EUROPEAN EQUITY UPDATE: A mixed bag for European stocks as markets await further employment data

Analysis details (09:48)

European equities (Eurostoxx 50 -0.5%) trade mixed with a slight negative bias after a strong showing during yesterday’s session. The FTSE 100 (+0.3%) is a notable outlier to the upside amid support from Next (+7.5%) and mining names. Next is the best performer in the Stoxx 600 following its latest trading update in which it reported better-than-expected Christmas period sales and subsequently raised its FY PBT guidance. The session follows on from an upbeat APAC handover in which the Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp were firmer after China said it will gradually reopen the border between Hong Kong and the Mainland on January 8th and will increase flights between the Mainland, Hong Kong, and Macau. Stateside, US futures are a touch below the unchanged mark (ES -0.1%, NQ -0.1%, RTY -0.1%) following yesterday’s gains on Wall Street. Amazon is up over 2% in the pre-market after confirming plans to cut just over 18,000 roles (vs exp. "more than 17,000", vs prev. guided 10,000), according to Bloomberg. Elsewhere, Exxon said Q4 2022 upstream earnings were negatively impacted by the change in liquids and gas prices. Liquids saw a negative impact of USD 1.3-1.7bln vs Q3, and the change in gas prices saw a negative impact of USD 2.0-2.4bln vs Q3). Sectors in Europe are mixed with Retail the clear outperformer following upside in Next. Elsewhere, Basic Resources, Energy and Travel & Leisure are all firmer with the latter supported by gains in Ryanair (+5.6%) after it raised its FY profit guidance with the Co. noting it expects stronger than expected holiday season traffic. To the downside, lagging sectors include, Chemicals, Media and Insurance. Finally, negative broker moves have weighed on the likes of Pearson (-4.8%) and Roche (-0.5%) whilst Volvo Cars (-4.3%) was knocked lower following FY22 sales figures.

05 Jan 2023 - 09:48- Research Sheet- Source: Newsquawk