Europe close: Stocks stage turnaround as Trump u-turns on Iran threats

(Sharecast News) - Full-year results are due on Tuesday from B&Q and Castorama owner Kingfisher, while housebuilder Bellway will release interim results.

As far as Kingfisher is concerned, Bloomberg consensus estimates are for adjusted pre-tax profit of �559.2m, profit after tax of �389.5m, sales of �12.88bn and gross profit of �4.88bn.

UK & Ireland retail profit is estimated at �579.2m, while France retail profit is estimated at �91.3m.

In its third-quarter trading update in November, Kingfisher lifted its guidance for full-year adjusted pre-tax profit to around �540m to �570m, from a previous range of around �480m to �540m.

On the macro front, the March flash PMIs for the eurozone, UK and US will be released.

Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB, said: "The PMI reports across Europe and the US come at an interesting time, when the war in the Middle East is causing major shockwaves for the global economy. This week's data may give us an early indication of the extent of the fallout.

"The March data will capture the start of the war and the initial spike in energy prices, although last week's jump above $110 was too late to be captured in this survey. Economists expect the UK's composite PMI to fall sharply from 53.7 in Feb to 52.9, the risks are obviously to the downside. If these expectations are correct, then it would suggest a more resilient private sector in the UK, which could temporarily ease fears about the UK's growth outlook, which may give some respite to the Gilt market sell off.

"A decline is also expected in the Eurozone composite PMI to 51 from 51.9 in February, so far no one is expecting the PMIs to signal an imminent drop to contraction territory. If this were to happen, expect a knee jerk reaction lower in risk assets and the euro."