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Tech giant Google has launched a beta version of its AI chatbot Bard in a bid to compete with OpenAI's ChatGPT.
Google shares strengthened on the news, rising 3.66% to $104.92 by the close of trading, and once up nearly 4% during the day.

Occidental Petroleum's Fiscal Year 2022 Results in Diagram

Airline SAS posts smaller quarterly loss, optimistic for the summer

Scandinavian airline SAS on Friday posted a slightly smaller first-quarter loss before tax than a year earlier, as bookings for the quarter and the summer months were better than expected.

Chief Executive Anko van der Werff told Reuters he was optimistic that the summer would go better than last year, when the airline was hit by week-long strikes and airports struggled with labour issues and travel chaos.

SAS said it was ramping up hiring to meet the higher demand it expected in the summer. The CEO did however say the situation was still complicated, with airports already announcing planned capacity caps.

"At the same time, both Airbus and Boeing (NYSE:BA) are still dealing with delivery delays. So we are dealing with that the entire ecosystem hasn't ramped up yet to a full 100%," the CEO said.

"But really, it will be a very different and much better experience for travellers than that last year."

SAS also warned in its quarterly report that economic uncertainties with increasing interest rates and cost inflation were likely to affect the industry.

As a result of improved demand, SAS repeated that it expects to return to positive earnings before tax (EBT) in fiscal 2024. For fiscal 2026 it predicted profit would be above its previous assessment from September of around 3 billion-4 billion crowns.

Part-owned by the governments of Sweden and Denmark, SAS predicted fiscal 2023 revenue of around 40 billion crowns.

Its 2.49 billion crown loss for the November-January quarter was slightly smaller than its loss before tax of 2.60 billion crowns a year earlier.

The airline reiterated that it intends to exit the Chapter 11 U.S. bankruptcy protection it entered last year in the second half of 2023.

SAS, which has seen its share price plummet, has renegotiated contracts with many of its aircraft lessors as part of big cost cuts.

($1 = 10.4239 Swedish crowns)

FTSE 100 higher, IAG back in profit and consumer confidence improves

FTSE 100 opens ahead of US PCE figures
IAG slips despite return to profit and Air Europa deal
Consumer confidence improves in February - GfK
Germany on brink of recession as Q4 GDP falls

Not good news from Germany where fourth quarter GDP in Europe’s largest economy fell 0.4% compared to the third quarter.

The figure released by Destatis was worse than expected and below a previous estimate of negative 0.2%.


Economists said it left Germany on the brink of recession.

Good Morning from Germany where economy fared worse than exp. GDP shrank 0.4% in Q422 vs prev reading of -0.2%. Private consumption plunges 1% QoQ, cap investment crashed 2.5% QoQ. Public spending rose 0.6% QoQ. Economists predict another neg quarter, would tip GER into recession pic.twitter.com/HJDeVhF9zS
— Holger Zschaepitz () February 24, 2023

ING Economics said, “today’s numbers mark the first part of what could become a technical recession in Germany.”

“We think that the risk of yet another contraction in the first quarter and, thus, a technical recession is high and that the German economy is still miles away from staging a strong rebound.”

Pantheon Macroeconomics agreed. “Looking ahead, the recent upturn in the surveys is positive, but we doubt that the economy has enough momentum to avoid another fall in GDP in Q1, and as a result, a technical recession.”

The news failed to stop the Dax opening higher but a gain of 0.1% meant it underperformed London, FTSE and Paris where the FTSE 100 and CAC 40 are botj up 0.3%.

Footsie kicks ahead

The FTSE 100 Footise remained in fine fettle on Friday after the GfK figures showing an improvement in consumer confidence.

At 9.00am the lead index stood at 7,930.08, up 22.36 points, or 0.28%.

Victoria Scholar, at interactive investor accepted, “consumer confidence has a long way to go to restore more normal levels, but the latest reading points to an encouraging trajectory with sentiment starting to shift away from near all-time lows.”

“With the UK narrowly staving off a recession, financial markets picking up, inflation starting to ease and interest rates approaching their peak, there are incipient signs of hope for the UK consumer,” she felt.

But the economic was not all good with worse than expected GDP numbers in Germany and a jump in inflation In Japan. While in the US, futures are lower ahead of PCE figures, the Fed’s preferred inflation measure which could mean a volatile end to the trading week.

Rolls-Royce (LON:RR) sat top of the FTSE 100 risers, extending yesterday’s gains, when the engineer soared over 20%. Better-than-expected results and new CEO Tufan Erginbilgic’s seven-pronged transformation plan continues to attract investors.

JP Morgan raised its price target to 90p from 70p but still remains ‘underweight’ on the stock. They felt Erginbilgic’s “aims to de-lever RR’s balance sheet organically,” was “a risky strategy and leaves RR highly vulnerable to any unexpected shocks in the next few years.”

But Deutsche Bank (ETR:DBKGn) remained a fan reiterating a ‘buy’ rating.

IAG, the owner of British Airways, remained top of the blue-chip fallers, down 1.8% despite better than expected results and the Air Europa deal.

Shares are up 25% year to date and could be susceptible to some profit-taking.

Richard Hunter, at interactive investor, commented, “a pre-tax profit for the year of €415mln compares with a loss of €3.5bn the year previous, and exceeds expectations for a number of €398mln.”

But he added, “the journey ahead is one which will need careful and constant monitoring as the airline attempts to regain its financial footing.”

He also pointed out, “IAG has a major task in repairing its balance sheet after the pandemic tore through revenues and forced the group into substantial borrowings.”

Footsie higher as consumer confidence improves

FTSE 100 opened Friday in upbeat fashion as a closely watched survey pointed to an improved mood amongst UK consumers.

At 8.15am London's blue-chip index was at 7,934.51, up 26.79, or 0.34% while the FTSE 250 was slightly more sedate, at 19,829.95, up 39.46 points, or 0.20%.

GfK’s long-running consumer confidence Index increased seven points in February to -38. All five measures were up in comparison to the January 20th announcement.

Joe Staton, client strategy director, GfK said, “despite widely reported headwinds of inflation continuing to outstrip wage rises, and the ongoing household challenge from the cost-of-living crisis, consumers have suddenly shown more optimism about the state of their personal finances and the general economic situation, especially for the coming year.”

“While it's too early to talk about ‘green shoots of recovery’, the uptick across all measures should be welcomed. “

Gabriella Dickens senior UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics said the improvement made “sense, given that motor fuel prices and mortgage rates have fallen, equity prices have risen, and firms have not moved decisively to reduce employment yet, as many households feared.”

But she cautioned, “the rise in February does not necessarily suggest consumers are willing to spend; confidence remains weak.”

The economic news wasn’t so good in Europe though where GDP in Germany fell 0.4% quarter-on-quarter, below consensus and initial estimates.

ING Economics said, “today’s numbers mark the first part of what could become a technical recession in Germany.”

“We think that the risk of yet another contraction in the first quarter and, thus, a technical recession is high and that the German economy is still miles away from staging a strong rebound.”

International Consolidated Airlines Group (LON:ICAG), the owner of British Airways, failed to impress the market despite an improved financial showing in 2022. The airline swung back into profit on much improved revenue as the bounce back in international travel continued to gather pace post-pandemic.

IAG also announced a EUR400mln deal for the remaining shares in Air Europa that it doesn’t already own.

Sophie Lund-Yates, at Hargreaves Lansdown (LON:HRGV) said the return to profit was an “impressive regaining of altitude comes as a direct result of Covid restrictions easing and a return to more normal travel.”

She felt debt “at 3.1 times cash profits the debt pile is too heavy following efforts to keep liquidity in check during the pandemic.”

But she added, “should enough passengers continue to be funnelled on to planes, that should start to come down relatively quickly.”

Shares fell 1.6% to 162.82p.

A rise in oil prices pushed index heavyweights, BP PLC (LON:BP.) and Shell (LON:RDSa), higher, up 1.2% and 0.7% respectively.

But the woes of Cineworld Group PLC (LON:CINE) continue. Shares tumbled 33% as the cinema operator said it is looking at “a number” of proposals to buy some or all of the group, but that it does not expect shareholders to see any recovery.

It stressed that none of these proposals involves an all-cash bid for the entire business, and that any sale of the whole group “would not include the sale of the equity interests in Cineworld itself” and so would not be subject to the rules of the London takeover code.

Consumer confidence improves - GfK

GfK’s long-running consumer confidence Index increased seven points in February to -38. All five measures were up in comparison to the January 20th announcement.

Joe Staton, client strategy director, GfK said, “despite widely reported headwinds of inflation continuing to outstrip wage rises, and the ongoing household challenge from the cost-of-living crisis, consumers have suddenly shown more optimism about the state of their personal finances and the general economic situation, especially for the coming year.”

“While it's too early to talk about ‘green shoots of recovery’, the uptick across all measures should be welcomed. “

But he cautioned, “the headline consumer confidence score is still severely depressed and the mood as well as the economy remain a long way off pre-lockdown levels, but a little consumer resilience might be what we need to soften any downturn in 2023.”

Confidence in the general economic situation over the next 12 months is up by 11 points but remains at negative 43 while confidence in personal finances looking ahead to the next 12 months increased by nine points to negative 18, which is four points lower than this time last year.

The major purchase index, an indicator of confidence in buying big ticket items, is up three points to negative 37 – 22 points lower than a year ago.

CVS reports solid growth in profits and revenue, sees full-year in line

CVS Group PLC reported on Friday solid growth in half-year revenue and profit and remained confident the outcome for the full-year would be in line with market expectations.

The providers of integrated veterinary services said revenue in the six months to December 31 rose 8.2% to £296.3mln from £273.7mln a year ago while pre-tax profit totalled £28.0mln compared to £22.9mln in the same period in 2021. Earnings per share were 29.6p against 24.7p.

Organic growth has continued with 7.5% like-for-like sales1 growth, within the organic revenue growth ambition of between 4% and 8%, the company said in a statement.

Adjusted EBITDA margin improved to 19.5%, a like-for-like improvement of 0.5 percentage points, while membership of its preventative healthcare scheme, Healthy Pet Club increased to 481,000, up 4.3%.

CVS said demand for our high-quality veterinary services remains robust and the positive performance of the first half has continued into the first month of the second half.

“The board remains confident that full year results will be in line with market expectations,” the statement said.

Chief Executive Richard Fairman said, “The robust performance in H1 2023 has continued into the second half of the year and we look forward to reporting further growth in the future."

BA owner swings back into profit, buys rest of Air Europa

British Airways owner, IAG, has reported a healthy improvement in profits and revenue and a much anticipated deal to kick Friday off. For the year to December 31 pre-tax profits were EUR431mln compared to a loss of EUR2.93bn in 2021 as revenue jumped to EUR23.07vbn from EUR8.46bn.

The results came as the FTSE 100 listed airline agreed to EUR400mln to Spain's Globalia for the remaining 80% of airline Air Europa it does not already own.

“The board of IAG believes that the acquisition remains strategically important for the group and positions it to benefit from growth opportunities in the Latin America and Caribbean market, as well as to increase connectivity to Asia,” the company said.

IAG also gave guidance for 2023. The airline forecast full year 2023 capacity of around 98% of the 2019 level, with the first quarter seen at about 96% of the quarter one level in 2019.

Full year 2023 operating profit before exceptional items is seen in the range of EUR1.8bn to EUR2.3 billion, with most of the improvement over 2022 in the first half of the year.

In quarter one, 2023 an operating loss of around EUR200mln is expected assuming no further setbacks related to COVID-19 or material impacts from geopolitical developments.

“We are transforming our businesses, with the intention of returning IAG to pre-COVID levels of profit within the next few years, through major initiatives to improve customer experience and operational performance,” said Luis Gallego, IAG Chief Executive Officer.

Bright start in London

FTSE 100 is expected to make a bright start to the final day of the trading week ahead of a key inflation reading in the US.

Spread betting companies are calling London’s lead index up by around 26 points.

The early focus will be results British Airways owner, International Consolidated Airlines Group SA, and encouraging figures from GfK which showed a rebound in consumer confidence in February.

The mood should also be lifted by gains in the US which ended the day in the green. The Dow closed Thursday up 109 points, 0.3%, at 33,154, the Nasdaq Composite added 83 points, 0.7%, to 11,590 and the S&P 500 improved 21 points, 0.5%, to 4,012.

Attention will then shift to US January core PCE deflator numbers, which is the Fed’s preferred inflation measure, and which has fallen back sharply in the last few months from 5.2% in September, falling to its lowest level since October 2021 in December at 4.4%.

Michael Hewson at CMC suggested given “given the strength of recent economic data, today’s January numbers may call time on the trend of lower prices, with expectations that the PCE core deflator could fall only modestly from 4.4% to 4.3%.”

In Asia on Friday, the Nikkei 225 index closed up 1.3%. Japan's consumer prices rose 4.2% in January from a year earlier, a level not seen since September 1981, fuelled in part by higher energy bills. In China, the Shanghai Composite was down 0.5%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was down 1.2%.

Todays

Combining with various technical indicators, the bear force is strong today, the following are the operation suggestions:

Bias:Bearish
Entry:396.15
Target:391.4
Stop loss:401.3

Graphical illustration of WalMart's Q4 performance in FY2023

The performance fell short of market expectations, and Home Depot fell 7.06%

On February 21, Home Depot announced its financial report data for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2022.

Data show that Home Depot's sales in the fourth quarter were US$35.83 billion, an increase of 0.3% year-on-year, which was lower than the market expectation of US$35.91 billion; net profit in the fourth quarter was US$3.36 billion, an increase of 0.3% year-on-year.

Previously, Home Depot’s performance exceeded market expectations many times. This time, the performance and sales fell short of market expectations, causing Home Depot’s stock price to plummet by 7.06% to $295.40 per share.

will open a new engineering headquarters in Silicon Valley, the stock price rose 1.77%

On February 22, Tesla announced that it would open a new engineering headquarters in Silicon Valley. In 2021, Tesla moved its headquarters to Texas. It had disputes with the California state and local governments over the 2020 shutdown order and the Tesla factory in Fremont, California, which was Tesla's only factory that produces electric vehicles at the time.

Tesla's stock price rose at a low point. As of the close, it closed up 1.77% to $200.86 per share

There is a bounce at the bottom but there is resistance at $297.25. If it can break this position, it may try to approach $298.35 and $300. If it cannot break this position, then the decline may continue.

Review of

O:294.62
H:296.36
L:292.56
C:294.25

rose to $296.36 at the highest, congratulations to all friends who have made profits. Follow me for more pre-market analysis. Thank you for your support. If have any stock-related questions,DM is opening.

100 seen lower after rate worries knock US markets

FTSE 100 FTSE 100
7,977.75-36.56 (-0.46%)
21/02 - Closed
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Technical Summary

5 Min:Strong Sell
Hourly:Strong Sell
Daily:Strong Buy
Monthly:Strong Buy is expected to open lower following heavy falls in the US as fears that the Federal Reserve might increase interest rates further rattled investors.

Spread betting companies are calling the lead index down by around 31 points.

As Michael Hewson at CMC Markets put it, “Long story short, the market thought that the inflation job was done, or at least close to it, even though the recent non-farm payrolls report, and ISM services report muddied the waters in that regard.”

US stocks nursed heavy losses at the close on Tuesday as fears of higher interest took hold. Among individual stocks, eyes were on earnings from retailers Walmart and Home Depot. Railroad stocks struggled after the US government ordered Norfolk Southern to pay for the clean-up of toxic waste in the town of East Palestine, after a cargo train derailment in Ohio earlier in February.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 697.10 points, or 2.1%, at 33,129.59. The S&P 500 fell 81.75 points, or 2%, to 3,997.34 and the Nasdaq Composite tumbled 294.97 points, or 2.5%, to 11,492.30.

Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets, Hargreaves Lansdown said, "Worries that disinflationary winds aren't blowing hard enough to cool hot inflation have seeped into trading, pushing stocks on Wall Street lower."

A further indication as to the Fed’s mindset will come with today with the publication of Federal Open Market Committee meeting minutes.

In Europe German CPI numbers will grab attention along with the Ifo business climate index.

In London, results from Lloyds Banking Group PLC and Rio Tinto PLC top the agenda.

Todays

Combined with various technical indicators, the bulls are stronger today, and the following are operational suggestions:

Bias:Bullish
Entry:293.78
Target:296.63
Stop loss:290.2