* European shares seen opening lower
* UBS quarterly profit doubles
* Reckitt, Logitech, Swedbank beat estimates
* Euronext hopes for smooth market open
Welcome to the home for real-time coverage of markets brought to you by Reuters reporters. You
can share your thoughts with us at markets.research@thomsonreuters.com
EARNINGS RECOVERY, UBS'S PROFIT JUMP AND CHIP M&A ON OUR RADAR (0632 GMT)
Worries over U.S. politics and a second COVID-19 wave will likely hurt European shares at
the open after big losses on Wall Street overnight but a solid update from banking heavyweight
UBS and other trading updates underscoring the pace of an earnings recovery in Europe
may give investors a reason to cheer about.
Trading on Euronext is also set to return to normal after technical glitches
yesterday that froze morning transactions in Amsterdam, Brussels, Lisbon and Paris and led to
cancellations of closing trades.
UBS kickstarted the reporting season for big European banks by doubling its Q3 profit,
boosted by heavy turnover in global markets as well as an unexpected rise in earnings for wealth
management. Its shares are expected to rise 3% at the open.
Results from Swedbank echoed those at UBS with strong market conditions
contributing to a bigger-than-expected Q3 profit rise. Increased payment also helped.
Meantime, Logitech benefited from a shift to working from home that led the
computer peripherals maker to raise its FY forecasts, while Reckitt Benckiser
reported a bigger-than-expected rise in Q3 sales that were boosted as the coronavirus
pandemic spurred demand for cleaning products.
Robust U.S. and China demand for its premium cognac helped Remy Cointreau to
improve it H1 core profit fall forecast to a 25-30% drop, while in the car space,
rebounding markets helped BMW to deliver higher-than-expected free cash flow in the
automotive segment in Q3.
BHP posted a 7.2% rise in Q1 iron ore production, slightly above expectations,
supported by stable demand from China, the world's top consumer of the steelmaking ingredient.
Its Australia listed shares however fell nearly 2% at one point.
In the telco world, Tele2 posted Q3 profit in line with forecast
Besides results, dealmaking in the chip space is also grabbing attention. Intel has
agreed to sell its NAND memory chip business to SK Hynix for $9 billion in an deal
that could fuel talk of industry consolidation among memory chipmakers.
(Danilo Masoni)
*****
EUROPE STAYS CAUTIOUS AS STOCK FUTURES FALL (0525 GMT)
European shares looked set to start the day adding to losses from the previous session as
investors stay cautions faced with the usual worries, growing coronavirus infections on the old
continent and doubts over a pre-election fiscal stimulus package in the U.S.
Eurostoxx 50 futures are down 0.7% and FTSE futures fall 0.5%, while over
in Asia stocks slipped with the index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan last
down 0.1% on the day.
(Danilo Masoni)
*****
