Must read: oil rallies, retail stocks, Currys, H&M

Global markets

European markets have opened lower with the DAX leading the declines, down over 1%. The FTSE 100 is in the red with miners such as Anglo American (LSE:AAL), Antofagasta (LSE:ANTO) and Fresnillo (LSE:FRES) near the bottom of the basket. However, full-year earnings from Next (LSE:NXT) have lifted the stock to the top of the UK index.

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Alongside Next, retail is in focus more broadly for investors with Currys’ CEO stepping down, Marks & Spencer Group (LSE:MKS) quickening its fashion cycle and H&M announcing Q1 earnings. We also had UK consumer sentiment data from The British Retail Consortium, which revealed that households’ expectations about the state of the economy have plunged to a two-year low amid Middle East uncertainty.

Several stocks go ex-dividend today including British American Tobacco (LSE:BATS), Prudential (LSE:PRU), Aviva (LSE:AV.) and Smith & Nephew (LSE:SN.).

Oil prices are staging gains, with Brent crude up sharply, reflecting the reduced likelihood of an immediate ceasefire after Iran’s foreign minister said he was reviewing a US proposal but that there was no intention to hold talks to end the conflict. Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said the US would hit Tehran harder if Iran fails to back down and argues that Iran wants a deal “badly”. US futures are pointing lower, on track to give back some of yesterday’s gains as investors continue to keep a close eye on US-Iran headlines.

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Currys

Currys (LSE:CURY)’ CEO Alex Baldock has announced plans to step down. He has been at the helm for eight years since 2018. Under his watch, shares have been performing well lately, gaining around 50% over the last year. Shareholders are clearly disappointed by the announcement of Baldock’s departure, with this morning’s sharp slide in the shares a testament to his strong leadership and a reflection of the uncertainty around who will become his successor.

Baldock has carried the business through several challenging times, taking over only a few years after the company was first created in 2014 through a painful merger between Carphone Warehouse and Dixons. He helped steer the business through the unprecedented headwinds during the pandemic. And more recently he has had to navigate the backdrop of a muted consumer environment, increased employment costs, the structural shift from highs street to online, and intense competition from cheap rivals such as Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN).

H&M

H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB Class B (OMX:HM B) reported fiscal first-quarter (December-February) operating profit of 1.51 billion crowns (£1.21 billion), up from 1.2 billion crowns year-on-year, beating analyst expectations for 1.39 billion crowns. Better-than-expected quarterly earnings reflected strong trading over Christmas and robust demand for its spring collections at the start of this year.

However, Q1 net sales fell by 1% in local currency, falling short of expectations, and the company’s CEO said that he’s not satisfied with the top-line performance, weighing on shares which are down around 5.5% this morning.

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The company said there has been a big rise in air transport costs and, after consumers have been under high inflationary pressure for a long time, increasing energy prices could have a spillover effect. However, the company said it doesn’t see any major impact from the Middle East on March trading apart from in the affected region.

Shares have fallen sharply this morning, hitting the lowest level since September, reflecting the weaker sales and uncertainty around the Middle East. Shares are now down around 11% so far this year.