[MARKET ANALYSIS] European equities firmer, Basic Resources rebound as metal prices shine; US equity futures hold onto Thursday's tech-led selloff

• European bourses (STOXX 600 +0.2%) are firmer, with the SMI (+1.0%) the clear outperformer after Swiss Re (+5.5%) posted a 47% Y/Y rise in 2025 net profit while announcing a USD 500mln share buyback. Lagging behind its peers is the CAC 40 (U/C), with very company-specific news to drive the index. France and Spain has kicked off the day's inflation-packed day, with both countries printing hotter-than-expected annual figures. Later today, Germany is set to release its state-by-state inflation readings before the country-wide figure at 13:00GMT.
• Sectors are mixed. Basic Resources (+1.6%) outperform, rebounding from its losses in Thursday's session. Telecommunications (+1.3%) are also gaining this morning after Spain's Cellnex (+0.3%) saw 2025 operating profit rise more than double annually. On the flip side, Travel and Leisure (-0.4%) is underperforming despite positive IAG (-0.3%) earnings, in which the Co. beat FY profit expectations and announcing a EUR 1.5bln share buyback.
• Barclays (-0.6%) and Santander (-0.9%) have also followed on from Thursday's losses after Bloomberg reported that the Cos are among those exposed to the failed UK mortgage-finance firm, MFS.
• Other key movers include Flutter (-12.9%) and BASF (-0.9%). After-hours in the US, Flutter reported Q4 revenue and earnings that missed expectations and issued softer-than-expected 2026 guidance. For BASF, the Co. released a mixed set of Q4 earnings but the weakness in the Co.'s shares comes from 2026 Adj. EBITDA guidance missing estimates.
• US equity futures (NQ -0.1%, ES -0.2%, RTY -0.7%) have held onto Thursday's losses, which was hit by a losses in Nvidia (closed -5.5%) and then Financials following the MFS exposure risk.

European equities are seeing a slight rebound, particularly in the Basic Resources sector, buoyed by rising metal prices and positive company earnings, such as Swiss Re's strong profit growth and share buyback announcement. However, US equity futures are clinging to losses from Thursday's tech selloff, indicating ongoing nervousness in the market, especially in financials due to exposure concerns from companies like Barclays and Santander. The mixed performance across sectors suggests a cautious but optimistic sentiment in Europe amid inflation readings that exceeded expectations in some regions, potentially impacting policy discussions going forward.