DAILY EUROPEAN EQUITY OPENING NEWS: Unilever (ULVR LN) - Blackstone and CVC form consortium to table GBP 6bln bid for the co.’s spreads unit, including Flora.

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1^st August 2017

ASIA

Asian equities traded higher across the board as Chinese data took focus once again after Caixin Manufacturing PMI beat expectations and printed its highest since March. ASX 200 (+0.9%) was led higher by commodity-related stocks after iron ore extended on yesterday’s over 7% gains and WTI settled above USD 50/bbl for the first time since May. Nikkei 225 (+0.3%) was kept afloat after the prior session's JPY weakness, while Shanghai Comp (+0.4%) and Hang Seng (+0.8%) conformed to the positive tone after the aforementioned Chinese PMI data coupled with the PBoC’s CNY 170bln injection into the interbank market.

European opening calls: FTSE 7409 +0.51% DAX 12125 +0.05% CAC 5097 +0.07% IBEX 10511 +0.08% MIB 21484 -0.01%

FTSE

BHP Billiton (BLT LN) – Co. denied reports that it is to offload its stake in Samarco JV to Vale. (Newswires)

Unilever (ULVR LN) - Blackstone and CVC form consortium to table GBP 6bln bid for the co.’s spreads unit, including Flora. (Newswires)

HSBC (HSBA LN) – Co. has entered an agreement with Credit Suisse where Credit Suisse can purchase no more than USD 2bln of shares during period from August 1^st to December 31^st. (Newswires)

UK Banks – Brexit will push up costs for banks by as much as 4% and their capital requirements will rise up to 30%, according to consultants Oliver Wyman. (FT)

OTHER UK COMPANIES
 

BROKER RECOMMENDATIONS

NATIONAL GRID (NG/ LN) RAISED TO BUY FROM HOLD AT BERENBERG

DAX

Volkswagen (VOW3 GY) – Co. fraudulently secured EUR 400mln of loans from the EIB to develop the engine at the heart of the emissions scandal. (Politico)

Heidelberg Cement (HEI GY) – Q2 net profit up 12% to EUR 358mln vs. Exp. EUR 376mln. Q2 revenue EUR 4.61bln vs. Exp. EUR 4.65bln. Co. confirms full year outlook. (Newswires)

Fresenius Medical Care (FME GY) – Q2 operating EBIT up 2% to EUR 583mln. Q2 revenue up 11% to EUR 4.471bln. Co. confirms 2017 outlook. (Newswires)

Fresenius (FRE GY) – Q2 Adj. net income EUR 459mln vs. Exp. EUR 448mln. Q2 revenue EUR 8.5bln vs. Exp. EUR 8.52bln. Co. confirms guidance. (Newswires)

Infineon (IFX GY) – Co. reports Q3 FY 2017 revenue EUR 1.831bln vs. Exp. EUR 1.826bln, segment result EUR 338mln vs Exp. EUR 323mln, affirms outlook. (Newswires)

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

Fuchs Petrolub (FPE GY) – H1 EBIT up 4% to EUR 190mln. H1 revenue up 10% to EUR 1.247bln. Co. affirms earnings outlook but lifts revenue outlook for the year. (Newswires)

BROKER RECOMMENDATIONS

CAC

Credit Agricole (CAGR FP) - Deal for purchase of three small Italian savings banks by the co. has delayed until September. (Newswires)

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

Auto names – French new car registrations up 10.93% Y/Y om July. Peugeot (UG FP) up 12.7% and Renault (RNO FP) up 13.1%, according to the CCFA. (Newswires)

BROKER RECOMMENDATIONS

SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC (SU FP) RAISED TO HOLD FROM UNDERPERFORM AT JEFFERIES

PAN-EUROPE

Groupe Bruxelles Lambert (GBLB BB) - Q2 adjusted net assets EUR 18.10bln, H1 consolidated net profit EUR 474‍mln. (Newswires)

Solvay (SOLB BB) – Q2 underlying EBITDA up 18% to EUR 705mln. Q2 net sales up 11% to EUR 3.0bln. (Newswires)

DSM (DSM NA) – H1 net profit up 42% to EUR 312mln. H1 sales up 11% to EUR 4.32bln. Co. says 2017 outlook has slightly improved. (Newswires)

BBVA (BBVA SM) – Co. is said to be thinking about a sale of Anida. (Confidencial)

BROKER RECOMMENDATIONS

ASM (ASM NL) DOWNGRADED TO EQUAL WEIGHT FROM OVERWEIGHT AT MORGAN STANLEY

UBI BANCA (UBI IM) DOWNGRADED TO HOLD FROM BUY AT SOCGEN

SMI

N/A

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

BROKER RECOMMENDATIONS

CREDIT SUISSE (CSGN VX) ADDED TO FOCUS LIST AT CITIGROUP

SCANDINAVIA

N/A

BROKER RECOMMENDATIONS

CASTELLUM (CAST SW) INITIATED WITH AN OVERWEIGHT RATING AT JPMORGAN

US

Tech stocks dragged in a day of quiet news flow, leading to the NASDAQ underperforming its US counterparts, with Apple due to report after-market on Tuesday. The S&P 500 closed down 0.07% at 2,470.46, the NASDAQ closed down 0.48% at 5,880.33, and the Dow closed up 0.28% at 21,890.92.

Best Performing Sectors in the S&P 500: Financials (+0.62%) Utilities (+0.40%) Energy (+0.38%)

Worst Performing Sectors in the S&P 500: Materials (-0.79%) IT (-0.53%) Industrials (-0.14%)

01 Aug 2017 - 06:51- EquitiesEU Research- Source: Newswires