EUROPEAN EQUITIES UPDATE: Stocks see early losses amid ongoing tariff woes

STOXX 600: -0.4%

• European bourses opened with modest gains in an attempt to coat-tail on Wall Street's Friday gains, albeit sentiment dwindled shortly after the European cash open amid continued tariff uncertainty, with the picture modestly negative across the board at the time of writing.


• Overnight, APAC stocks began the week mixed amid tariff-related concerns and as participants digested the softer-than-expected Chinese inflation data from over the weekend.

Sectors: Mixed

• Sectors kicked off the session almost wholly in the green but saw a reconfiguration shortly after as the risk tone tilted lower.


• No overall sectoral theme or bias can be seen at the time of writing.


• Travel & Leisure was the initial outperformer as Entain opened with gains of nearly 1.5% but thereafter dipped into the red, with the name announcing a dividend despite being unprofitable.


• Banks have fallen to the bottom in reaction to this morning's fall in yields.


• Material names are hit by the slide in base metals prices amid tariff-related woes.


• Top Sectors: Real Estate (+0.8%), Utilities (+0.7%), Energy (+0.4%), Food Beverage & Tobacco (+0.4%).


• Bottom Sectors: Banks (-1.6%), Construction & Material (-1.4%), Technology (-1.1%).

Bourses: Euro Stoxx 50 -0.5%, DAX 40 -0.5%, CAC 40 -0.3%, FTSE 100 -0.3%. IBEX 35 -1.0%

• Spain's IBEX underperforms amid its exposure to European banks, with Santander, Caixabank, BBVA, Bankinter, Unicaja Banco, and Banco de Sabadell all posting losses between 2.5-3.5%.


• Germany's DAX 40 is pressured by Deutsche Bank, Commerzbank, Infineon and Heidelberg Materials.


• France's CAC 40 sees losses from BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole, ArcelorMittal and Saint Gobain.


• UK's FTSE 100 is dragged lower by Antofagasta, Barclays, NatWest, and Anglo American,

Movers: -XX%

• BT (-1.1%) CEO has shelved its plans to ditch the BT brand, amid concerns that dropping the brand will alienate older customers, according to The Telegraph.


• Rio Tinto (-0.1%) is to reportedly scrap plans for up to USD 5bln share sale after investor pushback, according to Bloomberg.


• Allianz (-0.4%) is reportedly in talks to acquire Viridium in a USD 3bln plus deal, via WSJ.


• Carl Zeiss (-4.4%) has been placed on negative catalyst watch by JPMorgan, highlighting continued underperformance and fears of market share losses in China and the US.

US Equity Futures: ES -1.1%, NQ -1.2%. YM -1.0%, RTY -1.4%

• Pressured since the reopen amid tariff and growth concerns after Commerce Secretary Lutnick recently commented that President Trump will not ease up on fentanyl-related tariffs and that steel and aluminium tariffs will take effect on Wednesday, while President Trump declined to predict whether the US could face a recession amid stock market concerns about his tariff actions and also said that tariffs on Mexico and Canada could go up.


• As a reminder, US clocks moved forward by an hour to Daylight Saving Time, meaning there is now just a four-hour time difference between London and New York for the next three weeks.


• Ahead, US Employment Trends and NY Fed SCE are slated for today, whilst the Fed observes its blackout period and markets await more news on tariffs.


• Upcoming tariff dates to keep in mind: March 12th - 25% tariff on steel and aluminium imports comes into effect, with "no exceptions or exemptions". April 1st - Completion of the US trade policy review. April 2nd - 1) Auto tariffs "in the neighbourhood of 25%" come into effect, 2) US tariffs on "external" agricultural products go into effect, and 3) Temporary tariff relief for Canada and Mexico expires. 4) Reciprocal tariffs kick in - details to be unveiled on the day.

10 Mar 2025 - 09:55- ForexEU Research- Source: Newsquawk