European update – Mixed bag, focus on earnings

Europe lower as earnings season comes into focus

It’s been a slightly negative end to the week in Europe, with indices marginally in the red, while US futures are once again looking mixed as we await more earnings reports.

Source – Thomson Reuters Eikon

Earnings is very much front of mind right now, with central banks around the world having adopted a far more dovish approach in anticipation of a slowdown and some countries in Europe either in or bordering on recession. The US has got things off to a strong start against quite low expectations which has lifted equity markets there into record closing territory. The challenge is likely to be greater across Europe though, as the next few weeks may highlight.

Two banks that have suffered greatly over the last decade – RBS and Deutsche Bank – are the worst performers in their respective indices on Friday after they saw their share price slide in early trade despite reporting stronger than expected profits for the first quarter. RBS came under pressure after warning about the impact of Brexit uncertainty on the outlook while Deutsche’s results come at the end of a rotten week for the bank as it abandoned merger talks with Commerzbank.

The Spanish IBEX is one of the worst performers in Europe this morning ahead of the general election this weekend that is expected to deliver no majority government, which means potentially weeks of negotiations before the formation of another coalition government.

Economic Calendar

For a look at all of today’s economic events, check out our economic calendar.

Content is for general information purposes only. It is not investment advice or a solution to buy or sell securities. Opinions are the authors; not necessarily that of OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc. or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers or directors. If you would like to reproduce or redistribute any of the content found on MarketPulse, an award winning forex, commodities and global indices analysis and news site service produced by OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc., please access the RSS feed or contact us at info@marketpulse.com. Visit https://www.marketpulse.com/ to find out more about the beat of the global markets. © 2023 OANDA Business Information & Services Inc.

Former Craig

Former Craig

Former Senior Market Analyst, UK & EMEA at OANDA
Based in London, Craig Erlam joined OANDA in 2015 as a market analyst. With many years of experience as a financial market analyst and trader, he focuses on both fundamental and technical analysis while producing macroeconomic commentary. His views have been published in the Financial Times, Reuters, The Telegraph and the International Business Times, and he also appears as a regular guest commentator on the BBC, Bloomberg TV, FOX Business and SKY News. Craig holds a full membership to the Society of Technical Analysts and is recognised as a Certified Financial Technician by the International Federation of Technical Analysts.