EUROPEAN EQUITIES UPDATE: Mostly positive risk tone across European equities

STOXX 600: +0.3%

• European bourses opened with a positive bias and have traded sideways throughout the morning so far – action which follows on from similar sentiment in the APAC region.


• In key newsflow, US President Trump said Waller, Warsh and Hassett are the three finalists for the Fed chair nomination. Elsewhere on the trade front, US President Trump criticised EU fines on tech companies on Friday and said this cannot be allowed to stand, while he warned that if it does stand, they will be forced to start a Section 301 proceeding to nullify the unfair penalties being charged to these taxpaying American companies. Should the EU continue to remain firm in their decision to fine Big Tech, then markets may begin to price in the potential of further trade escalations from the US to the EU.


• Back to Europe, Germany released its Industrial Output data today, which rose from the prior and above the consensus. ING highlights that this will raise hopes for a cyclical rebound in Germany, though ING caveats this by noting the uncertainty related to potential US-tariff-related frontloading. Thereafter, the EU Sentix Index was much worse than expected and printed below the most pessimistic of analyst expectations. Docket for the remainder of the day is light; but focus no doubt will be on the French no-confidence vote, but results are not expected before 18:00 BST; current PM Bayrou is expected to lose.

Sectors: Positive

• European sectors opened with a strong positive bias, but are now mixed.


• Construction & Materials takes the top spot, joined closely by Energy and then Industrials to complete the top three. For Energy specifically, the complex has been boosted by significant upside in the crude complex after eight core OPEC+ countries upped their oil output target by 137k bpd in October. For Industrials, the sector has seemingly been boosted by Alstom (+1%) after it received a EUR 538mln contract.


• Towards the bottom of the pile is Healthcare, albeit with very modest losses. From within the sector, AstraZeneca (-0.5%) moves a little lower despite reporting positive survival results from its FLAURA2 Phase III trial. Elsewhere, Sanofi (+2%) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.

Movers:

• ASML +1%; ASML is set to become the top shareholder in French AI startup Mistral AI, investing EUR 1.3bln in Mistral’s EUR 1.7bln Series C round, Reuters reports.


• BMW +0.5%; BMW expects to return to growth in China with its all-electric Neue Klasse series, beginning with the iX3 SUV, launching by summer 2026, Reuters reports.


• Phoenix -5.7%; confirmed 2026 targets, but still disappointed investors.

US Equity Futures: ES +0.1%, NQ +0.2%, RTY +0.1%

• Futures are incrementally firmer across the board, following on from the positive risk tone seen in Europe.


• Key chip-related newsflow today included reports that the US is considering annual China chip supply permits for SK Hynix (000660 KS) and Samsung (005930 KS), via Bloomberg; firms would be required to outline their annual requirements


• Day ahead: The US employment trends data for August is due, and follows weaker-than-expected nonfarm payrolls data released on Friday. The NY Fed will publish its monthly survey of consumer expectations (last month: 1yr inflation expectations increased to 3.1% from 3.0%; 3yr expectations were steady at 3.0%; 5yr rose to 2.9% from 2.6%).

08 Sep 2025 - 09:55- ForexEU Research- Source: Newsquawk