European markets head for mixed open as investors await Fed chair’s comments

Holly Ellyatt

European markets are heading for a mixed open Tuesday, reflecting similar trade in Asia-Pacific markets overnight as traders looked ahead to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s congressional testimony on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Investors will be listening in to the comments from Powell for clues on the central bank’s next moves on rate-hiking as well as the state of the economy.

Powell will try to persuade legislators that he’s committed to bringing down inflation without damaging the rest of the U.S. economy. U.S. stock futures traded marginally higher on Tuesday ahead of the testimony

CNBC Pro: Citi sees chip stocks hitting ‘new lows.’ Here are its top picks to ride out the storm

Although chip stocks have broadly rebounded this year, Citi warns that they could be about to hit new lows as companies trim guidance.

Given its bearish stance, the bank identifies one buy-rated stock as the “most defensive name” and a number of others it says offer the most upside once the downturn is over.

— Weizhen Tan

CNBC Pro: U.S. stocks are on a ‘suckers’ rally’ and a big pullback is possible, chief investment officer says

The recent rise in stocks is a “sucker’s rally,” according to chief investment officer Peter Toogood.

The CIO of U.K.-based financial services company Embark Group said he now expects a pullback in U.S. equities, after the S&P 500 rose by 14% since the start of October.

— Ganesh Rao

China’s exports and imports fall as trade surplus beats expectations

China saw its exports fall by 6.8% in February, declining less than expectations of a 9.4% drop, according to economists surveyed by Reuters. The drop was also less than the previous month’s fall of 9.9%.

Imports also fell 10.2%, down more than expectations to see a drop of 5.5% on an annualized basis and a further decline from the previous month’s contraction of 7.5%.

The economy’s trade surplus in U.S. dollar terms were at $116.88 billion, higher than expected and an increase from the previous month’s surplus of $78 billion.

— Jihye Lee

CNBC Pro: We’re in another bear market rally, investor says, naming the stocks and more to trade it

New bull market or yet another bear market rally? Veteran investor Michael Landsberg is in the latter camp.

“Patience, as well as careful individual stock selection, is key going forward,” says veteran investor Michael Landsberg, naming several opportunities still present in the market.

— Zavier Ong

CNBC Pro: Citi sees chip stocks hitting ‘new lows.’ Here are its top picks to ride out the storm

Although chip stocks have broadly rebounded this year, Citi warns that they could be about to hit new lows as companies trim guidance.

Given its bearish stance, the bank identifies one buy-rated stock as the “most defensive name” and a number of others it says offer the most upside once the downturn is over.

— Weizhen Tan

European markets: Here are the opening calls

European markets are heading for a mixed open Tuesday.

The U.K.’s FTSE 100 index is expected to open 19 points higher at 7,945, Germany’s DAX 20 points higher at 15,669, France’s CAC up 10 points at 7,383 and Italy’s FTSE MIB down 16 points at 27,953, according to data from IG.

Data releases include Irish inflation data for February, while earnings come from Greggs, Reach, Man Utd, Nielsen, Zalando, Schaeffler, Henkel, and Lego and HelloFresh.

— Holly Ellyatt

Source : cnbc