[MARKET ANALYSIS] European equities continues to rebound, ULVR LN gains ahead of possible MKC announcement; US equity futures print decent gains

European bourses continue to rebound, as the STOXX 600 bounces out of correction territory. The IBEX 35 and DAX outperform, while the AEX is the slight laggard due to losses in ASML.
Sectors are entirely in the green, ex. Energy. Basic Resources and Financial Services top the sector pile. While a rebound in metals prices supports Basic Resources, UBS is amongst the banks supporting financials after the FT reported that Swiss lawmakers have signalled some compromise on its USD 22bln capital plan.
Of note for the tech sector, memory and chipmaker names continue to trade under pressure as the update from Google about its TurboQuant making operating AI more efficient and reducing the overall cost of AI. This has affected names globally, with South Korea's SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics down over 10% following the update, with Micron entering oversold territory (RSI at 31). For European names, ASML and STMicroelectronics have also been hit.
Key movers include Unilever, Suedzucker and Close Brothers. For Unilever, the Co. confirmed that talks are in the advanced stages with McCormick regarding the merger of its food unit. WSJ reported that an announcement could be made as soon as Tuesday when MKC releases its earnings. For Close Brothers and Lloyds, the lenders are facing a cheaper total car loan redress bill than expected. Finally, for Suedzucker, the Co. was upgraded from sell to buy at Barclays, benefiting from the surging sugar prices. A Commerzbank analyst recently noted that sugar is benefiting from the higher oil prices as rising oil prices make ethanol blending more lucrative, a practise commonly used in India.
US equity futures are printing decent gains pre-cash. RTY continues to hold up compared to the ES and NQ, with the bearish 20-,200-SMA yet to occur and the RSI staying clear of oversold territory.