LIVE MARKETS-STOXX 600 steady, earnings mixed bag

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STOXX 600 SLIPS, EARNINGS MIXED BAG

Europe's STOXX 600 .STOXX is steady, with about as many sectors trading positively as negatively, though there are some notable earnings on both the upside and downside.

Travel and leisure .SXTP are the worst off, slipping 1%. Global cruise and leisure travel company Carnival is off over 4% meanwhile Easyjet shares are down 1.7% even as it beat profit expectations. The sector had been one gainer on the back of recent talks about ending the war in Ukraine, moves which now seem to be fizzling out.

On the flipside defence stocks have broken a two day losing streak, with a basket rising 1.2% .SXPARO.

The biggest riser in Europe is home improvement retailer Kingfisher KGF.L which has upgraded its full-year profit outlook and is rising 5.3%.

Dutch bank ABN Amro is up 3.9% after it said it would cut 5,200 full-time jobs by 2028.

The biggest faller is British speciality insurer Beazley BEZG.L, down 9.7% after cutting its annual insurance written premiums forecast.

UK banks are drifting higher in early trade with NatWest, Lloyds and Barclays up between 2.4%-2.6%. Traders point to an FT report of no new taxes on banks at the budget on Wednesday.

(Lucy Raitano)

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