U.S. election reaction, data and earnings
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British Airways-owner IAG up over 6%

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Shares of International Consolidated Airlines Group over the last five years.

British Airways-owner IAG on Friday reported a 15% uptick in third-quarter operating profit and said it expects its robust financial performance to continue over the coming months.

Shares of the group rose more than 6% on the news, hitting their highest level since March 2020 when travel demand collapsed during the coronavirus pandemic.

— Sam Meredith

A huge amount of opportunity in markets, Wren Sterling CIO says

A huge amount of opportunity in markets, Wren Sterling CIO says

There are plenty of opportunities for investors in markets, particularly in the U.K. and U.S., according to the chief investment officer at Wren Sterling.

“I think there’s a huge amount of opportunity in markets at the moment and I think what we’ve seen is a pick-up of that rotation that we started to see in early July, when we had that lower CPI print come out of the U.S.,” Rory McPherson, CIO at Wren Sterling, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” on Friday.

“Markets have clearly been focused on the election this week, budget in the U.K. last week, all the while beneath the surface, we’ve seen credit spreads track tighter, the environment for corporates continues to improve,” he added.

When asked whether there are opportunities in European stocks, McPherson replied, “Our view is the opportunities are in the U.K. and the U.S., we’re less positive on Europe.”

McPherson said U.S. companies that have done well, particularly in the postelection rally, have been those that have beaten “very modest” earnings expectations and were trading on cheaper valuations to the firms that propped up the market in recent years.

— Sam Meredith

Stocks on the move: Zealand Pharma up 7%, Vistry down 14%

Shares of Danish biotech Zealand Pharma surged more than 7% on Friday morning, hitting the top of the European benchmark after JPMorgan initiated coverage of the stock with an overweight rating.

U.K. housebuilder Vistry, meanwhile, tumbled to the bottom of the index. Shares of the company slumped more than 14% after issuing its second profit warning in a month.

— Sam Meredith

European markets open slightly higher

European markets opened slightly higher on Friday morning.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index traded up around 0.2%, with sectors and major bourses pointing in opposite directions.

— Sam Meredith

Cartier owner Richemont posts dip in sales

A Cartier store, owned by Richemont, in Shanghai, China, on Wednesday, July 17, 2024.

Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Swiss luxury group Richemont reported a 1% dip in sales through the six-month period ending in September, citing a challenging macroeconomic backdrop and tougher conditions in China.

The Cartier owner said sales came in at 10.1 billion euros ($10.89 billion) in the first half of its fiscal year, down 1% at actual exchange rates from the same period a year earlier.

Operating profit from continuing operations, meanwhile, came in at 2.2 billion euros for the six-month period, reflecting a 17% fall at actual exchange rates.

“In the first half of this fiscal year, we continued to deliver sustained resilience in a world where uncertainty has become the norm,” Johann Rupert, chairman of Richemont, said in a statement.

“We saw solid sales growth across most of our regions offsetting continued weakness in Chinese demand, which, as I had predicted, will take longer to recover and is particularly affecting our Specialist Watchmakers,” he added.

— Sam Meredith

CNBC Pro: Bitcoin’s on track to hit $100,000 after Trump’s election victory, analysts say

Bitcoin is on track to hit the $100,000 price milestone by the end of the year after President-elect Donald Trump’s election victory, according to analysts.

Trump, who on Wednesday beat Vice President Kamala Harris to win the 2024 U.S. election, had promised several pro-cryptocurrency initiatives in the months leading up to the vote.

CNBC Pro asked analysts for their bitcoin price targets, and when they expect the cryptocurrency to hit them.

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CNBC Pro: The sectors — and stocks — to buy in Asia after Trump’s win, according to analysts

Former U.S. President Donald Trump’s victory over Vice President Kamala Harris in this week’s election has raised questions about how Asia will be impacted.

“At face value, Trump 2.0 is bad news for Asia, esp[ecially] China,” analysts at Macquarie Research wrote in a Nov. 7 note, given the president-elect’s plans to raise tariffs and cut taxes.

Even so, the analysts say the region is “more prepared than in 2016” and investment opportunities remain, especially given the weaker yen and stimulus in China.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Amala Balakrishner

European markets: Here are the opening calls

European markets are expected to open in mixed territory on Friday.

The U.K.’s FTSE 100 index is poised to open 23 points higher at 8,166, Germany’s DAX up 45 points at 19,412, France’s CAC up 21 points at 7,445 and Italy’s FTSE MIB down 13 points at 33,689, according to data from IG.

In corporate news, Swiss luxury group Richemont and British Airways-owner IAG are among those to report earnings on Friday.

— Sam Meredith