Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 11th April 2024

11th April 2024

ASIA

APAC stocks were subdued after hotter-than-expected US CPI data and a further unwinding of Fed rate cut bets reverberated across global markets, although stocks are off their worst levels and participants also digest the latest Chinese inflation figures. ASX 200 was led lower by underperformance in the rate-sensitive real estate and tech sectors amid higher yields. Nikkei 225 declined at the open but retained the 39,000 level with the downside cushioned by currency weakness. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp. were mixed with underperformance in Hong Kong amid notable weakness in developers and tech stocks, while the mainland bucked the trend as softer-than-expected Chinese CPI and persistent producer price deflation kept the door open for future support measures.

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: DAX: +0.11% at 18,096, FTSE 100: +0.33% at 7,961, CAC 40: -0.05% at 8,045, Euro Stoxx 50: +0.17% at 4,999, IBEX 35: -0.38% at 10,775, FTSE MIB: +0.27% at 34,040, SMI: -0.14% at 11,490.

SECTORS: Energy 0.99%, IT 0.43%, Financials 0.37%, Healthcare 0.34%, Telecoms 0.25%, Consumer Stpl 0.15%, Industrials 0.05%, Consumer Disc 0.02%, Materials -0.16%, Utilities -1.23%

FTSE 100

Ex-dividend - Barratt Developments (BDEV LN), Smurfit Kappa Group (SKG LN), Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY LN), Reckitt Benckiser Group (RKT LN), Howden Joinery Group (HWDN LN), Aviva (AV/ LN), F&C Investment Trust (FCIT LN), and Phoenix Group Holdings (PHNX LN) will trade without entitlement to their latest dividend payouts. (Dividenddata)

Smith & Nephew (SN/ LN) - ISS has recommended that shareholders reject the remuneration plan regarding the CEO, which would see him receive a 30% pay increase. (FT)

UK Housing Names - UK RICS House Price Balance (Mar) -4 vs. Exp. -6 (Prev. -10). RICS said the outlook for sales volumes continues to improve with enquiries and listings up modestly over the month. New buyer enquiries continue to rise at a gentle pace, with new listing activity also picking up. House price indicator moves into neutral territory while twelve-month expectations point to an upward trend emerging. (RICS)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

Kingfisher (KGF LN) upgraded to Buy from Hold at HSBC

Marks & Spencer (MKS LN) upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JP Morgan

Smiths (SMIN LN) upgraded to Buy from Hold at HSBC

DAX

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

Gerresheimer (GXI GY) – Confirmed guidance for FY24. Revenue growth 5-10%, adj. EBITDA 340-450mln, adj. EPS growth 8-12%. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

CAC

Airbus (AIR FP) - CFO said the Co. is making pre-investments to achieve an output target of 75 jets a month in 2026. (Newswires)

Publicis (PUB FP) - Q1 (EUR): Revenue 3.23bln (exp. 3.2bln), Organic growth +5.3%, above expectations. Confirms 2024 guidance. CEO said all regions performed well, with notable acceleration and strong growth in China. (Newswires)

SocGen (GLE FP) - Co. is to sell its equipment finance arm to BPCE for EUR 1.1bln, and sees a positive CET1 ratio impact of around 25bps. (Bloomberg)

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

Atos (ATO FP) - The Chairman said the French state could decide to take a minority stake in cybersecurity unit BDS, "We are open to any solution". Atos said it must continue to transform the business beyond debt restructuring and that Co costs are higher than their competitors. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Technip Energies (TE FP) downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JP Morgan

PAN EUROPE

Deutsche Telekom (DTE GY)/Orange (ORA FP)/Airbus (AIR FP) - Cos criticised a plan allowing big tech access to EU cloud data. Cos said the proposed EU cybersecurity label should have sovereignty requirements to prevent unlawful data access, according to Reuters. The proposal would allow Amazon (AMZN), Alphabet (GOOGL), and Microsoft (MSFT) to bid for highly sensitive EU cloud computing contracts. Proposal scraps sovereignty requirements from a previous draft which obliged US tech giants to set up a JV with an EU-based company to store and process customer data in the bloc to qualify for the EU cybersecurity label. The plan will be discussed by cybersecurity experts from the 27 EU countries, which could pave the way for the European Commission to adopt the cybersecurity scheme in the northern hemisphere autumn. (Reuters)

Flughafen Wien (FLU AV) - March 2024: 2.87mln passengers and 2.20mln at Vienna airport. Freight volumes increased by 12% to 26.02 tons Y/Y. (Newswires)

Repsol (REP SM) - Q1 estimated production 590k BPD (vs 595k BPD in Q4). (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

SMI

Givaudan (GIVN SW) – In Q1, Co. recorded sales of CHF 1.82bln, +12.6% LFL. Co. said it started the year with strong business momentum and maintained its operations and global supply chains at a high level, against increased volume demand from customers. (Newswires)

Roche (ROG SW) - Roche granted FDA Breakthrough Device Designation for blood tests to support earlier Alzheimer's disease diagnosis. The Elecsys pTau217 plasma biomarker test is being developed as part of an ongoing partnership between Roche and Eli Lilly and Company (Roche).

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

Helvetia (HELN SW) – FY23 (CHF): Net Income 301.3mln (exp. 305mln), BoD will propose to AGM that dividend be raised to CHF 6.30/shr (prev. 5.90/shr). (Newswires)

SoftwareOne (SWON SW) – Co. issued an additional call to action to shareholders, pointing out that as many shareholders should decide on the Co’s future. (Newswires)

VAT (VACN SW) – Q1 Trading Update (CHF): Sales 199mln, the upper end of Q1’24 guidance, orders 236mln, +73% Q/Q. Guidance for Q2, Co. expects sales of 235-255mln. Co. said semiconductor business to benefit from higher investment and more balanced inventory levels in semiconductor manufacturing equipment. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

SCANDINAVIA

Ambu (AMBUB DC) – Q2 (DKK): Revenue 1.36bln (exp. 1.33bln). Raises organic revenue growth outlook 10-12% (prev. 7-10%), EBIT margin 10-12% (prev. 8-10%). (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Subsea7 (SUBC NO) upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JP Morgan

Volvo AB (VOLVB SS) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Citi

US

CLOSES: SPX -0.95% at 5,161, NDX -0.87% at 18,012, DJIA -1.09% at 38,462, RUT -2.78% at 2,023.

SECTORS: Energy +0.38%, Communication Svs -0.22%, Cons Stpl +0.34%, Technology -0.74%, Industrials -0.84%, Health -1.15%, Cons Disc -1.19%, Financials -1.5%, Materials -1.55%, Utilities -1.73%, Real Estate -4.1%.

11 Apr 2024 - 06:50- Research Sheet- Source: Newsquawk