LVMH Share News (MC.PA)

*
STOXX 600 up 0.1%
  
* 
Energy outperforms
  
* 
Retail and travel & leisure lag
  
* 
Eyes on U.S. PCE data
  
 
Welcome to the home for real-time coverage of markets brought to you by Reuters reporters. You 
can share your thoughts with us at
FTSE 350 BUY RECOMMENDATIONS SURGE (1122 GMT)
Buy recommendations for UK listed companies have risen to the highest level since at least 2015, as the FTSE 350 index kicked off the year up 4.5% in January. 
Two thirds of analysts' recommendations for the FTSE 350 companies are buys, just 8% are sells, according to data compiled by AJ Bell. 
FTSE 100                FTSE 350 
Buys  Holds  Sell      Buys   Holds  Sells 
s 
2015                47%    39%   14%        49%    39%    12% 
2016                47%    40%   13%        48%    40%    12% 
2017                45%    40%   15%        47%    39%    15% 
2018                49%    37%   14%        48%    38%    13% 
2019                52%    36%   12%        51%    38%    11% 
2020                46%    38%   16%        47%    39%    14% 
2021                54%    35%   14%        54%    35%    12% 
2022                57%    34%    9%        62%    31%    8% 
2023                57%    34%    9%        63%    29%    8% 
 
Average 2015-2023   51%    37%   13%        53%    37%    11% 
Source: Refinitiv data, analysts’ consensus 
However, AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould notes that analysts' top picks have not beaten the blue chip index once since 2015, other than in 2019. 
“This is not to poke fun. It just shows how hard picking individual stocks can be, even if it is your full-time job. Markets will tend to do what causes the greatest degree of surprise 
and analysts do not intentionally set to out to sit on the fence." 
Q4 EARNINGS: NOT GREAT BUT NOT A SHOCKER (1030 GMT)
Fourth quarter earnings season is in its early stages but results have been broadly in-line with expectations so far, according to Barclays equity strategists led by Emmanuel Cau. 
"Early Q4 results confirm what everyone seemed to have expected, i.e. slowing demand, margins pressure and an uncertain outlook for '23, but are not a shocker either," Barclays says 
in a note. 
Looking forward, Cau's team says the Fed and ECB meetings next week are likely to hold the fate of the recent rally, a rally that has seen the STOXX 600 jump near 7% this month, its 
biggest January gain since 2015. 
"The rebound in equities of the past 3 months or so has been largely built on market expectations of a dovish pivot in monetary policy," Barclays says. 
"Falling yields have acted as a tailwind for P/Es, but a lot of (too much?) dovishness seems priced in now, in our view," they say adding that the question next week will be whether the 
central banks push back on current market pricing. 
Money markets are pricing in rate cuts from the Fed this year and from the ECB early in 2024. 
"A dovish (but unlikely) tilt would likely be cheered by markets, while a hawkish surprise may lead to short term downside," Barclays writes, adding that the ECB will likely sound more 
hawkish, "which could add more upward pressure on euro-dollar." 
STOXX EDGES UP: EARNINGS, CENTRAL BANKS IN FOCUS (0845 GMT)
European shares are edging up as investors digest a mixed batch of earnings reports, ahead of a slew of central bank meetings next week. 
The pan-European STOXX 600 is up 0.1%, with losses in retailers offseting gains in the energy sector. 
Shares in the world's second-biggest fashion retailer H&M are down 6% after the company reported a much larger-than-expected dive in September-November operating profit, 
slammed by soaring costs and weakening consumer confidence. 
Shares of LVMH - Europe's biggest company by market value - opened lower but recovered, rising 0.8%. Some analysts expressed disappointment over the company's margins, which 
initially took some of the shine off its strong fourth-quarter sales figures. 
Investors are refraining from positioning too aggressively ahead of a week packed with central bank meetings, major economic data and a slew of megacap earnings. Markets expect 
policymakers at the Bank of England and European Central Bank (ECB) to deliver 50-bps rate hikes 
and for the Federal Reserve to raise rates by just 25 bps. 
STUMBLING AWAY (0800 GMT)
Chip giant Intel's grim earnings report along with mixed U.S data that showed a resilient economy but a labour market that remains tight will likely dominate investors' minds 
and dictate Friday's trading. 
The U.S. chip bellwether expects to lose money in the current quarter as two pillars of its
success in the past few years -- the PC and data centre businesses -- face slowing demand.
"We stumbled ... we lost momentum," said Chief Executive Pat Gelsinger.
In contrast, European chipmaker STMicroelectronics cited strong demand from automotive and industrial customers on Thursday as it beat earnings and sales targets. 
Meanwhile, better-than-estimated U.S. GDP data has provided a fillip to investors for some risk-on rally, with MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan 
at a nine-month high and set for its best ever January performance. 
The Japanese yen rose against the dollar after Tokyo's consumer inflation, a leading indicator of nationwide trends, touched a near 42-year high and reinforced market 
expectations that the Bank of Japan will soon have to step away from its ultra-easy policy. 
Before next week's central bank meetings (that's Fed, ECB and BOE on the deck) take all of investors' attention, the focus on Friday will be on the Fed's preferred inflation gauge, the 
personal consumption expenditures (PCE) data. The core PCE price index is expected to rise 0.3% 
in December, according to Reuters poll of economists. 
Key developments that could influence markets on Friday: Economic events: Sweden unemployment rate for December, Spain Q4 GDP data and core U.S. 
PCE data 
 
(Ankur Banerjee)