feb 16  welcome to the home for realtime coverage of markets brought to you by reuters reporters you can share your thoughts with us at marketsresearchthomsonreuterscom as elevated geopolitical tensions continue to weigh lenders down european banks sx7p are down more than 1 against a virtually flat pan european benchmark index stoxx despite banks being the largest loser across european sectors today ubs analysts are keeping a bullish stance on them as the sector is set to benefit from three tailwinds higher rates strong operating earnings momentum and growing shareholder returns ubs analysts highlight for the latter cash dividends and share buybacks stand out as supporting the sector with capital levels at record highs according to the ubs “this is supported by recent comments from regulators stressing that they do not intend to take a restrictive stance in terms of returning capital to shareholders” they say adding that the sector is offering an attractive 5 dividend yield despite recent choppiness banks continue to outperform the stoxx 600 this year and are up 12 yeartodate against a 4 drop in the benchmark index european stocks have recovered some ground since mondays tumble on hopes of a deescalation of tensions between russia and ukraine deescalation is the most likely scenario for unicredit chief cee economist dan bucsa but targeted operations and land invasion are not completely excluded if he is right and tensions ease the russian economy could grow by 225 in 2023 and 2024 the central bank of russia could start cutting rates in 2022 while the rouble could return close to 71 against the us dollar he says bucsa believes the hardest measures on banks and phasedin sanctions on oil exports are unlikely to be implemented a ban on using financial messaging system swift would be damaging for up to a year but not a game changer but if russia moves to invade ukraine the peaktotrough decline in gdp could be up to 4 the cbr could hike to around 15 and the rub could lose up to 30 he adds if tensions escalate to a targetedoperations scenario sanctions could target russian investment vehicles companies and individuals that could include a ban on secondarymarket transactions with federal ofz loans by us investors and a ban on nord stream 2 energy pipeline in the worst case a landinvasion scenario a ban on using swift might be added to the list of sanctions the singlebiggest economic risk in the event of a conflict in ukraine is the fact that neighbouring cee countries rely on imports of russian natural gas and have gas inventories that cover less than two months of consumption bucsa says cee gdp growth could slow by up to 17pp in 2022 he notes europe inc continues to beat analysts take notice0943 gmt the q4 earning season in europe is going through its busiest weeks this month and it seems the regions corporates are continuing to flush out solid numbers according to the latest weekly refinitiv ibes data 625 of companies on the stoxx 600 that have already reported have topped market expectations versus 52 of a typical quarter they now estimate earnings for europe inc to have risen 586 to 1165 billion euros in the fourth quarter up more than 2 percentage points compared to last weeks estimates and revenues are now seen up more than 20 nine of the ten stoxx sectors expect to see an improvement in earnings energy has the highest earnings growth rate at 3855 while real estate the weakest at 27 per refinitiv stoxx on the up earnings drive top movers 0910 gmt european stocks opened higher on wednesday as the region rides the coattails of tuesdays optimistic us close amid declining tensions of an imminent ukrainerussia conflict the stoxx 600 stoxx regional benchmark is up 04 with almost all sectors in positive territory and earnings releases driving biggest moves in both directions telecoms were a weak spot down 08 swedish medical technology group vitrolife lost 10 after q4 net income fell almost 70 swiss elevator and escalator manufacturer schindler is down 4 after q4 financials on the flipside french lottery operator la francaise des jeux gained 66 after it upped its revenue targets feb 16 was when russia was meant to invade ukraine according to the white house but moscows signals that it was pulling back some troops massed at ukraines borders lifted wall street on tuesday and fuelled a selloff in safehaven treasuries and german bunds market gains are extending into wednesday  japans nikkei rose 22 and european bourses open higher yet us equity futures show renewed signs of caution there are of course other ways of waging war ukraine blamed russia for a series of cyber attacks that hit it on tuesday and note russias parliament asked president putin to recognise two moscowbacked eastern ukrainian breakaway regions as independent read more  economic data releases and central banks are also occupying markets those hoping for signs of inflation peaking will have been dismayed by the latest uk and us readings british consumer prices rose at the fastest annual pace in nearly 30 years last month edging up from december read more that comes a day after tuesdays us data showed core factory gate inflation  the cost for producers after stripping out food and energy  posting its biggest gain in a year the prospect of frontloaded aggressive rate hikes has dramatically flattened bond curves with the gap between twoyear and 10year uk gilt yields a whisker off turning negative  the socalled inversion that often portends an economic slump the us treasury yield curve steepened back on tuesday as receding war fears lifted 10year yields but a day earlier it was the narrowest since mid2020 for some the state of the curve is a sign that central banks have fallen behind in their inflation fight and must act faster with policy tightening to catch up so all eyes now on minutes from the us federal reserves last meeting they could show whether policymakers will lean towards a larger halfpoint rate rise at its march meeting or whether they favour moving faster with selling the feds bond holdings to tighten financial conditions key developments that should provide more direction to markets on wednesday europe seen extending gains ukraine still in focus 0724 gmt european shares are set to build up slightly on tuesdays gains following sings of a possible deescalation of tensions over ukraine although investors remain cautious about possible further developments in the crisis futures on the euro stoxx 50 index were last up 06 while contracts on the ftse 100 gained 02 after data showed uk consumer prices rose at the fastest annual pace in nearly 30 years last month as inflation hit 55 read more us futures meantime eased slightly ahead of the federal reserve minutes later on wednesday that could shape expectations over the speed at which the central bank will tighten policy kyiv appeared to blame russia for a cyber attack on tuesday as us president joe biden warned that more than 150000 russian troops were still amassed near ukraines borders read more