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July 29, 2025

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Europe markets open: FTSE, DAX futures up 0.2% on strong Barclays, AstraZeneca earnings

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European stock markets are poised for a higher open on Tuesday, with major bourses looking to shake off the previous session’s losses.

A wave of strong corporate earnings reports, notably from British bank Barclays and pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca, is providing a positive catalyst for the market, even as investors continue to seek clarity on the details of the recent US-EU framework trade deal.

Futures data from IG suggests a positive start for European markets, with major bourses like London’s FTSE 100 and Germany’s DAX expected to open around 0.2% higher.

This comes after an initial burst of optimism on Monday over the US-EU trade deal faded by the end of the session, ultimately leaving the pan-European Stoxx 600 index with a 0.23% loss.

Investors will continue to hunt for any new details on the trade outlook today, as uncertainty remains for key sectors including pharmaceuticals and products like spirits, which were not explicitly covered in the initial framework.

Some analysts believe the recent positive trade news has largely run its course for now. “We see the tentative trade deal with the EU as pretty much completing the run of good trade news that has lifted global confidence and equity markets, and weakened the [US dollar],” Standard Chartered macro strategist Steve Englander said in a Monday note.

He added, “The deals are a negative from a global growth perspective but appear to be something that US trading partners can live with.”

Corporate stars shine: AstraZeneca and Barclays beat expectations

Tuesday is a busy day for corporate earnings, with several major companies reporting ahead of the bell, offering a more fundamental focus for investors.

  • AstraZeneca: The Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical firm posted better-than-expected second-quarter earnings, driven by strong demand for its key cancer and biopharmaceutical products.

    AstraZeneca reported revenues of $14.46 billion for the three-month period ending June 30, a figure that came in ahead of the $14.07 billion estimated by analysts in an LSEG poll. Quarterly adjusted core operating profit also beat forecasts, coming in at $4.58 billion versus the $4.48 billion anticipated.

    The FTSE 100 company maintained its full-year forecast for revenues to rise by a high single-digit percentage, despite geopolitical challenges, and reiterated its ambitions to grow its US footprint to deliver $80 billion in revenue by 2030.

    Last week, AstraZeneca had announced plans to invest $50 billion in bolstering its US manufacturing and research capabilities by 2030, becoming the latest pharmaceutical firm to ramp up its stateside spending in the wake of US trade tariffs.

  • Barclays: British bank Barclays also delivered a strong performance, beating profit expectations and announcing a new £1 billion ($1.33 billion) share buyback program.

    The bank reported a pre−tax profit of £2.5 billion ($ 3.34 billion) for the second quarter, comfortably surpassing the mean LSEG forecast of £2.23 billion. Group revenues met analyst projections of £7.2 billion. The bank noted that market volatility had helped to boost its investment banking revenues during the quarter.

A host of other earnings reports are also due today from European giants like L’Oréal and Ferrovial, as well as major US companies including Boeing, Starbucks, Visa, and PayPal, which will be closely watched for their global outlook.

The post Europe markets open: FTSE, DAX futures up 0.2% on strong Barclays, AstraZeneca earnings appeared first on Invezz

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In Business

Elon Musk confirms Tesla has signed a $16.5 billion chip contract with Samsung Electronics

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Samsung Electronics has entered into a $16.5 billion contract for supplying semiconductors to Tesla, based on a regulatory filing by the South Korean firm and Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s posts on X.

The memory chipmaker, which had not named the counterparty, mentioned in its filing that the effective start date of the contract was July 26, 2025 — receipt of orders — and its end date was Dec. 31, 2033.

However, Musk later confirmed in a reply to a post on social media platform X that Tesla was the counterparty.

He also posted: “Samsung’s giant new Texas fab will be dedicated to making Tesla’s next-generation AI6 chip. The strategic importance of this is hard to overstate. Samsung currently makes AI4.TSMC will make AI5, which just finished design, initially in Taiwan and then Arizona.”

“Samsung agreed to allow Tesla to assist in maximizing manufacturing efficiency. This is a critical point, as I will walk the line personally to accelerate the pace of progress,” Musk said on X, and suggested that the deal with Samsung could likely be even larger than the announced $16.5 billion.

Samsung earlier said that details of the deal, including the name of the counterparty, will not be disclosed until the end of 2033, citing a request from the second party “to protect trade secrets,” according to a Google translation of the filing in Korean on Monday.

“Since the main contents of the contract have not been disclosed due to the need to maintain business confidentiality, investors are advised to invest carefully considering the possibility of changes or termination of the contract,” the company said.

The company’s shares rose over 6% in trading on Monday to reach their highest level since September 2024.

Tesla was a probable customer, Ray Wang, research director of semiconductors, supply chain and emerging technology at The Futurum Group, told CNBC before Musk’s post. Bloomberg News had earlier reported that Samsung’s deal was with Tesla, citing a source.

Samsung’s foundry service manufactures chips based on designs provided by other companies. It is the second largest provider of foundry services globally, behind Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company.

The company stated in April that it aimed to commence 2 nanometer mass production in its foundry business and secure major orders for the next-generation technology. In semiconductor technology, smaller nanometer sizes signify more compact transistor designs, which lead to greater processing power and efficiency.

Local South Korean media outlets have also reported that American chip firm Qualcomm could place an order for chips manufactured using Samsung’s 2 nanometer technology.

Samsung, which is set to deliver earnings on Thursday, expects its second-quarter profit to more than halve. An analyst previously told CNBC that the disappointing forecast was due to weak orders for its foundry business and as the company has struggled to capture AI demand for its memory business.

The company has fallen behind competitors SK Hynix and Micron in high-bandwidth memory chips — an advanced type of memory used in AI chipsets.

SK Hynix, the leader in HBM, has become the main supplier of these chips to American AI behemoth Nvidia. While Samsung has reportedly been working to get the latest version of its HBM chips certified by Nvidia, a report from a local outlet suggests these plans have been pushed back to at least September.

This post appeared first on NBC NEWS

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In Politics

Medvedev warns Trump’s new deadline to end Russia-Ukraine conflict is a ‘step towards war’

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President Donald Trump’s new deadline for Russia to end the conflict with Ukraine is an additional ‘step towards war,’ according to former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.  

Medvedev, now the deputy chairman of the Security Council of Russia, cautioned that Trump’s announcement Monday that Russia must end the conflict with Ukraine in 10 to 12 days would not end well for the U.S. 

‘Trump’s playing the ultimatum game with Russia: 50 days or 10… He should remember 2 things: 1. Russia isn’t Israel or even Iran. 2. Each new ultimatum is a threat and a step towards war. Not between Russia and Ukraine, but with his own country,’ Medvedev said in a post on X on Monday. ‘Don’t go down the Sleepy Joe road!’

While Trump announced on July 14 that he would sign off on ‘severe tariffs’ against Russia if Moscow failed to agree to a peace deal within 50 days, Trump said Monday that waiting that period of time was futile amid stalled negotiations. 

‘I’m going to make a new deadline, of about 10 — 10 or 12 days from today,’ Trump told reporters from Scotland. ‘There’s no reason for waiting. It was 50 days. I wanted to be generous, but we just don’t see any progress being made.’

Trump’s remarks come as his frustration with Putin has grown in recent weeks amid no progress toward peace between Russia and Ukraine, and just a day after Russia launched more than 300 drones, four cruise missiles and three ballistic missiles into Ukraine, according to the Ukrainian air force.

 

Trump called out Putin for providing lip service during their discussions while not taking proactive steps to end the war. As a result, Trump said he’s grown ‘disappointed’ in the Russian leader and that he’s ‘not so interested in talking anymore’ with Putin. 

‘He talks — we have such nice conversations, such respectful and nice conversation. And then, people die the following night,’ Trump said Monday. 

Following Trump’s announcement about whittling down the deadline for a peace deal, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked Trump for his ‘clear stance and expressed determination’ to resolve the conflict.

‘I thank President Trump for his focus on saving lives and stopping this horrible war,’ Zelenskyy said in a post on X on Monday. ‘Ukraine remains committed to peace and will work tirelessly with the U.S. to make both our countries safer, stronger, and more prosperous.’

Zelenskyy previously came under scrutiny from Vice President JD Vance in February during an Oval Office meeting for not voicing more gratitude for U.S. support for Kyiv as it battles Moscow.

Although Trump has historically boasted about having a solid relationship with Putin, he has publicly voiced increased frustration with Putin in recent weeks as the war rages on between Russia and Ukraine. 

‘We get a lot of bulls— thrown at us by Putin, if you want to know the truth,’ Trump said during a Cabinet meeting on July 8. ‘He’s very nice to us all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless.’

Fox News Digital’s Caitlin McFall contributed to this report.

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS

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