EUROPEAN EQUITIES UPDATE: Indices move higher, EVO SS -9% for illegally running in banned markets

STOXX 600: +0.5%

• European bourses opened modestly firmer across the board and have continued to gradually march higher as the morning progressed; currently at session highs.


• Nothing really driving the upside today, but it does come after the in-line US CPI in the prior session, which markets believe would not prevent a September Fed rate cut. That aside, focus has been on trade updates; US Treasury Secretary Bessent said he will need to see months, if not a year, of progress on fentanyl flows before Chinese tariffs come down. Elsewhere, the White House said perhaps the chip deal could expand to other companies. Earlier this morning, the Chinese Commerce Ministry announced countermeasures on two Lithuanian banks in response to the EU targeting Chinese firms as part of Russia-related sanctions.


• Aside from data, the week’s overarching risk event is the upcoming US-Russia meeting between the Presidents of the two countries. Ahead of that, the POTUS will be meeting European leaders and Ukrainian President Zelensky; the latter has said he acknowledged Russia’s request to pull out troops from Donbas, but will not accept it as he believes it will open the path for Russia to attack other areas in Ukraine.


• European docket has been very thin today; German Final CPIs were unrevised, whilst Spain’s saw minor adjustments – no move seen in futures at the time.

Sectors: Positive

• European sectors hold a strong positive bias, with only a handful of sectors residing in the red.


• Tech takes the top spot, joined closely by Healthcare and Utilities; the latter boosted by post-earnings upside in E.ON (+1%), where the Co. reported strong H1 metrics and affirmed its guidance. For Healthcare, Novo Nordisk (+1%) benefits from a broker upgrade at BNP Paribas.


• Travel & Leisure is found right at the foot, dragged down by Swedish-listed Evolution (-8%). Interestingly, Bloomberg reported that the Co. is under investigation for running black-market activities in banned countries, some of which were/are sanctioned by the US (Iran/Syria). Even more damning is the filing cited secretly filmed conversations between co. executives on how its casino games had entered those markets illegally.

Movers:

• Evotec (EVT GY) +2.2% – H1 cost savings exceed expectations; affirms guidance


• Sixt (SIX2 GY) -4.0% – Q2 EBITDA miss


• Vestas Wind Systems (VWS DC) +2.0% – Poor Q2 metrics, upgrades top end of FY revenue


• Brenntag SE (BNR GY) -1% – Mixed Q2 metrics, downgrades Op. EBITA & cuts outlook

US Equity Futures: ES +0.2%, NQ +0.2%, RTY +0.5%

• Futures are trading in the green to varying degrees, helped by a softer dollar and the general risk environment post-CPI.


• RTY continues to outperform amid the constructive risk environment, softer yields and the broad underperformance so far this year. ES and NQ are also faring well into a moderately busy speaker slate which includes: Treasury Secretary Bessent, who will speak to Bloomberg, Fed's Barkin, Goolsbee, Bostic and US President Trump.

13 Aug 2025 - 09:55- ForexEU Research- Source: Newsquawk