Ericsson CEO says AI regulation and investment in Europe are concerning'

Ericsson CEO says European regulation and investment around AI is ‘concerning’

Speaking to CNBC's “Europe Early Edition” on Tuesday, Ericsson CEO Börje Ekholm took aim at regulation of artificial intelligence in Europe.

“I think the European problem is a regulatory problem,” he argued. “I think the European regulation should basically be frozen, and the [European] Commission should say 'we don't implement them right now, and let's assess what we do for the future.' I think European AI investment is hampered by the overall regulatory environment.”

Labeling AI as “maybe the most fundamental technology of our day and age,” Ekholm noted that Ericsson had invested in an AI development facility in Sweden in a bid for it to become a frontrunner in various applications of the tech.

“I think there is an ambition in Europe to be a leader in AI, but … I don't see the activities underneath happening,” he added. “And I do think that's a bit concerning as a European. I think we really need to be at the forefront. Maybe the race on computer infrastructure and large language models has already happened, but the real value in the future will be created on the applications that run on top of the AI infrastructure. And I think here, the race is still on.”

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The FTSE 100 breaks the 9,000-point barrier to set a new record high

The FTSE 100 index of London-listed multinational companies briefly rose above the 9,000-point market intraday to set a record high.

Will the index hold on to those gains until the market closes?

Barratt Redrow shares shed 8%

U.K. homebuilder Barratt Redrow announced a £100 million ($134.5 million) share buyback program after reporting home completions that came in below the company's guidance for the year to June 29.

The company said in a trading update that it expects to deliver full-year adjusted profit before tax in line with market expectations.

Shares were last seen trading 8% lower.

B&M shares drop 7.1%

Shares of retail giant B&M were last seen trading 7.1% lower.

The company on Tuesday reported a 4.4% year-on-year rise in first quarter revenue, which it attributed to warmer weather and Easter-related demand.

Tech stocks pick up

The regional Stoxx Europe Technology index is up 1% this morning, recovering from a 0.4% loss in the Monday session.

Top movers include chip manufacturing tool makers ASML and ASMI, up 2.7% and 2%, respectively. Other gainers included Infineon and BE Semiconductor, which were higher by a respective 1.4% and 1%.

The Tuesday performance comes after U.S. chipmaking giant Nvidia said it was hopeful it could soon resume sales of its H20 general processing units to China.

Read more about that here.

European stocks open higher

We're just over half an hour into Tuesday's trading session, and European shares are broadly moving higher.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 was last seen trading around 0.2% higher, with most sectors trading in positive territory.

Regional shares are coming off of a mostly losing session on Monday, as investors reacted to U.S. President Donald Trump's threat to to slap 30% tariffs on goods from the European Union next month.

Ericsson shares drop 3.9% after earnings

Ericsson's Stockholm-listed shares are 3.9% lower in early trade, after the company released its second-quarter earnings.

The firm posted adjusted earnings of 7 billion Swedish krona ($730 million) in the second quarter, ahead of analyst expectations. But sales were weaker than expected, at just over 56 billion krona.

“We had very strong currency headwinds this quarter, year-over-year it impacted our sales by almost 5 billion krona,” the company's CEO Börje Ekholm told CNBC's “Europe Early Edition” on Tuesday.

“So of course that's material, organically we had 2% growth year-over-year, so we're coming out of a fairly difficult market environment and see much more stability. But despite that environment we could deliver a very good operational execution, resulting in a very good profit margin.”

When asked if the geopolitical landscape was prompting the company to rethink its investment decisions, Ekholm said Ericsson was continuing to run its regular investment program and “there is really not a big change.”

“We built a factory in North America already in 2020, so we have already a Made in America stamp on our products and we've had that for some time. Of course that helps us in a situation like this,” he said.

“The bigger question right now is the total uncertainty we have, we have a good manufacturing footprint, sourcing footprint is very flexible,” Ekholm added. “But still, the general uncertainty in the economy will ultimately be a drag on total investment climate, I think that's the bigger question right now.”

Rio Tinto appoints new CEO

Rio Tinto announced this morning that it has appointed Simon Trott to succeed Jakob Stausholm as CEO of the mining giant.

Trott is currently serving as chief executive of the company's iron ore division.

In a statement on Tuesday, Trott said he was “excited” about Rio Tinto's future.

“With our outstanding assets and people around the world, we are well positioned to grow value for shareholders,” he said.

The UK‘s budget gap is widening and markets want to know Reeves’ fix

“I said on day one that economic growth was now our national mission,” U.K. Finance Minister Rachel Reeves said in her first Mansion House speech almost a year ago.

Fast forward to today and investors remain unconvinced, rattled by a slowing economy, muted investment and U.K. government debt that is nearly 100% of gross domestic product (GDP), according to the Office for Budget Responsibility, the government's fiscal watchdog.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Reeves' upcoming Mansion House on Tuesday evening address will be a crucial moment to demonstrate progress and signal the next steps she will take to inject growth back into the U.K. economy.

Read the full story here.

Starling Bank considers New York IPO in fresh blow to London

U.K. challenger bank Starling is mulling a U.S. listing as it looks to expand into the country, the CFO said in a Financial Times interview published this morning.

The move deals yet another blow to the London Stock Exchange, which saw its worst first half for IPO fundraising in decades this year, according to Dealogic.

Just last year, Starling Bank's then-interim CEO said the fintech firm was “very committed” to listing in London. Starling was valued at £2.5 billion ($3.4 billion) in its most recent fundraising round three years ago.

Here are the opening calls

Good morning from London, and welcome to CNBC's live blog covering all the action and business news in European financial markets on Tuesday.

Futures data from IG suggests regional markets will start the week flat to lower, with both London's FTSE 100 and Germany's DAX expected to open 0.2% higher, France's CAC 0.5% lower. Italy's FTSE MIB is seen opening 0.2% higher.

The upbeat mood for European markets comes after a difficult start to the week, after U.S. President Donald Trump announced at the weekend that he would impose a 30% tariff on goods imported from the EU.

The duty is due to take effect on Aug. 1, and the EU is scrambling to reach a trade deal with the U.S. before then. Europe's Stoxx 600 index closed 0.06% lower on Monday, after shaving off losses late in the day to finish at a session high.

Earnings in Europe come from Experian, Ericsson and Barratt Redrow on Tuesday. Data releases include monthly U.K. retail sales data.