Squawk Box Europe Express

President Donald Trump has announced he is launching reciprocal tariffs against all U.S. trading partners which would be calculated on a country-by-country basis and would take both tariff and non-tariff barriers into account. U.S. markets have so far shrugged off the latest tariff threats while wholesale inflation shows signs of slowing. Europe’s largest lender, HSBC, is due to announce a new round of global job cuts which could amount to $1.5bn. Meanwhile, Santander denies reports of a potential sale of its UK retail arm to Natwest. And Italian luxury brand Moncler posts a robust top and bottom line quarterly beat, driven by strong demand in China.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Elon Musk has urged the U.S. government to scrap entire agencies to save up to $1tn as part of his DOGE bureaucracy revision. Markets are spooked after a hotter-than-expected U.S. inflation print with the 10-year Treasury yield nudging past 4.6 per cent. We hear from billionaire investor Ray Dalio who says he is concerned over inflated asset prices coupled with the threat of rising rates. President Trump has announced he held a lengthy phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin about beginning negotiations to end the war in Ukraine. Commerzbank posts record Q4 profits which have surged by 6 per cent to €11bn. Siemens beats revenue growth expectations in the first quarter despite a slump in orders at the company’s mobility unit.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

U.S. President Donald Trump orders government agencies to work with Elon Musk’s Department Of Government Efficiency to make cut-backs. Musk slams critics of the project and says the American electorate has voted for the reforms. We are live in Paris at the AI Action Summit where the U.S. and UK have refused to sign up to an official communiqué as differences over regulation and governance continue. U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance says Europe’s approach to the sector is “excessive”. On Capitol Hill, U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell touts the strength of the U.S. economy but refuses to comment on President Trump’s trade policies. The UK’s OBR has warned Chancellor Rachel Reeves may have to break her own fiscal rules following a disappointing first draft forecast. And Deutsche Boerse posts a 25 per cent Q4 profit rise but warns of headwinds later this year due to lower interest rates.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

UniCredit posts a record-breaking year and its 16th straight quarter of growth, as net profit comes in just shy of 10 billion euros despite more than 1 billion in extraordinary charges. CNBC spoke exclusively to CEO Andrea Orcel on the company’s earnings and Italian banking consolidation. U.S. President Donald Trump signs off a 25% tariff on steel and aluminum imports – and warns of further trade levies in the coming weeks. Gold hits a fresh all-time high, settling its record for the fifth time this year as tariff tensions push investors to the safe haven asset. Meanwhile Sam Altman brushes off an unsolicited $100 billion bid from Elon Musk to buy OpenAi as the billionaires’ bitter rivalry takes a new turn. In Paris, President Emmanuel Macron pledges to roll back European red tape at the AI Action Summit, as the bloc battles to keep up with the U.S. and China.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

U.S. President Donald Trump adds a new front to his trade war, as he threatened 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports, and promises further “reciprocal” levies in the coming days. Meanwhile Chinese retaliatory tariffs on around 14 billion dollars’ worth of U.S. goods take effect, while fresh data shows a pickup in consumer inflation in the world’s second largest economy. In Germany, Chancellor Olaf Scholz and election frontrunner Friedrich Merz go head-to-head in the first television debate – with the health of the economy dominating the conversation. Pressure mounts on BP as activist investor Elliot Management reportedly builds up a stake in the British energy producer. In France, President Emmanuel Macron pledges more than 100 billion euros worth of investment into AI, as top tech names descend on Paris for the AI Action Summit.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Amazon shares slip to the downside as the tech giant issues lower-than-expected guidance for the current quarter, but talks up its capex plans with spending to hit 100 billion dollars this year. Europe’s STOXX 600 closes at an all-time high, lifted by upbeat earnings as attention turns to today’s U.S. jobs report. Meanwhile, the Bank of England cuts by a quarter point, as it halves its growth forecast for the year, and flags fresh concerns over the government’s fiscal plans. French cosmetics company L’Oreal misses quarterly sales forecasts, with revenue rising at the slowest pace since the pandemic amid weakness in China and North America.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Chip manufacturers Qualcomm and Arm both top Q4 expectations after the bell but A.I. capex concerns push shares down. The Nissan-Honda merger is reportedly in jeopardy as Nissan shareholders’ “growing differences” could now potentially lead to the $58bn deal being scrapped. Société Générale enjoys a doubling of Q4 profits helped by a rebound in its retail banking arm. The French lender’s FY revenue tops targets and is also promising a share buyback. France’s new government survives two no-confidence votes in the Assemblée Nationale which will now allow Prime Minister Francois Bayrou to pass the country’s delayed budget. And in the UK, the Bank of England is expected to cut interest rates by a quarter point as well as issue a potential growth forecast downgrade.   See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

U.S. President Trump hosts Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House and announces potential plans to ‘take over’ Gaza and redevelop the territory. Chinese markets re-open after a week-long holiday and trim gains after Beijing’s swift retaliation against U.S. tariff increases prompts investors to cut risks. In tech news, investors prove wary of Alphabet’s A.I. $75bn investment in the sector which has exceeded forecasts. And we are live in Copenhagen where Novo Nordisk are due to report FY results amid recent signs of shareholder anxiety.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

China retaliates against U.S. trade restrictions, slapping duties onto wide-ranging U.S. imports. President Trump agrees to suspend tariffs with Canada and Mexico for after Ottawa and Mexico City vowed to strengthen border security to stamp out illegal immigration and drug smuggling. Swiss lender UBS posts a $770m Q4 net profit beat and confirms its guidance. And there are also earnings due in from BNP Paribas, OMV and Infineon.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

President Trump triggers a trade war which sends the dollar soaring and pushed Asian equities into the red. Mexico and Canada are hit with 25 per cent while Chinese goods are subject to a 10 per cent surcharge on existing tariffs. Trump has threatened that the EU could be targeted next. Both Canada and Mexico have vowed to retaliate. In M&A news, Italy’s Unicredit has disclosed a new stake in the country’s largest insurer, Generali, but has denied any strategic interest behind the move. German lender Commerzbank posts a record FY pre-tax profits while fending off interest from Unicredit.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Apple shares soar more than 3 per cent in after-hours trade boosted by strong revenue from services. However, iPhone sales disappoint, dragged down by poor Chinese demand. Canadian and Mexican imports into the U.S. will be hit with 25 per cent tariffs from tomorrow but President Trump says he is still undecided whether the measures will affect oil. The ECB slashes euro interest rates by 25bps. It’s the central bank’s fifth cut of the cycle amid growing concerns about sluggish growth throughout the bloc. President Christine Lagarde says that a larger cut was not on the table. And two black boxes have been recovered from the Potomac River in Washington D.C. following Wednesday night’s fatal mid-air collision between a regional American Airlines jet and a military Black Hawk helicopter. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Tesla Q4 results miss estimates with shares falling and then rebounding in after-hours trade. However, CEO Elon Musk remains bullish about the year ahead pointing to advancements in A.I. and self-driving technology. Microsoft sees disappointing cloud sector revenue while Facebook owner Meta beats Q4 expectations despite softer-than-expected forecasts. The U.S. Federal Reserve maintains rates in January as the central bank waits to assess the impact of President Trump’s sweeping policy changes on the economy. Chairman Jerome Powell says he is blocking out all external commentary. And dozens of passengers are feared dead in Washington DC after an American Airlines jet collided with a U.S. military Blackhawk helicopter over the Potomac River.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Dutch chip equipment ASML moves to calm investor jitters over AI plans, beating Q4 expectations with net income of €2.69bn. Nvidia shares have slowly rebounded following Monday’s DeepSeek-driven bloodbath, ending yesterday’s session almost 9 per cent higher. Other U.S. tech stocks have also clawed back losses as retail investors re-enter the sector following this week’s massive sell-off. UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves is to set out deeper plans to improve the country’s economy in a speech later today, saying she anticipates opposition in her quest for growth. And in luxury news, LVMH posts a Q4 sales beat helped along by strong demand in Europe and the U.S. despite the French giant warning of an unfavourable global economic environment for the sector.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Nvidia’s market cap takes a $600bn battering – the biggest one-day Wall Street wipe-out in history. The emergence of DeepSeek sees $1tn knocked off big tech stocks amid a market panic reverberating in Japan and in European AI-related shares. In Germany, Siemens attempts to stem losses from the sell-off with preliminary Q1 revenue narrowly beats forecasts at €9bn. German cloud-computing giant SAP boosts guidance on the back of a strong AI-driven Q4 order pipeline. And President Trump touts Microsoft as a potential company to acquire social media platform TikTok.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Thousands of displaced Gazans begin to return to their homes in the north of the Gaza Strip as the fragile ceasefire continues to hold. U.S. President Trump has proposed rehousing Palestinians from the Gaza Strip in neighbouring Arab nations to ‘clean out’ the demolished territory. Trump has also spoken to Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, once again pushing for U.S. control of Greenland. With less than a month before the German elections, the CDU chancellor candidate Friedrich Merz has proposed a new hardline immigration bill while Tesla CEO Elon Musk addressed an AfD rally, slamming EU over-reach in the country. In China, manufacturing activity surprisingly contracts in January which now places further pressure on Beijing to provide stimulus measures.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

President Trump calls for interests rates to be slashed immediately, helping to push the S&P 500 to a record high. The BoJ raises interest rates to their highest level since 2008 and indicates further hikes will follow. In a video address to the World Economic Forum, President Trump slams the EU for its treatment of the U.S. We hear from the European Commission’s EVP for Prosperity and Industrial Strategy, Stéphane Séjourné, who says neither Brussels nor Washington have any interest in a trade war.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk pours cold water on President Trump’s A.I. mega-project Stargate, saying Softbank, Oracle and OpenAI ‘don’t actually have the money’ to realise the plan but Sam Altman hits back asking Musk to put the country’s interests first. Meanwhile at Davos, President Trump’s tariff threats loom large ahead of his special video address to the World Economic Forum later today. Trump has warned Russia of further sanctions if the war in Ukraine is not resolved quickly while Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy’s top advisor Andriy Yermak tells CNBC that Kyiv will not compromise on territorial integrity or sovereignty. We also hear from Polish President Andzrej Duda who calls for a dramatic increase in defence spending among NATO members warning Putin’s expansionism is ‘insatiable’.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

President Trump announces a ‘monumental’ $500bn A.I. infrastructure project called Stargate, backed by OpenAI, Oracle and Japan’s Softbank. Netflix shares soar as price hikes and live events help the streaming giant post a huge beat on subscriber numbers. In Asian markets, Greater China stocks disappoint amid new threats of tariffs coming from the Trump administration while European indices are set to open in the green.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Donald Trump is inaugurated as the 47th President of the United States, immediately signing off on a flurry of executive orders. He did, however, stop short of launching immediate tariffs on neighbours Canada, Mexico as well as on China. Trump did sign a 75-day reprieve on the ban on TikTok in order to review a deal for the platform. He also signed orders to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement and to exit the WHO. We speak to UAE sovereign wealth fund Mubadala, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, who says AI demand is ‘profoundly high’ but warned that the technology remains imperfect. In forex news, the dollar is down while the yuan hits a 6-week high as a new Trump era begins.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

TikTok is reinstated Stateside following assurances from President-elect Trump who declares the social media giant’s operation as key to U.S. businesses and jobs. Ahead of his inauguration later today, Trump has pledged to sign close to 100 executive orders in his first few hours in office. In the Middle East, Hamas returns 3 October 7th hostages in return for 90 Palestinian prisoners as the Gaza ceasefire deal comes into effect. We hear from TSMC CFO Wendell Huang who says he expects funding from the Chips Act to continue under Trump’s leadership. He reveals that the Taiwanese chip giant has already received $1.5bn in government support.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.