European Stocks Zoom Ahead Of U.S. Earnings Season

European stocks rose to their highest in over a year on Monday just as US earnings season gets into full swing this week and a raft of Chinese data is due to offer insight into how quickly the world's second-largest economy is recovering, Neil MacKenzie and Wayne Cole reported for Reuters.

Photo Insert: In Europe, financial shares underperformed the broader market and were last down about a third of a percent.

Better-than-expected first-quarter earnings reports on Friday from JP Morgan, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo helped to buoy sentiment in markets, whipped around last month by turmoil in the banking sector.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index touched a fresh 14-month high and was last up 0.14%, while the blue-chip STOXX50 index hit a new 22-year peak and US stock futures pointed to a flat to slightly positive open on Wall Street.

World shares and Japan's Nikkei traded flat. Chinese blue chips added 1.4% ahead of data on retail sales, industrial output and gross domestic product due on Tuesday, where analysts suspect the risks are for an upside surprise given recent strength in trade.

S&P 500 futures climbed 0.1%, with Nasdaq futures mostly flat ahead of earnings reports led by Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Bank of America.

In Europe, financial shares underperformed the broader market and were last down about a third of a percent.

Other big US names reporting earnings this week include Johnson & Johnson, Netflix, and Tesla. Analysts expect Q1 S&P 500 earnings to fall 5.2% from the year-earlier period, though Bank of America analyst Savita Subramanian is more concerned about the outlook for 2023.

"Overall, we expect an in-line quarter, but big cuts for the full year," BofA warned. "Our 2023 EPS estimate for the S&P 500 remains $200, still 9% below consensus estimates."

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