Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News

1st February 2022

The Daily European Equity Opening News is uploaded at 0700GMT/0200EST recapping all of the overnight equity news.

From 0700GMT/0200EST all equity news will be covered in real-time over the audio and headline feed and the full audio rundown will be at 0715GMT/0215EST.

There will be an additional audio rundown at 0750GMT/0250EST recapping any company news which has hit the wires since 0715GMT/0215EST ahead of the European equity open

European equity coverage will only cover companies in the STOXX 600 or companies of systemic importance to particular sectors.

ASIA

Asia-Pac stocks trade positively after the firm handover from Wall St where the major indices rallied on month-end and clawed back some of the losses from what was the worst monthly performance since March 2020, although the gains are limited in Asia and US equity futures marginally pulled back with conditions in the region extremely thin due to mass holiday closures for the Lunar New Year. ASX 200 (+0.5%) was kept afloat by strength in tech and financials with support also seen after the RBA policy announcement where the central bank kept rates at 0.10% and announced an end to QE purchases, as expected, but also stuck to a dovish tone in which it said the board is prepared to be patient and noted that easing bond purchases does not imply a near-term increase in interest rates. Nikkei 225 (+0.2%) was higher after a decline in Japanese unemployment and with the best-performing stocks underpinned by earnings releases, although some of the gains were reversed amid currency inflows. Furthermore, retailer Seven & I was boosted amid talks to sell its department store unit, while NSK was at the other end of the spectrum despite a return to profit in its 9-month results and materials manufacturer Toray was heavily pressured after it admitted it falsified samples of some of resin products to illegally acquire global safety certifications going back at least a decade.

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: EURO STOXX 50 +0.9% at 4,174, FTSE 100 -0.0% at 7,464, DAX 40 +1% at 15,471, CAC 40 +0.5% at 6,999, FTSE MIB +0.9% at 26,814, IBEX 35 +0.0% at 8,612, SMI +1.2% at 12,251.

SECTORS: Industrials 1.39%, Consumer Disc 1.20%, Healthcare 0.25%, Consumer Stpl 0.23%, Utilities 0.06%, Financials 0.00%, IT 0.00%, Telecoms 0.00%, Materials -0.67%, Energy -1.01%  

FTSE 100

OTHER UK COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

Fevertree (FEVR LN) upgraded to Buy from Hold at HSBC

Fevertree (FEVR LN) upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Goldman Sachs

Imperial Brands (IMB LN) upgraded to Equalweight from Underweight at Morgan Stanley

Land Securities (LAND LN) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Liberum Capital

Smiths Group (SMIN LN) resumed with Overweight at JPMorgan

DAX

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

HeidelbergCement (HEI GY) prelim. FY21 (EUR) - Revenue 18.7bln (prev. 17.6bln), RCO 2.6bln (exp. 2.5bln), RCOBD 3.8bln (exp. 3.8bln). (HeidelbergCement)

Siltronic (WAF GY) - The German Economy Ministry said it was unable to complete the review of the proposed takeover by GlobalWafers prior to Monday's deadline, saying if GlobalWafers makes a new acquisition attempt the review would be carried out again. (Newswires) Previously, GlobalWafers has intimated that if the deal failed they would switch their investment to the US instead

ThyssenKrupp (TKA GY) - Successfully completed the sale of AST, but will retain a 15% stake in the operation to strengthen cooperation with Arvedi. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

HeidelbergCement (HEI GY) maintained with Underweight at JPMorgan

CAC

EssilorLuxottica (EL FP) - To repurchase as many as 1.5mln shares between February 1st and March 31st. (Newswires)

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

Elis (ELIS FP) Q4 (EUR) - Revenue 833mln (exp. 800mln). FY21 EBITDA margin guidance narrowed to 34.5% (prev. >35%). (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Technip Energies (TE FP) initiated with Buy at Jefferies

PAN EUROPE

BROKER MOVES

Proximus (PROX BB) downgraded to Sell from Neutral at CitiGroup

SMI

UBS (UBSG SW) Q4 (USD) - Q4 revenue 8.7bln (exp. 7.6bln), net 1.34bln (exp. 0.86bln), CET1 15.0% (exp. 14.47%). Looking to increase invested assets to over 6tln (current 4.6tln) across wealth management, asset management and P&C. Propose a dividend of 0.50/shr. Increasing buyback program to as much as 5bln, almost a doubling from prior guidance. (UBS)

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

SCANDINAVIA

Tele2 (TEL2B SS) Q4 (SEK) - Revenue 7.03bln (exp. 7.05bln), adj. EBITDA 2.37bln (exp. 2.74bln), EPS 1.39 (exp. 1.20). Propose a dividend of 6.75/shr, +12.5% YY. (Tele2)

BROKER MOVES

Swedish Match (SWMA SS) downgraded to Equalweight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley

US

CLOSES: S&P 500 +1.9% at 4,513, Nasdaq 100 +3.3% at 14,930, Dow Jones +1.2% at 35,131, Russell 2000 +2.9% at 2,204.

SECTORS: Consumer Discretionary +3.8%, Technology +2.7%, Communication Services +2.4%, Utilities +1.9%, Materials +1.4%, Real Estate +1.3%, Industrials +1.1%, Financials +0.9%, Health +0.7%, Consumer Staples +0.5%, Energy +0.4%.

Electronic Arts (EA) - Chris Suh named CFO, effective March 1st. (EA)

NXP Semiconductors NV (NXPI) Q4 2021 (USD): GAAP EPS 2.24 (exp. 2.99), Revenue 3.04bln (exp. 3.00bln) raises quarterly dividend by 50% to USD 0.845/shr. Guided Q2 2022 revenue above street expectations at between 3.03-3.18bln (exp. 2.95bln). +0.6% in after-market trade, closed higher by +8.5% (pre-earnings)

01 Feb 2022 - 06:50- Equities- Source: Newsquawk