Squawk Box Europe Express

Brent surpasses $70bbl as Iran tensions heighten

Crude prices move higher with Brent now surpassing $70 a barrel after President Trump warns of potential consequences should Iran fail to reach a deal over its nuclear programme. U.S.-based private credit group Blue Owl announces it will halt investor withdrawals from a debt fund for retail traders, causing shares to slump across the sector. We are live at the A.I. Impact summit in New Delhi where CNBC learns that Nvidia is launching a new $30bn investment into OpenAI. Google DeepMind co-founder and CEO Demis Hassabis says the sector is suffering from a shortfall of memory and chips. And in aviation news, Airbus cuts its output target causing shares to fall but AF-KLM posts more than €2bn in FY profit.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Stoxx 600 notches new high on ECB top job conjecture

News of a potential choreographed change at the top of the ECB has pushed Europe’s Stoxx 600 to another record close. Wall Street also closed in the green even though FOMC minutes signal a rate cut pause in the near term. We are live at the A.I. Impact summit in New Delhi where we hear from Microsoft CEO Brad Smith. He tells CNBC that U.S. and European tech companies should be wary of increased Chinese competition within the A.I. sector. Continued tensions in the Arabian Sea over potential U.S. naval intervention in Iran, pushing crude prices more than 4 per cent higher in yesterday’s session. Swiss food giant Nestlé beats Q4 sales expectations and has unveiled plans to streamline its product portfolio. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Mistral CEO warns AI will disrupt more than half of SaaS sales

We are live at the A.I. Impact summit in New Delhi where Mistral CEO Arthur Mensch tells CNBC that a large proportion of enterprise software could end up heavily disrupted by artificial intelligence. German chemicals giant Bayer settles a $7.25bn litigation deal regarding of thousands of lawsuits over the roundup weedkiller. The agreement has pushed shares up by more than 7 per cent at yesterday’s market close in Europe. The Reform UK party is to launch its plans for the OBR and the BoE later today but the central bank’s independence is not up for discussion.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A.I. fears continue to loom over Wall Street

European equities futures point south as Wall Street is set to return to trading following the President’s Day holiday. A.I. concerns remain with the Nasdaq stuck deep in the red. Eurogroup ministers meet in Brussels to plan to strengthen the euro’s role globally. The bloc is also preparing to unveil new draft laws designed to protect key sectors of industry. In Geneva, a second round of nuclear talks between the U.S. and Iran are due to begin with President Trump indirectly involved. Officials from Ukraine, Russia and the U.S. also meet for another round of peace negotiations.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Rubio assures trans-Atlantic ties during keynote speech at MSC

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio insists that Washington wants to reform rather than abandon the trans-Atlantic alliance. We speak exclusively to German foreign minister Johann Wadephul at the Munich Security Conference who says Rubio’s speech assured the path of future cooperation. European equities are called higher while U.S. markets are shut for President’s Day with A.I. concerns continuing to be felt across sectors. Japanese Q4 GDP disappoints, coming in at only 0.2 per cent on the year and far below expectations.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.