EUROPEAN EQUITIES UPDATE: Stocks move lower, whilst US equity futures await data and Fed speak

STOXX 600: -0.3%

• European bourses opened lower across the board and have traded sideways throughout the morning. Nothing really driving sentiment this morning, but perhaps some continuation of the pressure seen on Wall St in the prior session.


• Some focus may also be on the continued geopolitical developments in the Scandinavian region, with Denmark overnight reporting of drone “activity” across multiple airports; Danish authorities said there was no evidence to suggest any links to Russia.


• Europe has seen the release of the German GfK Consumer Sentiment, which printed a touch above expectations and the prior. The EU M3 Annual Growth rate printed at 2.9% (exp. 3.3%). Elsewhere, the SNB kept rates steady at 0.00% and kept its inflation forecasts unchanged from the prior, overall lacking surprises, hence little impact on the SMI at the time.

Sectors: Mixed

• European sectors opened with a strong negative bias, but are now a little more mixed.


• Basic Resources is found right at the top of the pile, driven by upside in underlying metals prices – namely copper. As a reminder, copper prices soared in the prior session after one of the world’s largest copper mines, Grasberg, halted operations and declared a force majeure; Rio Tinto (+2.7%), Anglo American (+2.2%).


• Retail is found in second place, boosted by considerable upside in Swedish-listed H&M (+8.7%); the Co. reported a beat on its Q3 Op. Profit metrics, whilst Sales were more-or-less in line. On trade, it said tariff costs are expected to have an increased impact on gross margin in Q4. Elsewhere, JD Sports (+2.7%) gains after the Co. announced a GBP 100mln share buyback.


• Finally Autos completes the top three, with the upside largely driven by reports that new-car registrations in Europe rose 4.7% last month; in more detail, driven largely by EV’s/hybrid models. Volkswagen (+1%) / BMW (+1%) both move higher.


• Construction & Materials is found right at the foot of the pile, joined closely by Healthcare; losses are broad-based, following reports that the US opened a probe into robotics, machinery and medical devices. Names that have been hit today include; Siemens Healthineers (-4.5%), Philips (-3%), Getinge (-4%) and others.

Movers:

• SSP +6.5%; Activist shareholder Irenic Capital Management wants the Co. to go private, via FT. Irenic suggested that SSP could be valued at a 50% premium vs the current market value. The FT writes that Irenic has increased its stake to around 3% (prev. 2% in May).


• LVMH +0.5%; LVMH is expanding in South Korea to offset US and China consumer uncertainties, via Bloomberg.


• Antofagasta -0.5%; downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Bernstein.


• TotalEnergies -0.8%; downgraded to Hold from Buy at Berenberg.

US Equity Futures: ES U/C, NQ U/C, RTY U/C

• Futures are flat. Catalysts are currently lacking, but a busy US data slate and numerous Fed speakers will soon change that.


• Key stories: NVIDIA (+0.1%, Barclays raised PT to USD 240 from USD 200), Intel (+4%, seeking investment from Apple), TikTok (Trump will sign an executive order Thursday declaring a US deal for TikTok meets the 2024 divestiture law, Reuters reports).


• The US Day sees the release of final Q2 GDP data, where headline is expected to be unrevised at 3.3%, deflator unrevised at 2.0%, core PCE unrevised at 2.5%, and PCE prices final seen unrevised at 2.0. Durable goods data for August is expected to show a decline of -0.5% M/M (prev. -2.8%). Weekly initial jobless claims (for the week of September 20th is expected to rise a touch to 235k from 231k; continuing claims (for the week of September 13th, coinciding with the BLS jobs data for September) is seen rising to 1.935mln from 1.92mln. On today's speakers' slate; Fed speakers include Goolsbee (2025 voter), Miran (voter, dovish dissenter), Williams (voter; no text or Q&A is expected), Schmid (voter), Bowman (voter; Q&A expected), Barr (voter; Q&A expected), Logan (2026 voter; Q&A), Daly (2027 voter; Q&A).

25 Sep 2025 - 10:20- ForexEU Research- Source: Newsquawk