A split premarket: US tech weakens as Europe's earnings deliver
Thursday's five: softer US technology futures, Siemens' record orders, Allianz's higher profit ceiling, a Rolls-Royce buyback and the US data calendar.
Good morning. Thursday opens with a split between US technology futures and European stocks. Corporate results offer a second story beyond the AI trade, while the next scheduled US labor-market release is still ahead.
1. US tech futures retreat; Europe opens higher
Nasdaq futures led the early US decline, with S&P 500 futures also lower, while European benchmarks opened higher. That contrast follows Nvidia's sharp Wednesday after-hours reversal. These are early-session indications, not US closing results. Our First Light market check covers the opening split.
2. Siemens turns a record order quarter into a growth outlook
Siemens reported a 58% rise in fourth-quarter orders to EUR34.8 billion and an 11% revenue increase to EUR23.7 billion. Its fiscal-2027 forecast calls for comparable revenue growth of 9%-11%, excluding Siemens Healthineers as the group prepares a planned spin-off and deconsolidation. The forecast is management's target, not an achieved result. Read the Siemens results story.
3. Allianz lifts the top of its profit target
Allianz raised the upper end of its full-year operating-profit target to about EUR18.6 billion after nine-month operating profit reached a record EUR14.10 billion. Quarterly operating profit rose 6.2% to EUR4.71 billion, helped by asset management, even as property-casualty operating profit fell. The change is to the upper end of the range, not a promise of a final result. Our Allianz report separates operating, core and reported profit.
4. Rolls-Royce accelerates GBP1.5 billion of buybacks
Rolls-Royce announced an interim GBP1.5 billion share buyback while maintaining its full-year outlook. The repurchases form part of its existing GBP7 billion-GBP9 billion programme for 2026-2028, rather than an increase to that programme's overall size. The company continues to forecast underlying operating profit of GBP4.7 billion-GBP4.9 billion and free cash flow of GBP3.8 billion-GBP4.0 billion for 2026.
5. Jobless claims lead the US data watch
Initial and continuing jobless claims are scheduled for 8:30 AM ET, after this edition. Existing-home sales are scheduled for 10:00 AM ET and the EIA's weekly oil-inventory report for noon ET. None of those figures has been released at this edition's 8:00 AM stamp; this is a schedule, not a report of the outcomes.
