[MARKET ANALYSIS] European equities broadly in the green; Financials lead as Schroders (+28.5%) gets acquired by Nuveen

• European bourses (STOXX 600 +0.5%) are entirely in the green, with the DAX 40 (+1.2%) leading gains and CAC 40 (+0.9%) following closely behind. On the other hand, the Dutch AEX (-0.5%) lags, weighed by Adyen and Magnum earnings. On the data front, UK GDP for Q4 and December printed weaker than market expectations, which saw modest weakness in the GBP. FTSE 100 gapped higher and is currently holding onto earlier gains, but mostly as a reaction to gains in Schroders.
• Sectors hold a mostly positive bias with Financials (+1.3%) and Telecommunications (+1.0%) leading the pack. Schroders (+28.5%) leads in financials after Nuveen agreed to purchase the company for GBP 9.9bln. Deutsche Boerse (+2.0%) is also higher, after acquiring a further 20% stake in ISS STOXX, which is expected to be accretive to cash EPS in the first full year. Telecoms trade higher, aided by positive news of US-based T-Mobile, after the company announced it will accelerate its plans to buy back shares. Real Estate (-1.0%) is at the bottom of the pile, pulling back from Wednesday's gains on a report that Labour is planning a new Help-to-Buy scheme, in which homebuilders will have to participate in the scheme, while in the past they did not have to.
• US equity futures are entirely in the green (NQ +0.4%, ES +0.3%, RTY +0.5%), continuing to hold onto Wednesday's gains post-NFP. Gains are also helped by a flurry of positive earnings after-hours from McDonald's and Equinix.

European equities are responding positively with shifts led by financials, particularly due to Schroders' significant acquisition by Nuveen, which bolsters confidence in the sector. The broader market is also buoyed by positive US earnings, which enhance bullish sentiment across European and US indices. This acquisition could signal further consolidation in the asset management space, impacting market dynamics and investor sentiment going forward.