stocks, news, data and earnings

US stocks opened slightly higher on Wednesday as Wall Street braced for the latest Federal Reserve meeting minutes and more insight into the central bank’s future rate-hike agenda.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 57 points, or 0.2%. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite rose 0.2% and 0.4%, respectively.

— Hakyung Kim

Heimo Scheuch, CEO of Wienerberger, discusses the company’s annual results, the impact of rising interest rates on the real estate industry and the company’s diversification to meet these challenges.

Shares of Lloyds fell 2% at midday in London after the British bank reported £6.9 billion ($8.4 billion) of pre-tax profit for 2022, flat from a year earlier and in line with expectations.

Lloyds, which has a more domestically-focused business linked to mortgages and credit cards than some of its peers, said home loan volumes had fallen sharply and forecast a 7% fall in UK house prices this year.

Meanwhile, inflation has increased the risk of loan defaults, with Lloyds setting aside £1.5billion as cover last year.

Wolters Kluwer CEO Nancy McKinstry discusses the company’s full-year results, its growth prospects for 2023 and the resilience of the US consumer.

Fresenius Medical Care, a company that provides kidney dialysis services, outperformed European stocks up 10.7% in morning trade.

It followed an announcement by Fresenius, the broader medical company, that it would simplify its structure and cut costs to give more independence to Fresenius Medical Care, which is struggling. However, Fresenius stock fell 4.3% as it reported lower earnings.

Bottom of the Stoxx 600 index was pharmaceuticals supplier Siegfried, down 8.3% as it reported higher sales and profits and low- to mid-single-digit sales growth for 2023.

– Jennie Reid

Microsoft President Brad Smith speaks with CNBC’s Arjun Kharpal after meeting European Union officials on Tuesday as his company tries to convince regulators that its proposed $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard is good for competition will be.

Automaker Stellantis announced record full-year results on Wednesday, reporting a 26% increase in net income to 16.8 billion euros ($17.9 billion) and a 41% annual increase in global sales of batteries and electric vehicles.

The Netherlands-headquartered company, which was formed in 2021 from the merger of Italian-American conglomerate Fiat Chrysler and French PSA group, said net sales rose 18% to €179.6 billion.

Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares said the results also showed the effectiveness of the company’s electrification strategy in Europe, with 288,000 batteries and electric vehicles (BEV) sold in 2022 and 23 BEVs now on the market.

“We now have the technology, the products, the raw materials and the entire battery ecosystem to undertake the same transformational journey in North America, beginning with our first all-electric Ram vehicles in 2023 and Jeep in 2024,” Tavares said.

Read the whole story here.

European markets were subdued in early trade, with the Stoxx 600 index down 0.4% and most sectors down.

Mining stocks led losses, down 1.5%, and media stocks were a lone bright spot, up 0.6%.

Despite encouraging PMI and public finance data yesterday, the UK FTSE 100 fell 0.65%. The French CAC 40 lost 0.38% and the German DAX lost 0.39%.

Exchange-traded funds focused on electric vehicles are growing in popularity as interest in the industry booms.

These ETFs offer a diversified way to invest in the industry by providing exposure to companies like Tesla, semiconductor company Nvidia, and global stocks like Warren Buffett-backed Chinese automaker BYD.

Given the large number of EV-related ETFs available, CNBC Pro attempted to narrow the list and identify ETFs that analysts expect will rise more than 30% over the next year.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Ganesha Rao

European markets are heading for a less open Wednesday.

According to data from IG, the UK FTSE 100 index is expected to open 16 points lower at 7,959, the German DAX 4 points higher at 15,485, the French CAC up 11 points at 7,294 and the Italian FTSE MIB up 74 points at 27,365.

The revenue is said to come from Lloyds Banking Group, Rio Tinto, Danone, Stellantis, Fresenius, Wolters Kluwer, Ferrovial and Iberdrola.

— Holly Ellyatt

Energy storage and the future of transport are two of the “most attractive” climate themes to invest in right now, according to HSBC analysts.

Among these two themes, the bank identified Buy-rated stocks as having some of the highest upside potential to their price targets.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Wheat Tan