stocks, news, data and earnings

Tony Travers, a visiting professor at the London School of Economics, says he expects the alignment between British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and the Biden administration to be “very close” when it comes to the war in Ukraine.

Giulio Ricci, head of European asset allocation at Vanguard, explains why stocks are rising even though markets have “adjusted to the idea that rates won’t be cut in 2023.”

The OECD unemployment rate in the eurozone decreased slightly in April, to 6.5%, while the rate in all OECD countries remained at 4.8% for the third month in a row.

Eurozone unemployment was stable or fell in all countries except Austria, Estonia, Finland and Greece.

Youth unemployment reached a record low of 10.2% if we take the average of 38 OECD member countries.

— Hannah Ward-Glenton

Low-cost carrier Wizz Air is forecasting a return to profitability in the current financial year, with an estimated profit of between 350 million and 450 million euros ($375 million to $482 million).

The carrier has forecast record passenger numbers for the summer, with “very strong” demand across its network.

Wizz Air reported a pre-tax loss of 564.6 million euros for fiscal 2023, down from a loss of 641.5 million euros in 2022.

Shares of the Hungarian airline rose 2% in morning trade.

— Hannah Ward-Glenton

Bank of America named the European insurance giant one of its top picks in the insurance sector, given its attractive low valuation.

In addition to the generous dividend yield, the investment bank expects the stock to grow by 30% over the next 12 months.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Ganesh Rao

According to JPMorgan, stress from the regional banking crisis in the US is unlikely to affect the euro zone this year.

Economist Ravi Balakrishnan wrote in a note on Wednesday that European banks have not yet felt any material disruption from the liquidity crisis at regional banks, although both have lower levels of deposit insurance.

Balakrishnan also noted that banks in the eurozone have “stickier deposits” as well as less risk of “unrecognized inter-market losses”.

“…and while eurozone banks are less profitable than their US counterparts, they perform better on several measures of solvency, liquidity and funding stability,” Balakrishnan said.

— Brian Evans

This year’s big surge in tech names presents a big opportunity for investors to cash in some chips and put those proceeds elsewhere, said Jared Woodard, investment and ETF strategist at Bank of America.

“Investors should use tech rallies and other megacap growth vehicles to take profits and invest in other parts of the market where there are better valuation opportunities,” he said on “Closing Bell: Overtime” on Wednesday. in the evening.

“I think the main priority for investors this year has to be to capture returns where they can, to hedge against the deflation and recession that we think is coming, and to maintain hedges if stagflationary risks from 2022 prove to be a persistent threat,” he added.

For investors looking for yield, he highlighted the iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF (PFF). “If you’re looking for earnings, I think these beaten-down preferred facilities are the best place to look,” Woodard said.

–Darla Market

Goldman Sachs is bullish on generative artificial intelligence: It expects it to add to the broader S&P 500 — and one specific corner of the technology.

He gives fair value upside for the S&P 500 and lists stocks to buy.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Weizhen Tan

European markets are expected to open mixed on Thursday.

Britain’s FTSE 100 index is expected to open 7 points higher at 7,624, Germany’s DAX 33 points lower at 15,929, France’s CAC 14 points lower at 7,194 and Italy’s FTSE MIB 22 points lower at 27,025, according to IG data.

The data released on Thursday included unemployment figures in the eurozone for the first quarter and revised gross domestic product figures for the same period. There are no major earnings announcements today.

— Holly Elliott