This is CNBC’s live blog covering European markets.
European markets were slightly higher Wednesday as global markets await the latest inflation reading out of the U.S.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 was up 0.05% by 10:50 a.m. London time, with all major bourses and almost all sectors in the green. Food and beverage stocks on the Stoxx index led gains, up 1.28%, while oil and gas stocks fell 0.63%.
Heineken shares jumped more than 12% and trading was briefly halted after the Dutch brewer posted a forecast-beating a rise in operating profits and launched a 1.5 billion euro ($1.55 billion) share buyback program.
The positive results led other drinks makers higher, with Belgium’s AB InBev adding 4% and Denmark’s Carlsberg gaining 3%.
Global market focus is on the latest U.S. consumer price index report for January that will be published on Wednesday.
Headline inflation is expected to have grown 0.3% from the prior month and 2.9% from 12 months earlier, according to Dow Jones. Some economists on Wall Street have raised concerns that even as certain categories may see disinflation, Trump’s tariffs could offset that. More inflation data is due on Thursday, with the producer price index set to be released.
Traders were on guard Tuesday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell told the Senate Banking Committee that policymakers were in no hurry to make more interest rate cuts. Powell will appear before the House Committee on Financial Services on Wednesday.
S&P 500 futures were near the flatline Tuesday evening as investors awaited January’s consumer inflation report. Meanwhile, Asia-Pacific markets mostly rose overnight.
— CNBC’s Brian Evans contributed to this market summary
Underlying economic issues in Europe are significant, says Deutsche Börse CEO
Stephan Leithner, CEO of Deutsche Börse, discusses the firm’s fourth-quarter earnings, international investment in Germany and the global economy.
Kering shares up by 5% as UBS raises target price
French luxury goods firm Kering was up by over 5% by mid-morning, as UBS raised its target price on the stock after the company on Tuesday reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter sales.
UBS analyst Zuzanna Pusz raised Kering’s target price from 228 euros ($236.6) to 246 euros, citing better overall sector trends and strict cost controls. Kering’s 2024 full-year results “were better than feared,” Pusz said, but added UBS was taking a “more cautious” view on 2025 profitability of the firm’s Gucci brand.
The high-end fashion group, whose brands include Gucci, Bottega Veneta and Balenciaga, posted a 12% decline in fourth-quarter revenue to 4.39 billion euros, up from the 4.29 billion euros predicted by LSEG analysts.
Gucci sales, which make up almost half of the group’s total revenues, dropped 24% annually to 1.92 billion euros, showing a lagging demand for the group’s once-favored luxury label.
— Sawdah Bhaimiya
Dutch brewer Heineken sees minimal impact from U.S. aluminum tariffs
U.S. President Donald Trump’s aluminum tariffs are unlikely to have a significant impact on production costs at Heineken, the Dutch brewer CNBC Wednesday.
CEO Dolf van den Brink said the tariffs, which take effect from March 4, could have an impact on aluminum pricing for its beer cans, but noted that for 2025, at least, the company was well covered.
Van den Brink added that the beer industry in general, given its local supply chains, was typically “less susceptible to disruption in international trade flows” and assessed the risk as manageable.
That comes after spirits maker Diageo, which relies on Canadian and Mexican production for much of its U.S. sales, last week removed its medium-term guidance on U.S. tariff uncertainty.
“Given our footprint and our local-for-local structure, for us the impact at this moment is assessed to be relatively manageable,” he told “Squawk Box Europe.“
Heineken on Wednesday posted a forecast-beating a rise in operating profits and launched a 1.5 billion euro ($1.55 billion) share buyback program. Shares were last up 11.4%.
— Karen Gilchrist
Banco BPM sweetens Anima bid, sets out targets
Italy’s third-largest lender Banco BPM has sweetened its bid for asset manager Anima Holding, part of an attempted transaction that has been complicated by UniCredit‘s own takeover attempt of its domestic peer.
Banco BPM on Wednesday called a shareholder vote on Feb. 28 to lift its offer for Anima to 7 euros ($7.26) per share from its initial bid of 6.20 euros per share in November – aligning with the company’s market close price of 6.98 euros per share on Feb. 11.
The lender also reported an annual net income jump of 18% to 1.69 billion euros across full-year 2024, with return on tangible equity — a measure of profitability — of 16% last year, compared with 14.1% in 2023.
Banco BPM plans shareholder returns of more than 7 billion euros as part of its 2024-2027 plan and targets a net income of 2.15 billion euros by the end of that period.
The lender’s Milan-traded shares were up 0.87% at 09:58 a.m. London time.
— Ruxandra Iordache
ECB’s Holzmann says inflation risks have increased and central bank must be ‘patient’
European Central Bank voting member Robert Holzmann told CNBC Wednesday that the global tariffs being threatened and enacted by U.S. President Donald Trump had increased inflationary risks in the euro zone.
Concerns that have previously led the Austrian central bank governor to skew more hawkish “have not dissipated. On the contrary, with the arrival of this threat of tariffs, they re-emerged,” Holzmann told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe.“
“Before they were somewhat dissipated, because we looked like [we were] moving slowly towards lower rates. What we have now is the threat of higher inflation rates. And for this reason, we have to be careful.”
He added: “My take is that [disinflation] won’t speed up … because the models I know and we use, what they [show] is that an increase in trade frictions reduces growth, that’s true, but at the other end, it also increases inflation, so we will have to be more patient.”
Regarding the possibility of a larger 50 basis point rate cut as the euro area grapples with tepid economic growth, Holzmann said: “I think this would not be a good decision, because our job is to deal with inflation, not with growth. And the result of it, using the interest rate in order to initiate a higher growth is not the way how we should work.”
The ECB cut interest rates by a quarter-percentage-point in January and said the disinflation process was “well on track.”
— Jenni Reid
European stocks open higher
European markets opened higher Wednesday as global markets await the latest inflation reading out of the U.S.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 was up 0.14% in opening trade, with all major bourses and almost all sectors in the green. Food and beverage stocks led gains, up 1.06%, while oil and gas stocks fell 0.62%.
— Karen Gilchrist
Siemens Energy sees rising energy demand after strong first quarter
Siemens Energy site in Muelheim an der Ruhr, Germany, August 3, 2022.
Siemens Energy pointed to strong energy demand as a key growth driver in 2025 after posting solid first-quarter results Wednesday.
Revenues rose 18% in the first quarter to 8.9 billion euros ($9.2 billion) while profit before special items doubled to 481 million euros, which the company said “clearly exceeded” the prior year.
“Our strong first quarter reflects the market opportunities arising from the increasing demand for electricity,” president and CEO of Siemens Energy AG, Christian Bruch, said in a statement.
— Karen Gilchrist
Heineken posts forecast-beating full-year profits, launches buyback
Heineken said it has seen signs of slowdown in demand for its beer in some European markets after its third-quarter sales rose by less than expected.
Dutch brewer Heineken on Wednesday posted a rise in operating profits that beat a forecast compiled by the company and said it would launch a 1.5 billion euro ($1.55 billion) share buyback program.
The business reported an 8.3% rise in full-year organic operating profit before exceptional items and amortization to 4.51 billion euros, ahead of analysts’ forecast of 5.3%.
The company, whose brands include Amstel, Cruzcampo and Kingfisher, said operating profit would rise between 4% to 8% in 2025.
— Karen Gilchrist
European markets: Here are the opening calls
European markets are expected to open in higher territory Wednesday.
The U.K.’s FTSE 100 index is expected to open 4 points higher at 8,785, Germany’s DAX up 75 points at 22,104, France’s CAC up 12 points at 8,042 and Italy’s FTSE MIB 102 points higher at 37,798, according to data from IG.
Earnings come from Randstad, Heineken, EssilorLuxottica, Michelin, Deutsche Boerse and Siemens Energy on Wednesday.
— Holly Ellyatt
