[MARKET ANALYSIS] Mixed trade thus far; Stellantis (-23.2%) sinks after incurring a EUR 22bln charge

European equities opened mostly lower but are are now trading more mixed, and trending upward at time of writing; sentiment has tracked headwind from Wall Street which finished lower, triggered by a major tech sell off and weaker US labour market data. The flow of sentiment from stateside streamed into APAC, which traded lower during most of the session, though APAC finished off session lows. Major stock story has been Stellantis (-23.2%) with the Co. shares hitting a major road bump following news that the Co. is to incur a charge of EUR 22bln, weighing down the French and Italian index.
European sectors are trading mostly in the red. Outperformers this morning include Construction (+1.9%), Banks (+0.9%) and Utilities (+0.9%). Construction has been underpinned by gains in Vinci (+7.2%) after revenue topped expectation and Utilities by Orsted (+3.6%) following strong Q4 earnings. The catalyst for banks has been hard to pin down especially when factoring the losses in Sabadell (-4.3%) and Soc Gen (-3.6%) following Q4 earnings. However, gains may be likely due to pull back gains after the sector finished near the bottom yesterday. At the bottom of sectors is Autos (-3.2%) following the aforementioned Stellantis (-23.2%) news. Consumers Products & Services (-1.1%) and Chemicals (-1.0%) are also underperforming with the latter Co. dragged down by losses in EMS Group (-3.3%) following weak earnings.
Movers this morning include Bechtle (-8.0%) with the Co. share after weaker earnings. On the upside, Bayer (+1.3%) is firmer after the Co’ Asundexian demonstrated a 26% reduction in stroke. Air France (-3.0%) is also firmer following a broker upgrade at Oddo Securities.
US equity futures are firmer in the pre-market, rebounding following yesterday's sell off; ES (+0.4%), NQ (+0.5%), RTY (+0.9%) and YM (+0.2%). Not much of a fresh macro catalyst to explain the uptick in shares. Earnings overnight from Amazon saw the Co’s share tumble as low as 10% due to investors' concern on the Co’s hefty capex spending.
Looking ahead, highlights include US Michigan Consumer Sentiment and Fed’s Jefferson is scheduled to speak later. Earnings are also due from Biogen, Under Armour, Carlyle Group and, Philip Morris International.