(Alliance News) - Stocks in Europe are called sharply lower, as oil prices rise amid the latest escalations in the Middle East conflict.
Here is what you need to know before the European market open on Friday:
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MARKETS
----------
CAC 40: called down 91.8 points, 1.1%, at 7,931.46
DAX 40: called down 273.5 points, 1.5%, at 17,563.9
FTSE 100: called down 89.6 points, 1.1%, at 7,787.45
----------
Hang Seng: down 1.2% at 16,184.02
Nikkei 225: down 2.4% at 37,150.79
S&P/ASX 200: down 1.1% at 7,557.90
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DJIA: closed up 22.07 points, 0.1%, to 37,775.38
S&P 500: closed down 0.2% at 5,011.12
Nasdaq Composite: closed down 0.5% at 15,601.50
----------
EUR: down at USD1.0626 (USD1.0660)
GBP: down at USD1.2418 (USD1.2464)
USD: down at JPY154.16 (JPY154.60)
GOLD: up slightly at USD2,386.47 per ounce (USD2,384.41)
OIL (Brent): up at USD89.50 a barrel (USD87.15)
(changes since previous London equities close)
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ECONOMIC CALENDAR
----------
08:00 CEST Germany PPI
10:00 CEST Italy construction output
10:00 CEST Spain trade balance
12:00 CEST Spain consumer confidence
07:00 BST UK retail sales
09:30 EDT US Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee speaks
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TOP ECONOMIC NEWS
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Iran's state media reported explosions in central Isfahan Friday, as US media quoted officials saying Israel had carried out retaliatory strikes on its arch-rival. Air defence systems over several Iranian cities were activated, state media reported, after the country's official broadcaster said explosions were heard near the central city of Isfahan. Israel had previously warned it would hit back after Iran fired hundreds of missiles and drones at Israel over the weekend. Most of them were intercepted. Iran's Fars news agency reported "three explosions" were heard near the Shekari army airbase in the northwest of Isfahan province, while Iran's space agency spokesperson Hossein Dalirian said "several" drones had been "successfully shot down". "There are no reports of a missile attack for now," Dalirian said on social media platform X. The official IRNA news agency said: "Reports indicate there was no major damage or large explosions caused by the impact of any air threat." ABC and CBS News reported the strikes had been carried out by Israel, quoting US officials. There was no immediate comment from the White House or Pentagon. CNN quoted an official as saying the target of the Israeli attack was not nuclear. Nuclear facilities in Isfahan were reported to be "completely secure", Iran's Tasnim news agency reported, citing "reliable sources".
----------
US officials met Israeli counterparts to outline their concerns about the situation in the embattled city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip and an expected military offensive there, the White House confirmed. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to launch an Israeli ground assault against Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, which is now packed with hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees who fled Israeli attacks elsewhere in the territory. The White House said in a statement that US officials "expressed concerns with various courses of action in Rafah, and Israeli participants agreed to take these concerns into account and to have further follow up discussions between experts."
----------
A resolution in favour of the full membership of a Palestinian state in the United Nations has failed in the UN Security Council due to a veto by the US. Twelve member states voted in favour of the resolution in New York on Thursday, with Switzerland and Britain abstaining. The veto by the US, which is a permanent member of the most powerful UN body, meant that the draft resolution failed to be adopted. The US government's position is that an agreement with Israel on a two-state solution is a prerequisite for recognizing Palestine's full UN membership.
----------
Japanese inflation slowed to 2.6% in March, largely in line with market expectations, data showed. The year-on-year rise in prices excluding volatile fresh food – against a market consensus of 2.7% – followed a 2.8% February increase, in part thanks to lower gas bills. Stripping out fresh food and energy, prices rose 2.9%, against market expectations of 3.0%, and edged down from 3.2% in February. The Bank of Japan will hold a meeting next week when it will likely hike inflation forecasts. But most economists expect the bank to keep interest rates unchanged for now.
----------
India began voting Friday in a six-week election with an all but assured victory for Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as a weakened opposition is pushed to the sidelines. A total of 968 million people are eligible to take part in the world's biggest vote – a staggering logistical exercise that critics say follows a concerted effort to delegitimise rivals. Modi, 73, remains resoundingly popular after a decade in office that has seen India rise in diplomatic clout and economic power, as well as efforts by his government to bring the country's majority faith in ever closer alignment with its politics. He has already led the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party through two landslide victories in 2014 and 2019, forged in large part by his appeals to the Hindu faithful.
----------
The UK will avoid implementing most post-Brexit checks on EU food imports due to start this month so as to prevent major disruption at ports, the Financial Times reported. The EU introduced strengthened checks on goods coming from the UK since the country's departure from the bloc entered into force in January 2021. But London has already delayed implementing some checks and formalities on five occasions amid fears the measures would harm the economy and stoke inflation. According to a confidential presentation sent by the UK government to port authorities and seen by the FT, the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs said carrying out all the health and safety checks from April 30 could trigger "significant disruption".
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COMPANY CALENDAR
----------
American Express Co - Q1 Results
Procter & Gamble Co - Q3 Results
----------
TOP COMPANY NEWS
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Woodside Energy reported a sharp drop in quarterly revenue, amid falling energy prices and lower production from its Australian assets. The Perth, Australia-based oil and gas company said revenue in the first quarter dropped 31% year-on-year to USD2.97 billion from USD4.33 billion, and fell 12% from USD3.36 billion in the fourth quarter. Woodside's topline was hit amid lower production and sales, as well as a drop in selling prices. Production fell 4.1% to 44.9 million barrels of oil equivalent from 46.8 million a year before, and was 6.7% behind the fourth quarter's level of 48.1 million boe. Sales dropped 8.9% to 45.9 million boe from 50.4 million, while the average realised price per boe dropped 25% to USD63 from USD85. The Australian firm left annual production guidance unchanged. It still expects annual production of 185 to 195 million boe for 2024, compared to 187.2 million in 2023.
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Meta introduced an improved AI assistant built on new versions of its open source Llama large language model for powering the technology. Meta AI is smarter and faster due to advances in publicly available Llama 3, the tech titan said in a blog post. "The bottom line is we believe Meta AI is now the most intelligent AI assistant that you can freely use," Meta co-founder & chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, said in a video posted on Instagram. Being open source means that developers outside of Meta are free to customize Llama 3 as they wish and the company may then incorporate those improvements and insights in an updated version.
----------
Netflix reported bumper growth in new subscribers in the first quarter, alongside better-than-expected results, but predicted a slowdown in the second three months of the year. In the three months to March 31, the Californian-based streaming service reported revenue of USD9.37 billion, up 15% from USD8.16 billion a year prior. Net income jumped 78% to USD2.33 billion from USD1.31 billion while diluted earnings per share improved to USD5.28, up 83% from USD2.88. The figures topped LSEG consensus forecast earnings per share of USD4.52 and revenue of USD9.28 billion. Netflix also reported continued growth in global streaming paid memberships to 269.60m, up from 232.50m a year prior, and 260.28 million in the fourth quarter. Global streaming paid net additions in the quarter totalled 9.33 million, multiplying from 1.75 million a year ago, but down from the 13.12 million in the fourth quarter. But Netflix expects paid net additions to be lower in the second quarter compared to the first, partly due to typical seasonality. Looking ahead, Netflix forecast second quarter revenue would rise to USD9.49 billion, but predicted a decline in net income of USD2.06 billion and diluted EPS of USD4.68.
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EssilorLuxottica described its start to 2024 as "solid," after first quarter revenue rose supported by broad-based growth across all products and regions. In the three months to March 31, the Paris-based owner of Ray-Ban said sales rose 3.0% at current exchange rates to EUR6.34 billion from EUR6.15 billion. On a constant currency basis, sales increased by 5.5%. EssilorLuxottica explained the result came on top of a difficult comparison base as the first quarter was the strongest one in 2022 and 2023. The top performing regions were Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia-Pacific and Latin America, while North America was up low-single digit. Professional Solutions revenue increased by 1.8% at current current rates to EUR3.08 billion from EUR3.03 billion while Direct to Consumer advanced by 4.2% to EUR3.26 billion from EUR3.13 billion.
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L'Oreal reported strong growth in first sales led by "stellar" performances from the Consumer Products and Dermatological Beauty Divisions. "2024 is off to a very good start," said Chief Executive Nicolas Hieronimus. The Paris-based manufacturer of beauty and hair products which owns brands such as Maybelline New York and Garnier said sales in the three months to March 31 totalled EUR11.25 billion, up 8.3% from EUR10.38 billion a year prior. On a comparable basis sales increased by 9.4%. Professional Products sales increased by 8.7%, Consumer Products by 9.2%, Luxe by 2.2% and Dermatological Beauty by 20%. By region, Europe and North America sales grew 12%, Latin America by 19% and South Asia Pacific, Middle East, North Africa, and Sub-Saharan Africa sales by 14%. North Asia was the one weak spot with sales declining 3.9%. L'Oreal described growth in Europe and Emerging Markets as particularly "remarkable." L'Oreal also said it had seen continued growth in both volume and value.
----------
Intuitive Surgical Inc said its core business "remained healthy" in the first quarter, with modest growth for its da Vinci surgical systems line. The Sunnyvale, California-based medical robotics company said net income rose to USD538.5 million in the first three months of 2024, from USD421.8 million. Revenue increased 11% to USD1.89 billion from USD1.70 billion. Instruments & accessories revenue rose to USD1.16 billion from USD985.6 million. Basic net income per share rose to USD1.54 from USD1.01, while diluted net income rose to USD1.51 from USD1.00 per share. Intuitive Surgical said it placed 313 da Vinci surgical systems, slightly up from 312 the prior year. The installed base grew 14% to 8,887 systems from 7,779.
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By Elizabeth Winter, Alliance News senior correspondent
Comments and questions to newsroom@alliancenews.com
Copyright 2024, Alliance News
GLOBAL BRIEFING: Stocks fall amid reports of Israeli strikes on Iran
(Alliance News) - Stocks in Europe are called sharply lower, as oil prices rise amid the latest escalations in the Middle East conflict.
Here is what you need to know before the European market open on Friday:
----------
MARKETS
----------
CAC 40: called down 91.8 points, 1.1%, at 7,931.46
DAX 40: called down 273.5 points, 1.5%, at 17,563.9
FTSE 100: called down 89.6 points, 1.1%, at 7,787.45
----------
Hang Seng: down 1.2% at 16,184.02
Nikkei 225: down 2.4% at 37,150.79
S&P/ASX 200: down 1.1% at 7,557.90
----------
DJIA: closed up 22.07 points, 0.1%, to 37,775.38
S&P 500: closed down 0.2% at 5,011.12
Nasdaq Composite: closed down 0.5% at 15,601.50
----------
EUR: down at USD1.0626 (USD1.0660)
GBP: down at USD1.2418 (USD1.2464)
USD: down at JPY154.16 (JPY154.60)
GOLD: up slightly at USD2,386.47 per ounce (USD2,384.41)
OIL (Brent): up at USD89.50 a barrel (USD87.15)
(changes since previous London equities close)
----------
ECONOMIC CALENDAR
----------
08:00 CEST Germany PPI
10:00 CEST Italy construction output
10:00 CEST Spain trade balance
12:00 CEST Spain consumer confidence
07:00 BST UK retail sales
09:30 EDT US Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee speaks
----------
TOP ECONOMIC NEWS
----------
Iran's state media reported explosions in central Isfahan Friday, as US media quoted officials saying Israel had carried out retaliatory strikes on its arch-rival. Air defence systems over several Iranian cities were activated, state media reported, after the country's official broadcaster said explosions were heard near the central city of Isfahan. Israel had previously warned it would hit back after Iran fired hundreds of missiles and drones at Israel over the weekend. Most of them were intercepted. Iran's Fars news agency reported "three explosions" were heard near the Shekari army airbase in the northwest of Isfahan province, while Iran's space agency spokesperson Hossein Dalirian said "several" drones had been "successfully shot down". "There are no reports of a missile attack for now," Dalirian said on social media platform X. The official IRNA news agency said: "Reports indicate there was no major damage or large explosions caused by the impact of any air threat." ABC and CBS News reported the strikes had been carried out by Israel, quoting US officials. There was no immediate comment from the White House or Pentagon. CNN quoted an official as saying the target of the Israeli attack was not nuclear. Nuclear facilities in Isfahan were reported to be "completely secure", Iran's Tasnim news agency reported, citing "reliable sources".
----------
US officials met Israeli counterparts to outline their concerns about the situation in the embattled city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip and an expected military offensive there, the White House confirmed. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to launch an Israeli ground assault against Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, which is now packed with hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees who fled Israeli attacks elsewhere in the territory. The White House said in a statement that US officials "expressed concerns with various courses of action in Rafah, and Israeli participants agreed to take these concerns into account and to have further follow up discussions between experts."
----------
A resolution in favour of the full membership of a Palestinian state in the United Nations has failed in the UN Security Council due to a veto by the US. Twelve member states voted in favour of the resolution in New York on Thursday, with Switzerland and Britain abstaining. The veto by the US, which is a permanent member of the most powerful UN body, meant that the draft resolution failed to be adopted. The US government's position is that an agreement with Israel on a two-state solution is a prerequisite for recognizing Palestine's full UN membership.
----------
Japanese inflation slowed to 2.6% in March, largely in line with market expectations, data showed. The year-on-year rise in prices excluding volatile fresh food – against a market consensus of 2.7% – followed a 2.8% February increase, in part thanks to lower gas bills. Stripping out fresh food and energy, prices rose 2.9%, against market expectations of 3.0%, and edged down from 3.2% in February. The Bank of Japan will hold a meeting next week when it will likely hike inflation forecasts. But most economists expect the bank to keep interest rates unchanged for now.
----------
India began voting Friday in a six-week election with an all but assured victory for Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as a weakened opposition is pushed to the sidelines. A total of 968 million people are eligible to take part in the world's biggest vote – a staggering logistical exercise that critics say follows a concerted effort to delegitimise rivals. Modi, 73, remains resoundingly popular after a decade in office that has seen India rise in diplomatic clout and economic power, as well as efforts by his government to bring the country's majority faith in ever closer alignment with its politics. He has already led the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party through two landslide victories in 2014 and 2019, forged in large part by his appeals to the Hindu faithful.
----------
The UK will avoid implementing most post-Brexit checks on EU food imports due to start this month so as to prevent major disruption at ports, the Financial Times reported. The EU introduced strengthened checks on goods coming from the UK since the country's departure from the bloc entered into force in January 2021. But London has already delayed implementing some checks and formalities on five occasions amid fears the measures would harm the economy and stoke inflation. According to a confidential presentation sent by the UK government to port authorities and seen by the FT, the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs said carrying out all the health and safety checks from April 30 could trigger "significant disruption".
----------
COMPANY CALENDAR
----------
American Express Co - Q1 Results
Procter & Gamble Co - Q3 Results
----------
TOP COMPANY NEWS
----------
Woodside Energy reported a sharp drop in quarterly revenue, amid falling energy prices and lower production from its Australian assets. The Perth, Australia-based oil and gas company said revenue in the first quarter dropped 31% year-on-year to USD2.97 billion from USD4.33 billion, and fell 12% from USD3.36 billion in the fourth quarter. Woodside's topline was hit amid lower production and sales, as well as a drop in selling prices. Production fell 4.1% to 44.9 million barrels of oil equivalent from 46.8 million a year before, and was 6.7% behind the fourth quarter's level of 48.1 million boe. Sales dropped 8.9% to 45.9 million boe from 50.4 million, while the average realised price per boe dropped 25% to USD63 from USD85. The Australian firm left annual production guidance unchanged. It still expects annual production of 185 to 195 million boe for 2024, compared to 187.2 million in 2023.
----------
Meta introduced an improved AI assistant built on new versions of its open source Llama large language model for powering the technology. Meta AI is smarter and faster due to advances in publicly available Llama 3, the tech titan said in a blog post. "The bottom line is we believe Meta AI is now the most intelligent AI assistant that you can freely use," Meta co-founder & chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, said in a video posted on Instagram. Being open source means that developers outside of Meta are free to customize Llama 3 as they wish and the company may then incorporate those improvements and insights in an updated version.
----------
Netflix reported bumper growth in new subscribers in the first quarter, alongside better-than-expected results, but predicted a slowdown in the second three months of the year. In the three months to March 31, the Californian-based streaming service reported revenue of USD9.37 billion, up 15% from USD8.16 billion a year prior. Net income jumped 78% to USD2.33 billion from USD1.31 billion while diluted earnings per share improved to USD5.28, up 83% from USD2.88. The figures topped LSEG consensus forecast earnings per share of USD4.52 and revenue of USD9.28 billion. Netflix also reported continued growth in global streaming paid memberships to 269.60m, up from 232.50m a year prior, and 260.28 million in the fourth quarter. Global streaming paid net additions in the quarter totalled 9.33 million, multiplying from 1.75 million a year ago, but down from the 13.12 million in the fourth quarter. But Netflix expects paid net additions to be lower in the second quarter compared to the first, partly due to typical seasonality. Looking ahead, Netflix forecast second quarter revenue would rise to USD9.49 billion, but predicted a decline in net income of USD2.06 billion and diluted EPS of USD4.68.
----------
EssilorLuxottica described its start to 2024 as "solid," after first quarter revenue rose supported by broad-based growth across all products and regions. In the three months to March 31, the Paris-based owner of Ray-Ban said sales rose 3.0% at current exchange rates to EUR6.34 billion from EUR6.15 billion. On a constant currency basis, sales increased by 5.5%. EssilorLuxottica explained the result came on top of a difficult comparison base as the first quarter was the strongest one in 2022 and 2023. The top performing regions were Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia-Pacific and Latin America, while North America was up low-single digit. Professional Solutions revenue increased by 1.8% at current current rates to EUR3.08 billion from EUR3.03 billion while Direct to Consumer advanced by 4.2% to EUR3.26 billion from EUR3.13 billion.
----------
L'Oreal reported strong growth in first sales led by "stellar" performances from the Consumer Products and Dermatological Beauty Divisions. "2024 is off to a very good start," said Chief Executive Nicolas Hieronimus. The Paris-based manufacturer of beauty and hair products which owns brands such as Maybelline New York and Garnier said sales in the three months to March 31 totalled EUR11.25 billion, up 8.3% from EUR10.38 billion a year prior. On a comparable basis sales increased by 9.4%. Professional Products sales increased by 8.7%, Consumer Products by 9.2%, Luxe by 2.2% and Dermatological Beauty by 20%. By region, Europe and North America sales grew 12%, Latin America by 19% and South Asia Pacific, Middle East, North Africa, and Sub-Saharan Africa sales by 14%. North Asia was the one weak spot with sales declining 3.9%. L'Oreal described growth in Europe and Emerging Markets as particularly "remarkable." L'Oreal also said it had seen continued growth in both volume and value.
----------
Intuitive Surgical Inc said its core business "remained healthy" in the first quarter, with modest growth for its da Vinci surgical systems line. The Sunnyvale, California-based medical robotics company said net income rose to USD538.5 million in the first three months of 2024, from USD421.8 million. Revenue increased 11% to USD1.89 billion from USD1.70 billion. Instruments & accessories revenue rose to USD1.16 billion from USD985.6 million. Basic net income per share rose to USD1.54 from USD1.01, while diluted net income rose to USD1.51 from USD1.00 per share. Intuitive Surgical said it placed 313 da Vinci surgical systems, slightly up from 312 the prior year. The installed base grew 14% to 8,887 systems from 7,779.
----------
By Elizabeth Winter, Alliance News senior correspondent
Comments and questions to newsroom@alliancenews.com
Copyright 2024, Alliance News