Squawk Box Europe Express

Crude prices move higher with Brent now surpassing $70 a barrel after President Trump warns of potential consequences should Iran fail to reach a deal over its nuclear programme. U.S.-based private credit group Blue Owl announces it will halt investor withdrawals from a debt fund for retail traders, causing shares to slump across the sector. We are live at the A.I. Impact summit in New Delhi where CNBC learns that Nvidia is launching a new $30bn investment into OpenAI. Google DeepMind co-founder and CEO Demis Hassabis says the sector is suffering from a shortfall of memory and chips. And in aviation news, Airbus cuts its output target causing shares to fall but AF-KLM posts more than €2bn in FY profit.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

News of a potential choreographed change at the top of the ECB has pushed Europe’s Stoxx 600 to another record close. Wall Street also closed in the green even though FOMC minutes signal a rate cut pause in the near term. We are live at the A.I. Impact summit in New Delhi where we hear from Microsoft CEO Brad Smith. He tells CNBC that U.S. and European tech companies should be wary of increased Chinese competition within the A.I. sector. Continued tensions in the Arabian Sea over potential U.S. naval intervention in Iran, pushing crude prices more than 4 per cent higher in yesterday’s session. Swiss food giant Nestlé beats Q4 sales expectations and has unveiled plans to streamline its product portfolio.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We are live at the A.I. Impact summit in New Delhi where Mistral CEO Arthur Mensch tells CNBC that a large proportion of enterprise software could end up heavily disrupted by artificial intelligence. German chemicals giant Bayer settles a $7.25bn litigation deal regarding of thousands of lawsuits over the roundup weedkiller. The agreement has pushed shares up by more than 7 per cent at yesterday’s market close in Europe. The Reform UK party is to launch its plans for the OBR and the BoE later today but the central bank’s independence is not up for discussion.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

European equities futures point south as Wall Street is set to return to trading following the President’s Day holiday. A.I. concerns remain with the Nasdaq stuck deep in the red. Eurogroup ministers meet in Brussels to plan to strengthen the euro’s role globally. The bloc is also preparing to unveil new draft laws designed to protect key sectors of industry. In Geneva, a second round of nuclear talks between the U.S. and Iran are due to begin with President Trump indirectly involved. Officials from Ukraine, Russia and the U.S. also meet for another round of peace negotiations.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio insists that Washington wants to reform rather than abandon the trans-Atlantic alliance. We speak exclusively to German foreign minister Johann Wadephul at the Munich Security Conference who says Rubio’s speech assured the path of future cooperation. European equities are called higher while U.S. markets are shut for President’s Day with A.I. concerns continuing to be felt across sectors. Japanese Q4 GDP disappoints, coming in at only 0.2 per cent on the year and far below expectations.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

AI disruption fears hit equity markets once again, sending the S&P 500 and Nasdaq lower with transport, commercial real estate and software stocks all under pressure. Meanwhile, global leaders gather for the Munich Security Conference as U.S. allies in Europe look to chart a more independent course. And in corporate news, L'Oreal Q4 sales miss expectations as strong numbers out of the U.S. and Europe fail to offset weakness in China, sending U.S.-listed shares sharply lower, but CEO Nicolas Hieronimus tells CNBC he's confident the French beauty giant will bounce back.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

U.S. stocks give up an initial bounce as investors digest a mixed jobs report - the headline figure more than double expectations but growth for last year revised lower. German industrial giant Siemens raises its outlook after posting a 10% jump in first quarter orders, but Mercedes full year earnings more than halve as the automaker takes a €1 billion hit from tariff costs. And in Japan, Softbank notches a fourth straight quarter of profit, boosted by rising valuations of its stakes in AI giants Nvidia and Open AI.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Futures stretch into the green on both sides of the Atlantic as investors await a crucial U.S. non-farm payrolls print with the White House aiming to temper expectations. Dutch brewing giant Heineken announces it will be slashing thousands of jibs in the next two years and it has lowered its FY growth forecast after weak demand for its beers. German lender Commerzbank enjoys a Q4 beat on the top and bottom line and expects net profit for the year to top expectations. CEO Bettina Orlopp tells CNBC the bank is always open to renewed interest from Unicredit. On Wall Street, shares in U.S. financial stocks plunge following the unveiling of Altruist’s new A.I.-powered tax planning tool. We hear from Anthoropic’s CCO Paul Smith who says his company is set on extracting real value from A.I.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wall Street rebounded during Monday’s session with strong performances from tech giants Oracle, Broadcomm and Nvidia. Asian equities have followed suit but Europe is set to open flat. Embattled UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has vowed to Labour MPs that he will fight on as pressure mounts on him to step down over his appointment of Peter Mandelson as U.S. ambassador. In luxury news, sales of Gucci plunge 10 per cent in Q4. It’s the tenth consecutive quarter of falling revenue for parent company Kering which misses FY forecasts.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi secures a snap election landslide to pave the way for major fiscal spending. Her decisive victory pushed the Nikkei beyond the 57,000-mark for the first time and drove JGB yields higher. In the U.S., beleaguered tech and software stocks rallied on Friday to help the Dow close about 50,000 for the first time ever. Italian lender Unicredit smashes Q4 net profit forecasts and raises its FY 2026 profit guidance. Speaking exclusively to CNBC, CEO Andrea Orcel says his bank has ‘more optionality’ to potential dealmaking than other European rivals.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The tech rout Stateside looks set to continue into a third day with giants such as Oracle, Palantir and Salesforce all suffering double-digit losses for the week. The gloom is contagious in the crypto space with Bitcoin briefly plunging below the $61,000 mark. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer offers an apology to victims of Jeffrey Epstein for his appointment of Peter Mandelson as U.S. ambassador, despite being aware of his close ties to the late, convicted paedophile. We hear from BoE governor Andrew Bailey who says the upheaval seen in Westminster is being felt globally. And in e-commerce news, Amazon posts its first quarterly miss in more than three years and announces $200bn for capex spending for 2026. Shares plummeted 11 per cent in after-hours trading as a result.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Nasdaq suffers back-to-back losses of more than 1 per cent for the first time since April following a massive tech sell-off that sees almost $1tn wiped from tech stocks as A.I. related concerns reverberate around markets. Alphabet posts FY revenue of more than $400bn for the first time and signals it is prepared to more than double its A.I. investment. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is set upon by Labour backbenchers and forced to release documents about the vetting process of former peer Peter Mandelson for the post of U.S. ambassador and his links to the convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

UBS posts quarterly profit of $1.2bn and hikes its dividend by 22 per cent and reaffirms its forecasts for the year. The Swiss lender says it is on track to fully integrate Credit Suisse later this year but CEO Sergio Ermotti says clients remain wary due to geo-political considerations. Pharma giant Novo Nordisk sees U.S.-listed shares plunge after warning of disappointing sales due to competition to its flagship obesity drugs. CEO Mike Doustdar believes the GLP-1 market will only get bigger. And in tech news, Anthropic’s new ‘Claude’ model causes a wider sell-off in enterprise and cloud software as the threat of A.I. disruption looms over white-collar sectors.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Global equity markets bounce back with South Korea’s KOSPI notching its best session in almost six years and the Nikkei closing at a record high. Metals prices also stabilise and claw back some of the losses from a two-day rout. The U.S. moves to slash tariffs on New Delhi from 50 to 18 per cent, nudging Indian assets higher. President Trump says the country has now agreed to halt all purchases of Russian oil. In France, lawmakers finally agree on a budget following four months of intense wrangling. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu hailed the agreement after gaining support from the Socialist party through a slew of concessions and defeating a vote of no confidence at the Assemblée Nationale.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Gold and silver spot prices continue to plunge following Friday’s rout which saw the worst one-day decline since 1980 as investors digest President Trump’s decision to nominate Kevin Warsh as Federal Reserve Chairman. Crude prices ease back from multi-month highs after Trump says the Iranian regime is engaging in “serious” talks with Washington to avert U.S. military strikes and to strike a deal on its nuclear programme. In Asia, equities kick off the new week deep in the red. South Korea’s KOSPI leads the regions losses and has triggered brief pause in trading. And the U.S. government enters a partial shutdown despite a late Senate deal on DHS funding. House Speaker Mike Johnson says the House will vote by the end of tomorrow.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

European equities are set to open in the green but Stateside futures are expected to lose ground ahead of President Trump’s eagerly anticipated announcement of a new Federal reserve chairman. Former Fed governor Kevin Warsh is now reportedly the frontrunner for the job. Apple enjoys a bumper quarter on the back of strong iPhone sales but the share price stutters on continued concerns about the company’s demand forecast and AI strategy. UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer attends a business leaders’ event on the final day of his landmark visit to China as President Trump warns about deeper engagement with the country. And in retail news, German sporting giant Adidas posts record sales and more than doubles operational profits in the fourth quarter.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Tesla suffers a fall in its annual vehicle sales for the first time in its history but shares are still in the green as the auto maker posts a beat on earnings. Tesla has also announced it will be axing its S and X models as it moves to increasingly produce humanoid robots. German lender Deutsche Bank enjoys record FY and Q4 earnings. We speak to CFO James Von Molke who says U.S. economic strength will help bolster the world’s economy. SAP posts Q4 sales results in line with expectations and says its cloud revenues are set to surge by up to 25 per cent this year.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The U.S. dollar whipsaws and falls to a four-year low against a basket of currencies following comments from President Trump that he remained sanguine about the greenback’s recent slide. All eyes are on today’s Fed rate decision as investors ponder who will replace outgoing Chairman Jerome Powell. Chip maker ASML beats on Q4 booking and ups its forecast ahead of expectations on the back of encouraging A.I. demand. And in luxury news, LVMH defies expectations to post a 1 per cent rise in sales. This was offset by FY operating profit which fell by almost10 per cent.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi hails a ‘big agreement’ struck with Brussels while European Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen says the deal removes almost all trade barriers with a new a free trade zone of 2bn people. President Trump has increased tariffs on South Korean autos and other goods to 25 per cent. Metals are up at new record highs due to geo-political uncertainties with silver on course for its best month in more than 40 years. And in retail news, China’s Anta moves to acquire a 29 per cent in German sportswear brand Puma.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Gold continues its upward trajectory, bypassing the $5,000/oz for the first time ever as investors seek security due to geo-political risks. President Trump threatens Canada with 100 per cent tariffs sho8uld is seal a trade deal with China but Prime Minister Mark Carney says he was not pursuing an FTA with Beijing. A partial U.S. government shutdown looms as Democrats are set to vote against an ICE funding extension after a second fatality by federal agents in Minneapolis.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.