European shares up 0.5% Credit Suisse chairman resigns over COVID-19 breaches China cuts rates on policy loans Wall Street shut for holiday Jan 17 - Welcome to the home for real-time coverage of markets brought to you by Reuters reporters. You can share your thoughts with us at markets.research@thomsonreuters.com "TOO EARLY TO ADD AGAIN TO TECH" (1058 GMT) Tech stocks have been hit hard this year as investors sought to reduce exposure to businesses that have flourished thanks to abundant stimulus and the COVID-19 pandemic. And given the Fed looks headed towards faster policy normalisation, just as inflation rages and signs emerge that COVID-19 could transition to endemic, that"s understandable. But after the initial hit, one may wonder whether it"s time already to jump back in. Credit Suisse believes investors should steer clear from such a temptation, saying it is "too early to add again to tech" "Tech is discounting no rise in TIPS yield. We worry about pull forward/maturity in parts of tech, valuation of software, loss of earnings momentum (for software), acute concentration and the bear market already in the small cap cloud," say strategists at the Swiss bank. They are still benchmark on software, after downgrading the space in December last year for the first time in 12 years, although they retain a small overweigh on tech via semis. "We remain overweight semis, albeit reduced (valuations look reasonable for a sector that should re-rate as it becomes less cyclical, more capital disciplined with higher structural growth, excellent relative earnings momentum), and it ranks top on our fundamental scorecard". Needless to say given the direction of travel of the Fed, CS stays overweight on financials. (Danilo Masoni) ***** STOXX ON THE UP (0856 GMT) European equities kicked off the week on right foot with gains across most sectors and in heavyweight GSK driving the STOXX 600 up 0.5% in early deals to recover part of Friday"s losses on growing policy tightening fears. GSK rallied around 5% after the London listed drugmaker said it had rejected a 50-bln-pound proposal from Unilever for its consumer healthcare business. Unilever fell more than 6%. Also on the watchlist was Credit Suisse, whose shares fell more than 2% after the Swiss bank"s chairman quit following an internal probe into his personal conduct. Activity is likely to remain subdued as Wall Street is shut today for holiday. Here"s your opening snapshot: snapshot snapshot (Danilo Masoni) ***** RATE HIKES ON MY MIND (0738 GMT) It"s been a turbulent start of the year for world markets with the prospect of interest rate hikes in the U.S. starting to skim the froth off global equity valuations and leaving investors wondering for how long the bull run would continue. Talk about the Federal Reserve turning off the tap on massive stimulus is here to stay but with the earnings season kicking off on Wall Street risk sentiment could find some comfort as corporates report double digit profit increases. And for the coming week investors will be also spared hawkish speeches from Fed officials now in blackout mode before a policy meeting on Jan 26. S&P 500 earnings are expected to have grown 23.1% in the last three months of 2021 and STOXX 600 earnings are seen up 48.5%. Yet the bar is high and management teams might find it harder to please markets accustomed to stellar corporate growth. Shares in most big Wall Street banks fell on disappointing numbers last week, leading to two consecutive weekly losses for the U.S."s main equity benchmark (.SPX). Today it will be quieter as Wall Street is closed for Martin Luther King Day. Meantime, European index futures pointed to slight gains at the open. In Asia, China"s central bank unexpectedly cut the borrowing costs of its medium-term loans for the first time since April 2020 to cushion an economic slowdown. read more And Chinese stocks advanced. Finally, Credit Suisse Chairman Antonio Horta-Osorio has quit following an internal probe into his personal conduct, raising questions over the embattled lender"s new strategy. read more Its shares rose 2% ahead of the cash market open. snapshot snapshot Key developments that should provide more direction to markets on Monday: China"s economy rebounded in 2021 from its pandemic-induced slump but the pace slowed further in Q4 off the back of weak consumption and a property downturn read more GlaxoSmithKline rejected a 50-billion-pound offer from Unilever for its consumer goods arm, saying it undervalued the business read more ECB speaker: President Christine Lagarde Davos WEF starts EU finance ministers meet German foreign min Baerbock visits Ukraine UK Rightmove House prices Jan