EUROPEAN EQUITY UPDATE: Stocks in the green as the Euro Zone returns from its holiday

STOXX 600: +1%

• European bourses are entirely in the green as the region returns from holiday; sentiment today has been boosted following a strong session on Wall Street yesterday, and mostly positive APAC trade overnight.


• Price action has been relatively rangebound and near session highs, with traders ultimately cautious ahead of the day's key US NFP report.


• In terms of trade updates, China is considering trade talks with the US; China is said to be conducting an assessment on US trade negotiations and urged the US to demonstrate sincerity for trade talks. As for EU-specific updates, the FT reported that EU negotiators said Europe is ready to increase the purchases of US goods by EUR 50bln, to address the “problem” in the trade relationship.


• As for data today, EZ Manufacturing PMI was revised a little higher; HICP Flash metrics incrementally topped expectations, with the headline figure remaining at 2.2% vs expectations of a slight decrease to 2.1% - services inflation rose 3.9% (prev. 3.5%). Ultimately the figures had limited impact on the equities complex.

Sectors: Positive

• European sectors hold a strong positive bias; Tech tops the pile, followed closely by Industrials (lifted by post-earning strength in Airbus) whilst Utilities is found at the foot of the pile.


• A number of banks reported today; Standard Chartered (+1%, strong Q1 results), ING (+4.5%, reported record deposit growth and launched EUR 2bln share buyback), Danske Bank (+4%, strong results across the board and guidance range topped expectations), NatWest (+1.9%, Q1 headline figures beat expectations and suggested 2025 income to be at top-end of guidance range).

Majors: FTSE 100 +0.9%, DAX 40 +1.6%, CAC 40 +1.5%

• The FTSE 100 is on a firmer footing today but not quite performing as well as peers; Shell (+3.2%) tops the pile after reporting a beat on its Adjusted Profit figure, and announcing a USD 3.5bln buyback – the recent upside in the crude complex could also be helping. Elsewhere, Mining names broadly populate the top of the index, amid the strength in the underlying metals prices. Other key post-earning movers include; Pearson (-2.8%), Standard Chartered (+1%), NatWest (+1.9%).


• The CAC 40 is in the green, performing about as well as European peers. Airbus (+4.5%) jets to the top spot after reporting strong Q1 results and maintaining guidance; the Co. reported Revenue of 13.5bln (exp. 12.37bln). Elsewhere, LVMH (+0.3%) is reportedly to cut 10% of its Moet Hennessy workforce, citing a slowdown in the luxury sector, via the FT; the piece suggested that execs said sales would not bounce back soon.

US Equity Futures: ES +0.2%, NQ U/C, RTY +0.4%

• Futures are mixed with modest underperformance in the NQ vs. peers as traders digest the latest earnings from Apple and Amazon; both down around 2.5% in pre-market trade.


• To recap those results; Apple's Q2 results showed continued China weakness, while investor concerns rose over vague tariff commentary. Amazon's Q1 earnings beat expectations with strong retail and ad performance, though AWS growth slowed; Q2 guidance was light, citing tariff uncertainty and potential demand risks.


• The highlight of the day is the US jobs data for April, where the pace of payrolls growth is seen cooling, though the jobless rate is expected to be unchanged. In addition to the jobs data, March factory orders and durable goods data are due.

02 May 2025 - 10:20- ForexData- Source: Newsquawk