LIVE MARKETS-Europe before the bell: Here we go again

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EUROPE BEFORE THE BELL: HERE WE GO AGAIN

Hold on tight, we've got a lot of earnings, especially from financials, and who knows what's going to happen next with tariffs. At the index level however, you wouldn't know, Stoxx 50 futures are up 0.1% STXEc1 with FTSE 100 FFIc1 and CAC 40 futures FCEc1 each slightly in negative territory and DAX futures up a bit. FDXc1

Maybe all the moves are cancelling each other out, or maybe everyone's just exhausted.

The macro headlines are all about tariffs, and China has slapped duties on some U.S. imports in a swift response to new U.S. levies on Chinese goods.

That renews a trade war between the world's top two economies, even as President Donald Trump offered reprieves to Mexico and Canada, though whether this one will be negotiated away too is anyone's guess.

Turning to earnings, probably the stand-out is UBS Group UBSG.S which posted net income of $770 million for the fourth quarter of 2024, trouncing forecasts.

France's BNP Paribas BNPP.PA also reported a forecast-beating jump in net income in the fourth quarter on the back a surge in trading activity, but lowered a key profit target for 2025 and said it would cut costs further. Its shares are up slightly on the Tradegate platform, so at least initially traders are focusing on the positives.

Also in banking news Dutch lender ING Group's CEO told Reuters INGA.AS they are looking for opportunities to buy rival banks in major European countries to boost its size.

Elsewhere, Diageo DGE.L, the world's top spirits maker, withdrew its medium-term organic sales growth target on Tuesday, citing macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty hurting the pace of its recovery, mentioning tariffs in particular.

And there are updates from Amundi, largely in-line, Vodafone, which has had trouble in Germany, and tropical cyclones in Western Australia have snarled up Rio Tinto's shipping, though its Australian shares are higher. RIO.LRIO.AX

(Alun John)