European markets continue to show their resilience, with indices throughout the region continuing to gain ground in the face of US tech-led losses.
While much of this comes as traders seek to diversify from Trump’s ever changing policy environment and risks in the tech sector, the latest reason to buy European stocks comes thanks to the record stock buybacks seen in the region.
With Stoxx Europe 600 index constituents providing an impressive €85.7 billion ($101 billion) of share buybacks (the highest Jan-Feb period of record), equities are provided with yet another tailwind. On the data-front, today brings a focus on eurozone inflation data, with France, Germany, and Spain all reporting their latest CPI data.
Crucially, between Spanish and French inflation remaining largely under control, there is little reason to believe we will see the ECB change course soon.
The tech sector has grabbed the headlines after a surprising collapse in Nvidia shares despite blockbuster earnings and a positive outlook from Jensen Huang. With stocks like Nvidia so consistently beating market expectations, it becomes difficult to know exactly what they have to do to impress the markets.
Notably, while they have beat earnings expectations for 14 quarters in a row, many of those reports do not bring immediate gains in the shareprice. Nonetheless, with the long-term trajectory of Nvidia undoubtedly upwards, there is a case that the losses seen yesterday represent a buying opportunity.
Markets continue to keep a close eye on the negotiations taking place in Geneva, with positive progress expected to take those discussions into next week. While Iran will hope to stave off any military conflict, the US does continue to position itself for such an eventuality, with the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford arriving off the coast of Northern Israel today. For oil prices, we have seen significant fluctuations as traders weigh up the likeliness of a conflict, with WTI rising up through $66 today. Meanwhile, OPEC’s influence comes back into play as markets look towards their March meeting for a potential announcement around a 137,000 bpd output increase for April.
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