50 up more than 0.6 percent after hitting their highest level since December 5. Germany's DAX futures are up as much as 0.8 pct.

FTSE futures are underperforming as the strong sterling drags.

ADVERTISEMENT

So far, the markets appear to be shrugging off Intel (Euronext: INCO.NX - news) 's profit and sales warning and Q4 sales miss which has further stoked fears of stagnating smartphone demand and a cooling Chinese economy after sales warnings from Apple (NasdaqGS: AAPL - news) , Samsung and Taiwan Semiconductor earlier this month.

European chip stocks, battered after the nasty headlines, rallied yesterday as investors focused on STMicro's upbeat outlook for the second half of the year and ignored the gloomy Q1 guidance. Whether that will continue today is not clear.

Investors are also bracing for a heavy newsflow next week - U.S-China trade talks,FEd meeting and Brexit vote in the UK on Tuesday - that could determine direction amid shaky market confidence.

"There's been a lot of speculation of the last couple of weeks and Wilbur Ross' claim that the two sides are “miles and miles” from a deal with “lots and lots of issues” isn’t going to fill people with confidence," says Oanda analyst Craig Erlam.

"Still, these negotiations do typically come with posturing from both sides and investors may will willing to look through it, with previous commentary being much more positive."

There was mixed news from the telecoms sector: Ericsson (Hanover: ERCB.HA - news) 's shares were expected to rise 4 percent after its consensus-busting Q4 results while Telia shares were seen lower after the Nordic telecom group's weaker-than-expected earnings.

Vodafone, the world's second-largest mobile operator, has warned that revenue growth slowed in its third quarter due to price competition in Spain and Italy and a slowdown in South Africa.

Here's your snapshot:

(Josephine Mason)

*****

EUROPEAN HEADLINES TO WATCH: TELECOMS AND GIVAUDAN (0658 GMT)

With (Other OTC: WWTH - news) earnings season in full swing, there's plenty of earnings to digest this morning.

Telecoms firms will be in focus with Ericsson, Telia and Vodafone reporting.

Let's start with the good news: Swedish mobile telecom equipment maker Ericsson has reported a significantly smaller Q4 operating loss than expected and said it was on track to reach its financial goals.

The operating loss was 1.9 billion crowns ($209.7 million), against a 19.3 billion loss a year ago, and a mean forecast for a 3 billion loss expected in a Reuters poll of analysts.

Now (Frankfurt: 11N.F - news) the not so good: Telia's fourth-quarter core earnings were below market expectations and the company said it expected the challenging conditions in Sweden, its largest market, to continue.

But some shareholder-pleasing news: it has proposed a dividend of 2.36 crowns, above a median forecast of 2.30 crowns.

Vodafone will issue its trading statement later this morning. Its shares were hammered yesterday after its South African unit Vodacom's weak numbers.

In other more downbeat results news, fragrance and flavour maker Givaudan (LSE: 0QPS.L - news) said its weaker-than-expected net income in 2018 was hit by higher financing costs and foreign currency losses.

Online retailers, which have been the big winners of the Christmas holiday sales, may get a boost from a report in The Times that Britain has ruled out an online sales tax proposed to help high street vendors in the country as it would fall foul of the European Union rules.

French dairy group Savencia (LSE: 0DTK.L - news) may be in focus after its unit Sodilac said it was recalling infant formula sold in pharmacies in France and produced at a Spanish factory due to possible links with salmonella cases among babies.

Here are the other headlines:

Swatch plans to reduce capital via repurchased shares

Air Liquide Makes A Strategic Investment In The Production Of Decarbonated Hydrogen

America Movil buying Telefonica (LSE: 826858.L - news) operations in Central America

MEDIA-Three funds, not Autogrill (Milan: AGL.MI - news) still in race for Elior (Paris: FR0013204435 - news) 's Areas division -Les Echos

BRIEF-Accorhotels Announces Two Bond Issues For 1.1 Billion Euros

(Josephine Mason)

*****

EUROPE SEEN EXTENDING GAINS (0620 GMT)

Spreadbetters expect European shares to extend yesterday's gains and build on rises on Wall Street and in Asia overnight, but trading may be cautious as investors brace for a slew of crucial events next week from the Fed meeting, a key Brexit vote in London on Tuesday and the latest round of U.S.-China trade talks.

Watch out for sterling. The pound breached the psychologically important $1.3 to the dollar overnight after The Sun reported that Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party has privately decided to offer conditional backing for Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal next week. That added further fuel to hopes the UK might avoid a no-deal Brexit on March 29.

Still, financial spreadbetters at IG (Frankfurt: A0EARV - news) expect London's FTSE to open 21 points higher at 6,840, Frankfurt's DAX to open 71 points higher at 11,201 and Paris' CAC to open 25 points higher at 4,897.

CMC Markets (LSE: CMCX.L - news) are expecting slightly small gains - the FTSE to rise 14 points, the DAX up 65 points and CAC 40 up 22 points.

(Josephine Mason)

*****