Europe’s share markets are preparing for a cautious start, buoyed by gains in China, while market observers pay close attention to any performance signals from Nvidia, an AI industry darling, as it prepares to disclose results after the U.S market close.

The futures of EuroSTOXX50 and FTSE were reported to be up by 0.1% and maintaining a level balance respectively.

Meanwhile, contracts for S&P 500 saw a slight decrease following a lower close on Wall Street the previous day.

In terms of corporate developments, HSBC (LSE:HSBA), registered a record annual profit which fell short of analysts' predictions.

The bank’s increased income courtesy of higher interest rates was offset by the $3 billion hit due to its stake in a Chinese bank, leading to an anticipated 3% drop in the London shares, mirroring losses in Hong Kong.

The mining sector is positioned to come under scrutiny with Glencore reporting that lower commodity prices had halved its 2023 earnings and cut shareholder payouts as the company holds back funds to finance the acquisition of a 77% stake in Teck Resources' metallurgical coal business.

Rio Tinto’s performance was found to be in line with expectations as production increments in its iron ore business balanced weaker prices for Aluminium, although the company also expressed caution about increasing costs.

Reports indicate that Saint-Gobain, the French construction materials group, is in preliminary discussions to buy over the Australian building materials company, CSR.

And in the beverage sector, coffee company DE Peet’s projects 2024 organic sales growth at the lower end of its mid-term expectations after surprise growth in last year’s earnings.

HSBC (LSE:HSBA) is a multinational banking and financial services organization that provides a range of financial services to millions of customers worldwide.