EUROPEAN EQUITIES UPDATE: Stocks tilt lower in holiday thinned conditions, NOVOB DC +6% pares recent losses

STOXX 600: +0.2%

• European bourses are generally sitting in negative territory, despite a mostly positive handover from overnight APAC trade. In recent trade, a couple of indices are attempting to climb into the green.


• Aside from German Import Prices (which printed above expectations), the docket today has been quiet and newsflow today has been exceptionally thin ahead of the Christmas break.

Sectors: Mixed

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


• Healthcare is by far the clear outperformer today, as Novo Nordisk (+6%) attempts to pare some of the hefty losses seen on Friday; sentiment may also be improved after the FDA approved its Alhemo injection. Further, TD Cowen maintained its Buy rating on Novo, highlight its “vibrant pipeline” and the potential for CagriSema to display better trial results in further studies. Despite the generally positive commentary, analysts at TD Cowen cut its PT by around 32%.


• Travel & Leisure is at the foot of the pile, dragged down by losses in Evolution (-8%), after the UK gambling commission said it has a commenced a review of Evolution Malta operating license.


• Autos sits towards the lower half of the pile, but with downside in the sector pretty much in-fitting with peers. Volkswagen (-1%) initially opened higher after traders digested news that VW reached a deal with IG Metall to cut 35k jobs and avert a strike; though, did slip into negative territory thereafter. For the sector more broadly, Honda and Nissan announced their plans to merge; the pair intend to set up a holding Co. in Aug 2026 and aim to conclude talks around June 2025.

Majors: FTSE 100 U/C, DAX 40 -0.2%, CAC 40 U/C

• The FTSE 100 is flat. From a macro perspective, the UK posted its Q3 GDP metrics, which saw the YY and QQ both revised a touch lower, with the QQ figure showing no growth within the period. As for stock specifics, Aviva (U/C) is little changed after it confirmed the acquisition of Direct Line (+2.5%) for GBP 3.7bln.


• The CAC 40 is slightly lower. BNP Paribas (-0.6%) is a touch lower today after it purchased Axa’s (-0.2%) investment arm; BNP said the deal would have a 25bps impact on its CET1 ratio. L’Oreal (-0.8%) confirmed pre-market reports that it is to buy Goowoonesang Cosmetics; Eurofins (+1.5%) benefits after it launched a fourth share buyback programme.

US Equity Futures: ES +0.3%, NQ +0.6%, RTY +0.2%

• Futures are modestly firmer, with slight outperformance in the NQ, in a continuation of the gains seen on Wall St in the last trading day.


• Docket ahead: US durable goods data for November is expected to slip 0.2% M/M, while US new home sales are expected to rise to a rate of 670k from 610k in November. The Conference Board's gauge of consumer confidence is seen rising to 113.0 in December from 111.7 in the previous month. The Chicago Fed will release its November National Activity Index.

23 Dec 2024 - 10:00- EquitiesData- Source: Newsquawk