Squawk Box Europe Express

Chip maker Nvidia adds $277bn to its market cap in one session, smashing the previous added value record high and prompting stock market highs across three continents. Asia-focused bank Standard Chartered posts an 18 per cent surge in FY pre-tax profit. It is due to offer a $1bn share buy-back and a large increase to its dividend. Reddit may list in New York in the next few weeks, becoming Wall Street’s first social media IPO since Pinterest in 2019. And the U.S. government is preparing 500 new sanctions against Moscow following the death of opposition activist Alexei Navalny in prison last week. President Joe Biden has met with his family on the eve of the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.  

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Nvidia shares pop in after-hours trade after the chip giant posted a 265 per cent surge in Q4 revenue. CEO Jensen Huang tells CNBC that conditions are ideal to grow the company. As a result the chip sector rallies, pushing Japan’s Nikkei to levels not seen since 1989. The Fed urges caution in cutting rates too early. BofA CEO Brian Moynihan says the central bank should not repeat mistakes of the past. And in autos news, Mercedes-Benz is to launch a share buy-back worth $3bn ahead of results later this morning. 

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HSBC shares dip in Hong Kong despite the lender posting a record FY profit. The result was marred by a write-down on its share of Chinese bank BOCOM. HSBC CEO Noel Quinn tells CNBC he is still upbeat on the country’s economy. Chinese indices claw back earlier losses after the market regulator said it would increase supervision while the Shanghai and Shenzhen bourses crack down on a key quant fund. Wall Street suffers a second day of losses after chip giant Nvidia records its worst session since October. The company’s earnings are due later today. And in retail news, French supermarket giant Carrefour announces a 55% dividend hike after seeing record cash flow of €1.6 bn.   

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The PBOC makes its biggest ever cut to the country’s benchmark mortgage rate as authorities look to shore up the beleaguered Chinese property sector. In banking news, Capital One strikes a $35bn deal to snap up credit card issuer Discover Financial – the largest acquisition so far this year. German industrial giant Bayer slashes its dividend by 95 per cent to the lowest legal level in a bid to drastically cut costs and alleviate its debt situation. The world largest listed mining company, BHP also reduces its dividend payout following a plunge in H1 net profit as commodity pricing remains rocky. And we are live at the Singapore Air Show where China prepares to unveil its first home-grown passenger aircraft. IATA director-general Willie Walsh tells CNBC the aviation sector is still seeing examples of supply chain concerns.  

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We are live at the Munich Security Conference where the death of Alexei Navalny on Friday and dwindling Ukrainian military supplies against Russia have dominated discussions over the weekend. We hear from NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg who says he does not believe a potential Trump administration would abandon the alliance. Russian forces re-take the eastern Ukrainian city of Avdiivka – its first major victory in 9 months. Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy says his country is awaiting more military aid from the West. Chinese indices are relatively flat following the week-long Lunar New Year festivities but data shows holiday spending topping pre-pandemic era levels. And in tech news, Apple is to be hit with a €500m anti-trust fine from the EU as part of an investigation whether it restricted apps from providing users with information about cheaper music-streaming subscriptions.

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The S&P 500 achieves a fresh record high for the eleventh time this year – this as U.S. consumer spending in January falls more than expected in what could be an early warning sign for the American economy. In Japan, the Nikkei moves close to levels not seen since 1989. Crypto exchange Coinbase sees shares surge more than 14 per cent in extended trade. CFO Alesia Haas told our colleagues Stateside that Bitcoin ETFs are behind the company’s first quarterly profit in 2 years. And we are live in Bavaria where U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris ahead of the Munich Security Conference where she will work to assure European allies that Washington will honour its NATO commitments. 

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Renault enjoys a FY operating margin on revenue of more than €50bn and is set to hike its dividend. French aviation giant Airbus sees full-year results surging on the back of a record orderbook and is also due to propose a special dividend payout. On Wall Street, the S&P 500 is back up at the 5,000-point mark as chip maker Nvidia briefly overtook Alphabet on market cap value. Meanwhile Berkshire Hathaway pares back its Apple stock and ramps up investment in Chevron. The company has sought confidentiality from regulators to keep its stock purchases secret in its latest 13-F filings. 

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U.S. inflation for January disappointed, coming in at more than 3 per cent on an annual basis dashing any hopes of an imminent Federal Reserve rate cut. The markets reacted with the Dow posting its worst session since last March and Treasury yields spiked. DoubleLine CEO Jeffrey Gundlach told our colleagues Stateside that markets had vastly overestimated this year’s rate path. Ride-hailing app Lyft sees shares soar by 60 per cent in extended trade but then paring back sharply after management admitted to an accidental extra ‘zero’ to its margin growth number. And in tech news, Nvidia overtakes Amazon in terms of market cap valuation on the back of the A.I. boom. The chip giant now has Alphabet in its sights which would make it the third-largest firm on Wall Street.

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The Dow hits a new record ahead of today’s inflation report Stateside. The CPI growth has been seen below 3 per cent, which would be a first in three years. The CEO of Abu Dhabi’s SWF Mubadala, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, tells CNBC that the U.S. remains an attractive investment destination. ARM shares are up by almost 30 per cent, extending the post-earnings rally, which boosts one of its primary stakeholders Softbank in Japan. We also hear from Aston Martin Lagonda chairman Lawrence Stroll who dismissed suggestions that the sports car maker will require new funding to deliver its goals. And in political news, EU foreign chief, Josep Borrell, says that NATO cannot be an a la carte alliance, following former U.S. President Donald Trump’s funding comments while German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he believed America would honour its commitments to the bloc.  

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Wall Street posts its fifth-straight week in the green with the S&P 500 breaching the 5,000-point mark for the first time. We hear exclusively from IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva who warns about the need for China to introduce economic reforms and stabilise its property sector. NATO leaders baulk at comments made by former President Donald Trump saying he would not support allies who did not honour defence spending commitments in the face of an attack by Russia. Italian luxury fashion brand Tod’s has announced it will delist from the Milan stock exchange and go private in a deal with LVMH-backed PE group L-Catterton, valued at approximately €1.4bn.

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