stocks, news, data and earnings

Shares of Italian bank Unicredit hit their highest level since 2015 Monday, rising 9.8%, after announcing that it would return 8.6 billion euros ($9.2 billion) to investors on the back of higher-than-expected profits.

The Milan-based bank shared details of the planned payout after reporting fourth-quarter profits of 1.9 billion euros, almost three times analysts’ expectations.

The payout, which will be delivered through a combination of buybacks and dividends, follows a strong year for the bank, which has been buoyed by higher interest rates.

— Karen Gilchrist

Ongoing political tensions, still-high inflation levels and uncertainty over when the U.S. Federal Reserve will cut interest rates have raised questions about which sectors — and stocks — will outperform looking ahead.

For Kevin Teng, CEO of Wrise Wealth Management Singapore, which serves ultra-high-net-worth individuals across Asia, the Middle East and Europe, three top stocks stand out as good plays right now.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Amala Balakrishner

Citi has updated its list of its top “high-conviction” stock picks from global markets including the United States, Europe and Asia-Pacific.

Those are the “high conviction, differentiated stock recommendations to generate alpha” that its analysts have selected.

“We identify catalysts that will trigger outperformance and chose liquid names in which investors can build positions,” Citi said in its Feb. 1 report.

Here are four of the names.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Weizhen Tan

European markets are set to open flat to lower Monday.

The U.K.’s FTSE 100 index is expected to open 3 points higher at 7,619, Germany’s DAX down 38 points at 16,861, France’s CAC down 13 points at 7,577 and Italy’s FTSE MIB 89 points lower at 30,760, according to data from IG. 

Earnings are set to come from UniCredit. Euro zone producer prices data for December is also due.

— Holly Ellyatt