Live updates of European markets; Stocks, Credit Suisse, OPEC+ Cut, News

Shares in Cineworld fell 20% at 9.30am London time after the British cinema operator said it would no longer put its US, UK and Ireland-based businesses up for sale.

After most of the business was placed under bankruptcy protection in September, the group has been unable to find a buyer as it struggles to control huge debt.

The company said it has proposed a restructuring agreement with creditors to reduce debt by about $4.53 billion.

Shares fell as much as 35% on the news, according to a Reuters report.

– Hannah Ward-Glenton

Oil and gas companies topped the Stoxx 600 index in early trade after OPEC+ announced surprise oil supply cuts on Sunday.

Scotland-based Harbor Energy led the way with a 6.8% rise, followed by Portugal’s Calpe Energy, which climbed 5.2%. The eight companies with the biggest increases were all oil and gas-based, including energy giants BP and Shell, which both gained more than 4%.

The oil and gas sector as a whole rose 3.8%.

– Hannah Ward-Glenton

Oil futures rose as much as 8% at the open after OPEC+ membership declared A total cut of more than 1 million barrels per day is required to extend through the end of 2023.

Brent crude futures rose 5.98% to $84.67 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude Fures (WTI) rose 6.04% to $80.24 a barrel.

This comes after oil prices rebounded last week, seeing a weekly gain of more than 9%.

The latest announcement is “an unpleasant start to a new week for risk markets and policymakers dealing with still sticky inflation and fallout from the latest banking crisis,” IG’s Tony Sycamore said in a note Monday.

National Australia Bank said the unexpected announcement would add pressure to European economies, with core inflation rising slightly last month.

Analysts forecast a 20% rise in oil prices following OPEC’s surprise production cut of 1.16 million barrels per day.

“OPEC+’s plan for further production cuts, seen as China’s reopening and Russia’s production cuts in response to Western sanctions, could push oil prices back toward $100,” CMC Markets analyst Tina Teng told CNBC.

In October last year, the oil cartel announced its decision It cut production by two million barrels per day.

“However, unlike [the cut in October]”The momentum for global oil demand picked up, not slowed by a strong China recovery,” Goldman Sachs said in a note.

That could raise Goldman’s Brent forecasts by $5 to $95 a barrel for December 2023, the investment bank said in a note after the surprise overnight result.

– Lee Ying Shan

Gold is on pace to post monthly gains not seen in more than two years.

With only Friday’s session remaining in the March trading month, gold is on pace to reach a 9% rally. This would be its best monthly performance since July 2020, when the metal rallied 10.3%.

If Friday’s sell-off pushes its monthly advance below 7.8%, March will instead become the metal’s best month since 2021.

Gold prices were flat at the start of Friday.

-Alex Haring, Gina Brancola

European markets are headed for a mixed open on Monday.

The UK’s FTSE 100 index is expected to rise 13 points to 7,651, Germany’s DAX down 26 points to 15,614, France’s CAC up 3 points to 7,331 and Italy’s FTSE MIB down 49 points to 26,590.

Data releases include new car registration figures for Spain and the UK in March and Swiss inflation figures for the same month.

– Holly Elliott