US markets are closed on Monday for Presidents’ Day, making it a quieter start to the week, with fewer earnings releases on the agenda.
At the same time, Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) was in focus on Monday morning, after Bloomberg reported that the company is considering reopening sales negotiations with rival Paramount Skydance (PSKY).
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Members of Warner Bros’ board are looking at whether Paramount (PSKY) could offer a path to a superior deal, according to the report, which cited people familiar with the matter. However, the board has reportedly not yet decided how to respond, with Warner Bros still in an acquisition agreement with Netflix (NFLX).
Warner Bros had not responded to Yahoo Finance UK’s request for comment at the time of writing. Shares in Warner Bros were little changed in extended trading on Monday morning, with Paramount and Netflix also hovering just above the flatline.
In Asia, Chinese tech stocks were in the spotlight on Monday, after it was reported that the Pentagon had briefly added some key names to a list of companies it claimed to be aiding the military.
Bloomberg reported on Monday that Alibaba (9988.HK, BABA), BYD (1211.HK) and Baidu (9888.HK) had appeared on the updated Pentagon list on the US Federal Register. However, it was later declared “unpublished”.
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Hong Kong-listed shares in Alibaba closed the session on Monday down 0.5%, while BYD hovered around the flatline and Baidu recovered in the session, to close 1.3% in the green. Alibaba, BYD and Baidu had not responded to Yahoo Finance UK’s request for comment at the time of writing.
In the UK, NatWest (NWG.L) was the biggest gainer on the FTSE 100 (^FTSE), with shares up 3.7% at the time of writing.
The bank posted a 24% jump in annual operating profit, in results released on Friday. Operating profit before tax for the year came in at £7.71bn, topping expectations of £7.49bn, according to consensus estimates provided by the bank. For the fourth quarter, this figure was £1.94bn, also besting forecasts of £1.72bn.
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On the back of the results, Interactive Investor head of markets Richard Hunter said they were “a sparkling set of numbers by any standards, as NatWest (NWG.L) continues the relentless recovery from its historic woes.”
“As far as investors are concerned, NatWest is in a sweet spot,” he said. “The government shackles have gone, the group has prodigious amounts of cash and acquisitions to boost growth further are playing out.”