European stocks mixed and banks shed gains as sentiment remains wary – CNBC

The oil and gas sector made the biggest gains in the Stoxx 600 index with a 1.5% uptick around 11.30 a.m. London time.

Energean led the pack, slightly extending earlier gains to 8.9% after a dip in stock price last Thursday following the publication of its full-year results.

Scotland-based oil and gas company Harbour Energy was up 3.1%, while Portuguese energy corporation Galp Energia was up 3%.

U.K. shop prices rose by 8.9% annually in March, a record high, according to figures published by the British Retail Consortium.

Inflation was most extreme in food prices, which were up by 15%, with fresh food up by 17%.

A separate survey from Kantar found shoppers faced an £837 increase in annual shopping bills without changing their spending habits.

“Shoppers are taking action and clearly hunting around for the best value,” said Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar.

“Footfall was up in every single grocer this month, with households going to the shops just over four times per week in March. Apart from Christmas, that’s the highest frequency we’ve seen since the start of the pandemic.”

— Jenni Reid

Shares of hydrocarbon exploration Energean topped European stocks in morning trade, gaining 8.5%.

The company’s stock price had dipped after the publication of full-year results last Thursday, which showed it swung from a $96.2 million loss to a $17.3 million profit and set out a growth plan.

Embracer Group, the Swedish media holding company, dropped 13.6%.

In a statement on Monday afternoon, the firm said some of the partnership and licensing deals it had in the works would be completed slightly later than planned.

Embracer also featured in a Financial Times report which noted investor concerns over the company’s light-touch approach to integrating new businesses and the gap between its actual and adjusted profits.

Business confidence in France dipped in March, figures from national statistics agency Insee showed.

The index compiled from business manager responses shed one point from February, though it remained above its long-term average.

Sentiment weakened in retail trade, services, manufacturing and building construction, with only wholesale trade showing improvement.

Figures published Monday showed business sentiment in Germany climbed for a fifth straight month in February, as measured by the Ifo Business Climate Index.

— Jenni Reid

European stocks were higher early Monday, with the Stoxx 600 index up 0.5% at 8:20 a.m. London time.

Oil and gas stocks climbed 1.44%, mining stocks were up 1.36% and banks continued to regain some positive momentum, up 1.2%.

Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey said in a speech Monday night that he had confidence in the U.K. banking system and regulatory framework, which allows the central bank to remain focused on bringing down inflation.

He described U.K. banks as “resilient, with robust capital and liquidity positions, and well placed to support the economy,” Sky News reported.

“We have a strong macroprudential policy regime in this country. With the Financial Policy Committee on the case of securing financial stability, the Monetary Policy Committee can focus on its own important job of returning inflation to target,” Bailey said.

The BoE hiked its key rate by 25 basis points to 4.25% last week, after inflation came in hotter-than-expected at 10.4% in February.

— Jenni Reid

Policymakers were right to shoot first and ask questions later amid recent banking volatility, Thanos Papasavvas, founder and CEO at ABP Invest, tells CNBC.

Prices of bitcoin and ether fell roughly 3% in Asia’s morning trade, according to Coin Metrics – after U.S. officials filed a complaint against crypto exchange Binance and its co-founder Changpeng Zhao.

The filing alleged that the firm actively solicited U.S. users and subverted the exchanges own “ineffective compliance program.”

Bitcoin fell 3.09% in the past 24 hours, according to Coin Metrics, and traded at $27,003 – while ether also fell 2.95% to $1,712.

Bitcoin is up roughly 63% quarter-to-date and on pace to mark the best quarter since the first quarter of 2021, when bitcoin gained 103.73%. It is also on pace to see the third consecutive month of gains.

Ether is also up 41.3% quarter-to-date and on pace for the best quarter since the first quarter of 2021, when the cryptocurrency gained over 150%.

– Rohan Goswami, Gina Francolla, Jihye Lee

The market sell-off earlier this month has hurt small-cap stocks more than their larger peers.

Yet Josh Bennett, senior portfolio manager at Alger, believes the volatility has created opportunities for investors to pick stocks that will outperform in the medium to long term.

Bennett named three stocks that he says are likely to have resilient earnings through a potential recession.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Ganesh Rao

Despite the market volatility, Morgan Stanley upgraded a raft of stocks in March, including both U.S. and global picks.

The bullish calls spanned tech, pharmaceuticals and more, with the bank giving one stock a double upgrade. Here are five of the stocks upgraded by the investment bank:

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Weizhen Tan

European markets are heading for a positive open Tuesday.

The U.K.’s FTSE 100 index is expected to open 18 points higher at 7,498, Germany’s DAX 41 points higher at 15,177, France’s CAC up 24 points at 7,104 and Italy’s FTSE MIB 85 points higher at 25,822, according to data from IG.

On Tuesday, earnings are set to come from MAN Group and data releases will include French business climate data and Italian consumer confidence figures.

— Holly Ellyatt