Stocks, news, data and earnings

Philippe Ferreira, vice president of cross-asset economics and strategy at Kepler Cheuvreux, told CNBC's “Squawk Box Europe” on Thursday that 2025 is expected to be “very difficult” for global markets, suggesting that the start of the year has proven to be a challenging year. Really difficult. .

Ferreira said pressure was coming from the United States, including through uncertainty about potential tariffs that President-elect Donald Trump might impose. He pointed out that local factors such as political instability in France exacerbated this situation.

“We think the markets will be very fragile in 25 years but we think the trend will still be higher,” Ferreira said.

-Sophie Kiderlein

Marks & Spencer said on Thursday that like-for-like food sales rose 8.9% in the 13 weeks to the end of December, while clothing, home and cosmetics sales rose 1.9% over the same period.

“This has been another good Christmas for Marks & Spencer,” chief executive Stuart Machin said in a statement. “Sales records have been broken across the business, with food recording its biggest day, and apparel, home and beauty recording its biggest week, but we're not satisfied – as a growing company, it's our job to break records.”

Machin cautioned that the external environment will remain difficult, citing cost and economic headwinds, but he also noted that there are many things the group has control over.

Reuters reported that the results exceeded the analyst consensus compiled by the company. However, shares fell, with their last trading down nearly 7% at 11:25 a.m. London time.

-Sophie Kiderlein

B&M's European shares fell 13% on Thursday after the retailer cut the top end of its annual profit forecast as UK sales fell in the company's fiscal third quarter.

B&M said like-for-like revenue growth in the UK fell by 2.8% between 29 September 2024 and 28 December 2024. It noted positive like-for-like growth in December and said this trend continued into January. .

The retailer said it is tightening its profit growth guidance and now expects group-adjusted EBITDA to be between £620 million ($763 million) and £650 million, from a previous estimate of £620 million. To 660 million pounds sterling.

B&M shares fell 13.97% at 10:22 a.m. London time, trading at their lowest level since November 2022, according to LSEG data.

-Sophie Kiderlein

Shares of British food retailer Greggs fell as much as 10% on Thursday, falling to levels last seen in November 2023 according to LSEG data.

The baker said Thursday that sales rose 11.3% to 2 billion pounds ($2.46 billion) for the first time in 2024, which was below analysts' expectations. Greggs also reported a 2.5% increase in like-for-like sales in Q4 2024, citing lower high street footfall.

At 9:45 a.m. London time, shares were down 9.9%.

-Sophie Kiderlein

Deliveries of Volkswagen brand cars will reach about 4.8 million vehicles in 2024, 1.4% lower than the previous year, the company said on Thursday.

“Around the world, 2024 has been a difficult year with slowing economic activity, political challenges and intense competition – especially in China,” Martin Sander, Volkswagen Board Member for Sales, Marketing and Aftersales, said in a statement.

Deliveries in China fell 8.3% year-on-year to 2,198,900, according to data from Volkswagen. In Europe, deliveries fell by 1.7%, while South and North America saw growth of 21.1% and 18.4%, respectively.

Volkswagen also said it will deliver 383,100 battery electric vehicles in 2024.

-Sophie Kiderlein

European markets opened lower on Thursday, with the pan-European Stoxx 600 index falling 0.37% shortly after trading began.

Retail and banking stocks led the declines, falling by about 1% and 0.8%, respectively. Financial services and health care were the only sectors that rose.

The major regional stock exchanges had a quiet start to the day, as well as the UK stock exchange FTSE 100 index Trading near the flat line while the German Dax It decreased by 0.29% and France CAC 40 decreased by 0.41%

-Sophie Kiderlein

British baker and food retailer Greggs reported on Thursday that like-for-like sales rose 2.5% in the fourth quarter of 2024, which it said reflected “quieter footfall on the High Street”.

“Trading performance reflects a more challenging and well-publicized market backdrop in the second half of 2024,” the company noted in a trading update.

Over the full year of 2024, Greggs' total sales rose to more than £2 billion ($2.45 billion) for the first time, up 11.3%, the company said. However, this fell short of expectations, with analysts expecting a 12.2% increase, according to LSEG data.

Looking ahead, the company said higher staffing costs are expected to lead to further cost inflation in 2025, but noted it is confident of the progress it can make this year.

-Sophie Kiderlein

The German Statistical Office said on Thursday that German imports fell by 3.3%, while exports rose by 2.1% compared to the previous month in November.

Seasonally adjusted exports totaled 127.3 billion euros ($131.2 billion), while imports – adjusted for the same factors – amounted to 107.6 billion euros. Thus, the German foreign trade balance achieved a surplus of 19.7 billion euros.

The United States was Germany's largest trading partner in terms of exports, while most imports came from China, the statistics office said.

-Sophie Kiderlein

European markets are expected to open in positive territory on Thursday.

UK FTSE 100 index The index is expected to open 13 points higher at 8,256 in Germany Dax France rose 44 points to 20,361 Kak Up 8 points at 7454 and Italy FTSE MIB indicator It rose 2 points to 35,210, according to IG data.

Earnings releases include trading data from Ms, Tesco and Greggs. German trade balance data for November is scheduled to be released on Thursday.

– Holly Eliatt

Data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Thursday that consumer price inflation in China fell in December to 0.1% year-on-year, raising fears of deflation.

Headline inflation growth was in line with Reuters estimates, but lower than the 0.2% increase in November. The data showed that the core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices, rose 0.4% year-on-year compared with a 0.3% rise in the previous month.

On a monthly basis, China's CPI came in flat, compared to a 0.6% decline in the previous month.

Official statistics showed that food prices decreased by 0.6% on a monthly basis as a result of favorable weather conditions. Prices of fresh vegetables and fruits decreased by 2.4% and 1%, respectively. Pork prices, which make up a large portion of the CPI basket, fell 2.1%.

-Li Ying Shan

Goldman Sachs is cautious about the Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdingsand removed from the Asia-Pacific “Condemnation List” of Top Picks.

The investment bank also removed several other stocks from the list and added others, including one that gives it a nearly 50% upside.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

– Amala Balakrishner

mediatekits cooperating Taiwan Semiconductor Corporation Nvidia On its newly announced AI mini-supercomputer, it is expected to see significant financial benefits from the partnership starting in 2026, according to Bernstein.

Nvidia's giant desktop computer, starting at $3,000, is scheduled to launch in May 2025.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

-Ganesh Rao

A summary of the Fed's December meeting showed that central bank officials were concerned about how the incoming Trump administration's policies would affect inflation.

“Almost all participants viewed upside risks to inflation expectations as having increased,” the minutes said. “In discussing the monetary policy outlook, participants noted that the Committee was at or near the point at which it would be appropriate to slow the pace of policy easing.”

-Fred Imbert