Squawk Box Europe Express

U.S. President Donald Trump adds a new front to his trade war, as he threatened 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports, and promises further “reciprocal” levies in the coming days. Meanwhile Chinese retaliatory tariffs on around 14 billion dollars’ worth of U.S. goods take effect, while fresh data shows a pickup in consumer inflation in the world’s second largest economy. In Germany, Chancellor Olaf Scholz and election frontrunner Friedrich Merz go head-to-head in the first television debate – with the health of the economy dominating the conversation. Pressure mounts on BP as activist investor Elliot Management reportedly builds up a stake in the British energy producer. In France, President Emmanuel Macron pledges more than 100 billion euros worth of investment into AI, as top tech names descend on Paris for the AI Action Summit.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Amazon shares slip to the downside as the tech giant issues lower-than-expected guidance for the current quarter, but talks up its capex plans with spending to hit 100 billion dollars this year. Europe’s STOXX 600 closes at an all-time high, lifted by upbeat earnings as attention turns to today’s U.S. jobs report. Meanwhile, the Bank of England cuts by a quarter point, as it halves its growth forecast for the year, and flags fresh concerns over the government’s fiscal plans. French cosmetics company L’Oreal misses quarterly sales forecasts, with revenue rising at the slowest pace since the pandemic amid weakness in China and North America.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Chip manufacturers Qualcomm and Arm both top Q4 expectations after the bell but A.I. capex concerns push shares down. The Nissan-Honda merger is reportedly in jeopardy as Nissan shareholders’ “growing differences” could now potentially lead to the $58bn deal being scrapped. Société Générale enjoys a doubling of Q4 profits helped by a rebound in its retail banking arm. The French lender’s FY revenue tops targets and is also promising a share buyback. France’s new government survives two no-confidence votes in the Assemblée Nationale which will now allow Prime Minister Francois Bayrou to pass the country’s delayed budget. And in the UK, the Bank of England is expected to cut interest rates by a quarter point as well as issue a potential growth forecast downgrade.   See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

U.S. President Trump hosts Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House and announces potential plans to ‘take over’ Gaza and redevelop the territory. Chinese markets re-open after a week-long holiday and trim gains after Beijing’s swift retaliation against U.S. tariff increases prompts investors to cut risks. In tech news, investors prove wary of Alphabet’s A.I. $75bn investment in the sector which has exceeded forecasts. And we are live in Copenhagen where Novo Nordisk are due to report FY results amid recent signs of shareholder anxiety.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

China retaliates against U.S. trade restrictions, slapping duties onto wide-ranging U.S. imports. President Trump agrees to suspend tariffs with Canada and Mexico for after Ottawa and Mexico City vowed to strengthen border security to stamp out illegal immigration and drug smuggling. Swiss lender UBS posts a $770m Q4 net profit beat and confirms its guidance. And there are also earnings due in from BNP Paribas, OMV and Infineon.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

President Trump triggers a trade war which sends the dollar soaring and pushed Asian equities into the red. Mexico and Canada are hit with 25 per cent while Chinese goods are subject to a 10 per cent surcharge on existing tariffs. Trump has threatened that the EU could be targeted next. Both Canada and Mexico have vowed to retaliate. In M&A news, Italy’s Unicredit has disclosed a new stake in the country’s largest insurer, Generali, but has denied any strategic interest behind the move. German lender Commerzbank posts a record FY pre-tax profits while fending off interest from Unicredit.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Apple shares soar more than 3 per cent in after-hours trade boosted by strong revenue from services. However, iPhone sales disappoint, dragged down by poor Chinese demand. Canadian and Mexican imports into the U.S. will be hit with 25 per cent tariffs from tomorrow but President Trump says he is still undecided whether the measures will affect oil. The ECB slashes euro interest rates by 25bps. It’s the central bank’s fifth cut of the cycle amid growing concerns about sluggish growth throughout the bloc. President Christine Lagarde says that a larger cut was not on the table. And two black boxes have been recovered from the Potomac River in Washington D.C. following Wednesday night’s fatal mid-air collision between a regional American Airlines jet and a military Black Hawk helicopter. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Tesla Q4 results miss estimates with shares falling and then rebounding in after-hours trade. However, CEO Elon Musk remains bullish about the year ahead pointing to advancements in A.I. and self-driving technology. Microsoft sees disappointing cloud sector revenue while Facebook owner Meta beats Q4 expectations despite softer-than-expected forecasts. The U.S. Federal Reserve maintains rates in January as the central bank waits to assess the impact of President Trump’s sweeping policy changes on the economy. Chairman Jerome Powell says he is blocking out all external commentary. And dozens of passengers are feared dead in Washington DC after an American Airlines jet collided with a U.S. military Blackhawk helicopter over the Potomac River.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Dutch chip equipment ASML moves to calm investor jitters over AI plans, beating Q4 expectations with net income of €2.69bn. Nvidia shares have slowly rebounded following Monday’s DeepSeek-driven bloodbath, ending yesterday’s session almost 9 per cent higher. Other U.S. tech stocks have also clawed back losses as retail investors re-enter the sector following this week’s massive sell-off. UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves is to set out deeper plans to improve the country’s economy in a speech later today, saying she anticipates opposition in her quest for growth. And in luxury news, LVMH posts a Q4 sales beat helped along by strong demand in Europe and the U.S. despite the French giant warning of an unfavourable global economic environment for the sector.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Nvidia’s market cap takes a $600bn battering – the biggest one-day Wall Street wipe-out in history. The emergence of DeepSeek sees $1tn knocked off big tech stocks amid a market panic reverberating in Japan and in European AI-related shares. In Germany, Siemens attempts to stem losses from the sell-off with preliminary Q1 revenue narrowly beats forecasts at €9bn. German cloud-computing giant SAP boosts guidance on the back of a strong AI-driven Q4 order pipeline. And President Trump touts Microsoft as a potential company to acquire social media platform TikTok.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Thousands of displaced Gazans begin to return to their homes in the north of the Gaza Strip as the fragile ceasefire continues to hold. U.S. President Trump has proposed rehousing Palestinians from the Gaza Strip in neighbouring Arab nations to ‘clean out’ the demolished territory. Trump has also spoken to Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, once again pushing for U.S. control of Greenland. With less than a month before the German elections, the CDU chancellor candidate Friedrich Merz has proposed a new hardline immigration bill while Tesla CEO Elon Musk addressed an AfD rally, slamming EU over-reach in the country. In China, manufacturing activity surprisingly contracts in January which now places further pressure on Beijing to provide stimulus measures.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

President Trump calls for interests rates to be slashed immediately, helping to push the S&P 500 to a record high. The BoJ raises interest rates to their highest level since 2008 and indicates further hikes will follow. In a video address to the World Economic Forum, President Trump slams the EU for its treatment of the U.S. We hear from the European Commission’s EVP for Prosperity and Industrial Strategy, Stéphane Séjourné, who says neither Brussels nor Washington have any interest in a trade war.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.