EUROPEAN EQUITY UPDATE: Stocks mostly firmer, FTSE 100 dragged lower by poor results from Barclays

Analysis details (09:33)

European equities (Eurostoxx 50 +0.5%) trade mostly firmer with the exception of the FTSE 100 (-0.1%) which is being dragged lower by Barclays (-7.2%) after reporting declining profits within its Q4 earnings release; Lloyds (-1.9%) and Natwest (-1.6%) are lower in sympathy. Also of note for Barclays, the Co. is to pull back a large share of its GBP 2.5bln consumer lending operations, according to The Times. The handover for Europe from Asia was a mostly downbeat one after the choppy lead from the US, while local traders also were focussed on a heavy earnings slate. US Equity futures (ES -0.3%, NQ -0.4%, RTY -0.4%) are languishing in pre-market trade; analysts are citing the CPI report for January, which alludes to sticky inflation in the US, and has resulted in a hawkish repricing of the market’s anticipated trajectory for the Federal Funds Rate. Looking forward for the US, there are a few key items on the US data slate: retail sales data for January are expected to post a rise in the month, rebounding from December’s downside. We will also see the release of US industrial and manufacturing production for January, which are likely to show sequential improvements vs December. The Empire Fed manufacturing survey for February will help to form initial expectations of what the ISM manufacturing data (released on March 1st) will look like. Elsewhere, business inventories data for December is due. Sectors in Europe are mixed/positive with Consumer Products and Services top of the leaderboard with index-heavyweight LVMH (+1.5%) shares supported after appointing Pharrell Williams as the head of Louis Vuitton menswear design. Elsewhere in the luxury sector, Kering (+1.7%) have managed to shrug off opening losses which were seen after the Co. reported soft revenue figures driven by the underwhelming performance at its Gucci brand. Also of note for French stocks and helping drive modest outperformance in the CAC (+0.8%) is Carrefour (+7.9%) which stands at the top of the Stoxx 600 post-Q4 results and buyback announcement. Other post-earnings gainers include Ahold Delhaize (+6.2%) and Telecom Italia (+2.4%), whilst Thyssenkrupp (+3.4%) is benefiting from a broker upgrade at JPM and United Internet (+2.4%) is higher post-buyback announcement.

15 Feb 2023 - 09:33- Research Sheet- Source: Newswires