European markets live updates; stocks, Credit Suisse, OPEC+ cut, news

Roger Lee, head of U.K. equity strategy at Investec, explains how inflation could be impacted by the recent turmoil in the banking sector and compares the situation to 1998.

Shares of UBS fell 2.2% in early trading following reports the bank could make hefty job cuts as part of its Credit Suisse takeover.

Up to 30,000 jobs are at risk across both banks, according to a report by Swiss daily newspaper Tages-Anzeiger, as translated by CNBC.

The report cited one unnamed senior UBS manager as the source of the information. UBS declined to comment on the report when contacted by CNBC.

It comes after the Swiss banking giant agreed to buy its rival Credit Suisse for 3 billion Swiss francs ($3.2 billion) on March 19.

— Hannah Ward-Glenton

Shares of Cineworld were down 20% around 9.30 a.m. London time after the British cinema operator said it would no longer put its U.S., U.K. and Ireland-based businesses up for sale.

Cineworld was unable to find a buyer for the group after the majority of the business was placed under bankruptcy protection in September as it struggled to rein in huge debt.

The company said it had proposed a restructuring deal with lenders to reduce debt by around $4.53 billion.

Shares plummeted as much as 35% on the news, as reported by Reuters.

— Hannah Ward-Glenton

Oil and gas companies topped the Stoxx 600 index in early trading after OPEC+ announced surprise oil supply cuts Sunday.

Scotland-based Harbour Energy led the pack with a 6.8% uptick, followed by Portugal’s Galp Energia, which was up 5.2%. The eight companies with the biggest increases were all oil and gas-based, including energy giants BP and Shell, which both gained more than 4%.

The oil and gas sector as a whole was up 3.8%.

— Hannah Ward-Glenton

Oil futures surged as much as 8% at the open after OPEC+ members announced to cut a total of more than 1 million barrels per day to extend through the end of 2023.

Brent crude futures last rose 5.98% to $84.67 a barrel and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures (WTI) jumped 6.04% to $80.24 a barrel.

This comes after oil prices rebounded last week and saw a week-to-date gain of more than 9%.

The latest announcement is an “an unwelcome start to the new week for risk markets and policymakers still dealing with sticky inflation and the fallout of the recent banking crisis,” IG’s Tony Sycamore said in a Monday note.

National Australia Bank added that the unexpected announcement will likely add pressure to European economies, where core inflation rose slightly last month.

Analysts are forecasting as much as 20% upside to oil prices following OPEC’s surprise output cuts of 1.16 million barrels per day.

“OPEC+’s plan for a further production cut may push oil prices toward the $100 mark again, considering China’s reopening and Russia’s output cuts as a retaliation move against western sanctions,” CMC Markets’ analyst Tina Teng told CNBC.

In October last year, the oil cartel announced its decision to cut output by two million barrels per day.

“However, unlike [the cut in October], the momentum for global oil demand is up, not down with a strong China recovery,” Goldman Sachs said in a note.

That could nudge up Goldman’s Brent forecasts by $5 per barrel to $95 per barrel for December 2023, the investment bank said in a note after the surprise decision overnight.

—Lee Ying Shan

Gold is on pace to post a monthly price gain that hasn’t been seen in more than two years.

With just Friday’s session left in the March trading month, gold is on pace to finish 9% higher. That would be its best monthly performance since July 2020, when the metal rallied 10.3%

If a Friday selloff pushes its monthly advance below 7.8%, March would instead become the metal’s best month since May 2021.

Gold prices were steady early Friday.

— Alex Harring, Gina Francolla

European markets are heading for a mixed open Monday.

The U.K.’s FTSE 100 index is expected to open 13 points higher at 7,651, Germany’s DAX 26 points lower at 15,614, France’s CAC up 3 points at 7,331 and Italy’s FTSE MIB 49 points lower at 26,590, according to data from IG.

Data releases include new car registration figures for Spain and the U.K. in March and Swiss inflation figures for the same month.

— Holly Ellyatt