Ministers formally approved the WTO membership terms of Comoros and Timor-Leste at a special ceremony held at the 13th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC13) in Abu Dhabi on 26 February 2024. The respective governments said the ceremony marked a historic day for both least-developed countries (LDCs) and a significant step in their quest to accelerate economic and political reforms.
Ministers approve WTO membership of Comoros and Timor-Leste at MC13

Trade ministers unanimously welcomed both WTO membership deals, which were approved at the MC13 opening ceremony attended by President Azali Assoumani of Comoros and President José Ramos-Horta of Timor-Leste. UAE's Minister of State for Foreign Trade and MC13 Chair Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi and Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala also attended the ceremony. The two Protocols of Accession were officially signed at the end of the ceremony.
In her address to ministers, DG Okonjo-Iweala paid special tribute to the governments of both countries for “this historic achievement” and for having undertaken an extensive programme of domestic reforms to accelerate economic growth despite very challenging circumstances.
She said: “I am delighted to say that we are kicking off this meeting with some excellent news. Here at MC13, the WTO is welcoming its first new members in almost eight years: Timor-Leste and Comoros. We celebrate the hard work they have put in, and the beneficial but challenging reforms they have implemented at home. Both countries are least developed countries, and we are excited to see them reap the gains of membership as they become new members of the WTO.” Her full statement is here.
Twenty-two more countries are seeking to follow in their footsteps — many of them were present in Abu Dhabi, including a sizeable contingent from the Arab world. Comoros and Timor-Leste will bring the total number of WTO members to 166. “We look forward to adding to that number in the years ahead,” said Director-General Okonjo-Iweala.
President Assoumani said: “Comoros' accession to the WTO will be immensely beneficial for our entire economy, for public and private enterprises, and for consumers. It will contribute to our country's trade diversification and partnership efforts, to its integration into regional, continental and global value chains. Through WTO accession, my country will achieve its objectives.” His full statement is here.
President Ramos-Horta said: “Being a WTO member is essential to unleash the potential of our economy in several sectors. We are committed to diversify our economy, become a part of the value chain of the global economy and to improve the life of our people through trade.” His full statement is here.
Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi said: “The decisions we have just taken on the accession of Comoros — an island LDC in Africa — and the accession of Timor-Leste — an island LDC in Asia — testify to the world's confidence in the WTO and the multilateral trading system. I strongly believe that through their future membership in the WTO, Comoros and Timor-Leste will have stable and predictable frameworks for economic engagement with other nations which will boost trade, growth and prosperity.”
Both governments will now submit their Protocols for ratification by their legislative assemblies. In keeping with WTO rules, Comoros and Timor-Leste will become members of the WTO 30 days following the deposit of the respective instruments of acceptance of the Protocol.
Comoros' Working Party was established on 9 October 2007. Members of the Working Party concluded the negotiations on 9 January 2024.
The list of Comoros’s commitments is available here.
Timor-Leste's Working Party was established on 7 December 2016. Members of the Working Party concluded the negotiations on 11 January 2024.
The list of Timor-Leste’s commitments is available here.

News updates from February 27: Hungary backs Sweden’s Nato bid, FTC sues to block Kroger-Albertsons merger

Sweden overcomes final Nato hurdle in historic shift

Richard Milne, Nordic and Baltic Correspondent and Marton Dunai in Budapest
Sweden has overcome the last remaining hurdle in its quest to become a Nato member as Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine redraws the geopolitical map.
Read more
8 HOURS AGO07:02

Biden says he is hopeful an Israel-Hamas ceasefire could start next week

Felicia Schwartz in Washington
US President Joe Biden said he is hopeful that a temporary Gaza ceasefire could begin as soon as Monday, as American officials press hard to revive a stalled diplomatic process.
© REUTERS
Biden’s upbeat assessment on Monday came after officials made further progress in negotiations at the weekend to release hostages being held by Hamas.
“My national security adviser tells me that we’re close,” Biden said, responding to a shouted question from reporters as he visited an ice cream shop in New York with television talk-show host Seth Meyers. “It’s not done yet. And my hope is that, by next Monday, we’ll have a ceasefire.”

Disney movie studio head departs as Iger continues company shake-up

Christopher Grimes in Los Angeles
Bob Iger, Disney chief executive, has shaken up the company’s live action movie studio after recent box office disappointments including Haunted Mansion and Jungle Cruise.
Sean Bailey is stepping down after 15 years as president of Disney Studios motion picture production, a tenure that produced successful remakes of The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin, the company said on Monday. He will be replaced by David Greenbaum, president of Searchlight Pictures, which produced the Oscar-nominated film Poor Things.
Iger has acknowledged that Disney’s studios “lost focus” as the company raced to build its streaming business and has vowed to emphasise “quality over quantity”.
The Big Read

Chevron warns Exxon and Cnooc could scupper $53bn Hess deal

Myles McCormick in Houston
Chevron has warned that its $53bn acquisition of Hess could be thwarted by rival oil groups ExxonMobil and China National Offshore Oil Corporation, which are asserting their right to pre-empt its purchase of a stake in a massive oil project off the coast of Guyana.
In a regulatory filing on Monday Chevron said it had been “engaged in discussions” with Exxon and Cnooc “regarding a right of first refusal provision in the joint operating agreement for the Stabroek Block”. Both companies hold stakes in the oil-rich project off the coast of the South American nation, which has been the focal point of the deal.
If the talks did not “result in an acceptable resolution” Chevron said the merger would not close. Exxon confirmed talks were ongoing with Chevron and Hess and said the company “owe[d] it to our investors and partners to consider our pre-emption rights”.
Read more here

Big Tech rally loses steam as US stocks close lower

Nicholas Megaw in New York
Google parent Alphabet was the biggest drag on the S&P 500 on Monday as a powerful recent rally in large tech groups appeared to lose some steam.
Five of the so-called Magnificent Seven big tech groups fell, with Alphabet leading the declines with a more than 4 per cent drop. Chipmaker Nvidia and Tesla were the two exceptions. Tesla added almost 4 per cent, while Nvidia eked out a 0.3 per cent gain but remained just below the $2tn market capitalisation milestone that it hit briefly on Friday.
The S&P 500 index dipped 0.4 per cent overall, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.1 per cent. Declines were broad, with almost every sector in the red. Tesla’s gains propped up the consumer cyclical sector, while energy stocks benefited from rising oil prices.

Donald Trump prosecutor seeks gag order ahead of ‘hush money’ trial

Joe Miller in New York
Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg has asked a court to prevent Donald Trump from publicly disparaging jurors, witnesses, lawyers or court staff in the lead-up to his criminal trial next month.
In a motion filed on Monday, Bragg’s team argued that Trump had a “long history of making public and inflammatory remarks about the participants in various judicial proceedings against him” and said that his attacks on the district attorney over the past year — often on his social media site Truth Social — had already led to “hundreds of threats” against the office.
In one instance last year, “the office received a letter addressed to the district attorney containing a small amount of white powder and a note stating: ‘Alvin: I’m going to kill you’”, lawyers from the DA’s office wrote.
Read more here

US stocks edge lower as investors await inflation data

Nicholas Megaw in New York
US stocks slipped back from their recent highs and bond yields ticked higher on Monday as investors prepare for crucial inflation data later this week.
Investor enthusiasm about Nvidia and other stocks exposed to artificial intelligence powered the S&P 500 to fresh records last week. Nvidia added a further 0.6 per cent by mid-afternoon on Monday, but the gains were not enough to offset declines in more interest rate-sensitive sectors such as real estate and utilities, and the index dipped 0.2 per cent overall.
The tech-dominated Nasdaq Composite, however, added 0.1 per cent.
Investors will be watching January’s personal consumption expenditure index, an inflation measure that will be released on Thursday and is closely followed by the Federal Reserve, for clues on when the central bank will begin cutting interest rates this year.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury rose 0.04 per cent to 4.30 per cent, while the two-year yield advanced 0.05 percentage points to 4.74 per cent. Higher yields reflect lower prices. 

US oil and gas lobby challenges Biden LNG pause

Myles McCormick in Houston
American oil and gas lobby groups have hit back against Joe Biden’s freeze on new permits for LNG infrastructure, lodging a legal filing that urges the Department of Energy to reconsider the suspension. 
The American Petroleum Institute and six other industry bodies on Monday submitted an “application for rehearing” with the DoE, arguing that the pause on new permits was “unlawful and ill-advised”. 
The move tees up a potential lawsuit over the Biden administration’s decision last month to suspend new export licenses as it assesses the environmental, security and cost implications of the rapid buildout of LNG infrastructure. 
“The Department of Energy’s arbitrary LNG freeze is not only unlawful – it cedes America’s energy advantage to hostile nations while jeopardising thousands of American jobs,” said Rob Jennings, API vice president of natural gas markets.

Risers and fallers in the US

Alexandra White in New York
Share moves to note on the New York Stock Exchange include Berkshire Hathaway, Domino’s Pizza and Alcoa:

• Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway dipped 0.9 per cent after it said its electric utility PacifiCorp may be sued by the US government over wildfire costs, and major shareholder Ruth Gottesman announced she would gift her fortune to Einstein Medical College in New York, signalling a potential share sale in the near future. 
• Shares of Domino’s Pizza jumped 6.4 per cent after it beat US same-store sales expectations in the most recent quarter thanks to an uptick in spending driven by the company’s new loyalty program. 
• Shares of aluminium producer Alcoa fell 5.4 per cent after it made a $2.2bn offer to acquire Australian mining corporation Alumina Limited. 

FTC sues to block biggest supermarket merger in US history

Stefania Palma in Washington  
The US Federal Trade Commission has sued to block Kroger Company’s acquisition of Albertsons Companies in a move that threatens the largest supermarket merger in US history.
The FTC on Monday challenged the $24.6bn acquisition, alleging it would eliminate competition between the parties and increase grocery prices, while slashing product quality and consumer choice. The deal would also hamper workers’ ability to obtain higher wages, the FTC said.
A Kroger spokesperson said blocking the deal would harm “America’s consumers and workers”. An Albertsons spokesperson said it was “disappointed that the FTC continues to use the same outdated view of the US grocery industry it used 20 years ago”.
The companies said they would litigate the move in court and that the deal would increase competition, lower prices and improve wages.
Read more here
LexUS retail

European stocks slip from last week’s record high

George Steer in London
European stocks slipped from record highs, dragged lower by utilities groups and interest rate-sensitive real estate companies.
The region-wide Stoxx Europe 600, which on Thursday eclipsed its previous peak from about two years ago and rose further on Friday, fell 0.4 per cent on Monday. France’s Cac 40 lost 0.5 per cent, while Germany’s Dax made a fractional gain. London’s FTSE 100 closed 0.3 per cent lower.
The moves come ahead of eurozone inflation data due to be released later this week.
In the US, Wall Street’s S&P 500 was down marginally in late-morning trading in New York, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite added 0.2 per cent.

SNP accuses Speaker Hoyle of ‘breaking his word’ on Gaza debate

Rafe Uddin in London
The Speaker of the UK House of Commons has been accused of “breaking his word” after he rescinded an offer to the Scottish National Party to enable the party to debate Israel’s offensive in Gaza.
Sir Lindsay Hoyle told MPs that he had decided an emergency debate should not proceed as the government would deliver a statement on the matter on Tuesday. 
Stephen Flynn, Westminster leader of the SNP, said: “The Speaker broke the rules last week — and this week he has broken his word. How can MPs have any trust in the Speaker.” 
Last week Hoyle apologised to the SNP, the third-largest party in Westminster, after he broke precedent to allow Labour to introduce an amendment to an SNP motion that called for an immediate ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war.  
UK politics

US stocks open slightly higher as investors turn attention to interest rates

George Steer in London
US stocks opened slightly higher on Monday as investors turned their attention back to the future path of interest rates ahead of a week of closely watched economic data releases and speeches from Federal Reserve officials.
Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 added 0.1 per cent shortly after the New York opening bell, with consumer cyclicals among the best performing companies. The tech-dominated Nasdaq Composite was steady.
After chipmaker Nvidia’s bumper fourth-quarter results stole the limelight last week, investors’ focus is now expected to turn to inflation, with January’s personal consumption expenditures index due out on Thursday. Ahead of their March meeting, senior Fed officials will also offer their thoughts on when rates may begin to fall. 

Microsoft strikes deal with Mistral in push beyond OpenAI

Madhumita Murgia in London
Microsoft has struck a deal with French artificial intelligence start-up Mistral as it seeks to broaden its involvement in the fast-growing industry beyond OpenAI.  
The US tech giant will provide the 10-month-old Paris-based company with help in bringing its AI models to market.
Microsoft will also take a minor stake in Mistral, although the financial details have not been disclosed. The partnership makes Mistral the second company to provide commercial language models available on Microsoft’s Azure cloud computing platform.
Microsoft has already invested about $13bn in San Francisco-based OpenAI, an alliance that is being reviewed by competition watchdogs in the US, EU and UK.
Read more here

Citigroup hires JPMorgan’s Vis Raghavan to be new head of banking

Joshua Franklin in New York
Citigroup has hired top JPMorgan investment banker Vis Raghavan to be its new head of banking, a major hire by the US bank that rounds out its top management team following a restructure last year. 
“Vis is a proven leader and his appointment is another example of our ability to attract the best talent to our firm,” Citi chief executive Jane Fraser said in a memo to staff on Monday. 
Raghavan is the head of global investment banking at JPMorgan.
In his new role, Raghavan will run Citi’s investment, corporate and commercial banking operations.
Read more here

Israel launches air strikes near northern Lebanese city

Raya Jalabi in Beirut and Neri Zilber in Tel Aviv
Israel’s military launched air strikes near the north east Lebanese city of Baalbek on Monday, in the deepest attack into Lebanese territory since hostilities erupted between Israel and the Hizbollah militant group.
Israel’s military said it had struck targets “used by Hizbollah’s aerial defence array” in the Bekaa Valley in response to the launch of surface-to-air missiles earlier in the day. Hizbollah did not immediately comment on the incident.
Hizbollah has exchanged near-daily fire with Israel’s military since October 8. More than 200 fighters and 20 civilians have been killed in Lebanon, according to an FT tally. At least 17 Israeli civilians and soldiers have been killed by Hizbollah fire since October.
Kim Ghattas

UK inflation highest for households with mortgages, ONS finds

Valentina Romei in London
UK households with mortgages experienced higher inflation than any other household type in December, according to new official statistics.
Mortgagor households had the highest annual inflation rate, of 6.3 per cent in December 2023, reflecting rising mortgage interest payments, according to the Office for National Statistics. 
This was the highest rate of any socio-economic group. Inflation was 4.9 per cent for private renters and 4 per cent for outright house owners, the ONS said.
The data also showed that inflation was higher among working households, at 5.4 per cent, than retired households, at 4 per cent. It was also higher among those with children, at 5.5 per cent, than those without, at 4.8 per cent, reflecting the uneven impact of the surge in price pressures.

Navalny was about to be freed from prison before death, say allies

Max Seddon in Riga
Alexei Navalny’s allies have said the Russian opposition leader was about to be freed from prison on the eve of his death and accused President Vladimir Putin of having him killed to torpedo the exchange.
In a video posted to YouTube on Monday, Maria Pevchikh, chair of the board of Navalny’s foundation, said she had “received confirmation that negotiations were at the final stage” on an exchange the day before Russia’s prison service announced his death this month.
Pevchikh said Putin “had been offered” to swap Navalny and two unnamed US citizens for Vadim Krasikov, a Russian hitman serving a murder sentence in Germany, at the beginning of February.

Lord Jacob Rothschild dies at 87

Franklin Nelson in London
Lord Jacob Rothschild, pictured in London in March 2016. The banker has died at the age of 87 © AFP/Getty Images
Financier Lord Jacob Rothschild has died at the age of 87, his family has said.
In a post on X, the Rothschild Foundation said that it was “deeply saddened to announce the death of Lord Rothschild, businessman, entrepreneur, philanthropist and cultural leader.”
In a statement to the PA news agency on Monday, Rothschild’s family said “our father Jacob was a towering presence in many peoples’ lives” and that he would “be buried in accordance with Jewish custom in a small family ceremony”.
A member of the well-known banking dynasty, Rothschild became chair of RIT Capital Partners in 1988 and stepped down in 2019. He was also a patron of the arts, serving as chair of trustees of the National Gallery between 1985 and 1991.

Risers and fallers in Europe

Franklin Nelson in London
The biggest movers on European bourses on Monday morning include biotech group Zealand Pharma, distributor Bunzl, telecoms company Tele 2 and lender Bank of Ireland.
Zealand Pharma: Shares in the Danish biotech company jumped 21 per cent after trial results of a new weight loss drug it is co-developing showed it was effective in treating liver disease.
Tele2: Shares in the Swedish telecoms group rose 9 per cent after its owner, Kinnevik, announced it was selling its stake to Iliad, the telco owned by French billionaire Xavier Niel.
Bank of Ireland: Shares in the country’s biggest lender dropped 11.6 per cent after it reported results that missed analyst forecasts.
Bunzl: Shares in the London-listed distributor fell 4.8 per cent after it said it had agreed to buy catering equipment company Nisbets.

China’s fierce EV price war hits forecasts at high-flyer Li Auto

Gloria Li in Hong Kong
Forecast first-quarter earnings at Chinese electric-vehicle maker Li Auto have missed analysts’ estimates, as a fierce price war and intensifying competition in the world’s largest auto market threaten profitability at one of the country’s highest-flying EV start-ups.
Li Auto expects revenues of Rmb31.3bn ($4.4bn) to Rmb32.2bn in the first three months of 2024, short of a market consensus of Rmb36.4bn. The range is nevertheless more than a third higher than revenues in the same period last year.
The Beijing-based carmaker has faced slowing EV demand in China and competition from rivals including Tesla, BYD and Huawei-backed Aito. The challenges have overshadowed an almost 600-fold year-on-year leap in its adjusted net income in 2023.

Top Bank of England official raises concerns over non-bank lenders

Laura Noonan
Bank of England deputy governor Sarah Breeden has called for more research into non-bank lenders to stave off a “credit crunch sourced in market-based finance”.
“A shift in the willingness of market-based finance to lend to corporates, particularly those perhaps that are highly leveraged, would have significant implications for the real economy,” Breeden told a gathering of academics and researchers at a BoE conference in London on Monday.
She also called on them to do more research on ways to reduce the complexity of bank capital rules, and on the interplay between high capital standards and long-term financial success.

Palestinian PM Shtayyeh tenders resignation

Neri Zilber in Tel Aviv
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh has tendered his resignation, in a long-anticipated move that could set the stage for a new technocratic government responsible for the reconstruction of Gaza.
Shtayyeh on Monday offered his resignation in a letter to President Mahmoud Abbas, who leads the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority. Abbas has yet to accept the resignation and appoint a new government.
The international community, led by the US, has called on Abbas to institute significant reforms in the PA as part of a move to “revitalise” the financially strapped and unpopular entity.
Any new government would also be responsible for Gaza’s reunification with the occupied West Bank. 
Read more here.

European stocks and US futures slip ahead of busy week of economic data

George Steer in London
European stocks and US futures slipped early on Monday at the start of a busy week in which economic and inflation data will shape investors’ expectations for future interest rate cuts.
The region-wide Stoxx Europe 600 lost 0.2 per cent in early trading. France’s CAC 40 also fell 0.2 per cent while Germany’s Dax was steady. London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.1 per cent.
Contracts tracking Wall Street’s S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 lost 0.1 per cent and 0.2 per cent respectively ahead of the New York market open.
Data released later this week is expected to show that the US Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation eased slightly in January. Eurozone inflation is forecast to drop below 3 per cent for the first time in two years.  

Sunak urges MPs not to ‘inflame’ tensions

George Parker and Anna Gross in London
Rishi Sunak has urged MPs to stop using words that “inflame” community tensions, as he denounced comments last week by former Tory deputy chair Lee Anderson as “wrong”.
Anderson was suspended from the Tory whip last week after claiming that Islamists had “got control” of London and the capital’s Labour mayor Sadiq Khan.
The prime minister insisted the Conservatives did not have a problem with Islamophobia, but said: “It’s incumbent on all of us, especially those elected to parliament, not to inflame our debates in a way that’s harmful to others.”
In a round of local radio interviews on Monday morning, Sunak said Anderson’s words “weren’t acceptable”.
Read more here.

Shares in housebuilders slide as UK watchdog opens investigation

Jonathan Wheatley in London
Shares in UK housebuilders fell on Monday morning after the country’s competition watchdog opened an investigation into eight leading companies on suspicion of sharing commercially sensitive information.
Barratt Developments fell 1.6 per cent; Bellway fell 3 per cent; Berkeley was down 1.3 per cent; Persimmon was down 2.7 per cent; Redrow fell 2.2 per cent; Taylor Wimpey was down 2.4 per cent; and Vistry was down 2 per cent.
The FTSE 100 index was down 0.1 per cent in early trading.
The other company under investigation, Bloor Homes, is not listed.
The Competition and Markets Authority said it had not reached any conclusion yet that the companies had infringed competition law.

Wincanton receives fresh takeover approach

Oliver Ralph in London
UK-based logistics group Wincanton is at the centre of a bidding war, with an agreed buyer increasing its offer and a third party also considering a bid.
CMA CGM, the French shipping group, last month agreed to buy the company for 450p per share in a recommended bid. On Monday it increased its offer by 6.6 per cent to 480p, valuing the UK group’s equity at £605mn.
But Wincanton also said that it had “received an approach from a potential competing bidder”, without naming the company involved.
The Wincanton board has recommended that shareholders accept the improved CMA CGM bid.

UK competition watchdog to investigate 8 housebuilders for information sharing

Jonathan Wheatley in London
The UK’s competition watchdog has launched an investigation into eight housebuilders based on “evidence suggesting information sharing”.
Sarah Cardell, chief executive of the Competition and Markets Authority, said the watchdog had “today opened a new investigation into the suspected sharing of commercially sensitive information by housebuilders which could be influencing the buildout of sites and the prices of new homes”.
The CMA said a year-long study of the sector had also found “substantial concerns” about estate management charges, “with homeowners often facing high and unclear charges for the management of facilities such as roads, drainage and green spaces”.
It also found that “the complex and unpredictable planning system, together with the limitations of speculative private development, is responsible for the persistent under-delivery of new homes”.
Read more here.

Computer maker Lenovo bucks downward trend for Hong Kong and China stocks as week opens

FT reporters
Asia-Pacific share movements were mixed on Monday as investors absorbed US Federal Reserve comments on the direction of interest rates.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index dropped 0.3 per cent, while China’s CSI 300 fell 0.8 per cent.
The Hang Seng Tech subindex rose 0.1 per cent, led by Lenovo shares, which gained nearly 5 per cent as the Chinese personal computer maker announced new models at the MWC trade show in Barcelona.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 edged up 0.1 per cent, while Japan’s Topix closed up 0.5 per cent. South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.7 per cent.
On Friday, New York Fed president John Williams said the US was on track to cut interest rates “later this year”.

South Korea unveils plan to boost shareholder returns and improve governance

Christian Davies in Seoul
South Korean officials announced measures on Monday to boost shareholder returns, as Seoul seeks to replicate Japan’s success in raising stock valuations through a government corporate governance drive.
Korean investors watched on as the Nikkei 225 index of the biggest Japanese companies climbed past its all-time high last week after a 34-year wait, vindicating Tokyo’s decade-and-a-half reform effort which included the introduction of a “name and shame” regime for consistently undervalued companies.
The new Korean measures include tax incentives for companies that prioritise shareholder returns and a new “Korea Value-Up Index” for those that improve corporate governance.
But investors said the proposals were lacking in detail and means of enforcement.

What to watch in Europe today

FT reporters
Bank of England deputy governor Sarah Breeden opens a conference in London on research into prudential regulation © Hannah McKay/Reuters
Events: Hungary’s parliament votes on whether to ratify Sweden’s bid to join Nato. MWC Barcelona, the world’s largest event for the mobile telecommunications industry, begins. The Geneva International Motor Show opens, running until March 3.
Central banks: Bank of England deputy governor Sarah Breeden opens a conference in London on research into prudential regulation, while BoE chief economist Huw Pill gives the keynote address. In Strasbourg, European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde joins a debate on the bank’s annual report.
Economic indicators: The Confederation of British Industry releases its February distributive trades survey, which measures the wellbeing of the retail sector. Norway issues unemployment data for January.
Corporate updates: Dublin-based lender Bank of Ireland and UK foodservice and cleaning products company Bunzl report full-year results.

Shares in Chinese EV maker Nio tumble after JPMorgan downgrade

Gloria Li in Hong Kong
Hong Kong-listed shares of Chinese electric-vehicle maker Nio tumbled as much as 8 per cent in early trading on Monday, following a JPMorgan downgrade on weak sales momentum and rising competition.
JPMorgan cut Nio to “underweight” from “neutral” in a note on Friday, slashing its price target by 41 per cent to $5 per share.
Analyst Nick Lai flagged concerns over the company’s slow rollout of models and an increasingly crowded Chinese EV mass market. The Shanghai-based carmaker is expected to launch only one new model in 2024.
Nio’s share losses recovered to a 4.9 per cent slip in Hong Kong on Monday morning. Its US-listed stock closed 7.7 per cent lower on Friday.