Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 11th July 2025

ASIA

APAC stocks were ultimately mixed as the initial impetus from the mostly positive lead from Wall St, where the S&P 500 notched a fresh record high, was dampened by the latest tariff updates after President Trump announced a 35% tariff for Canada and flagged a potential 20% blanket tariffs for other countries. ASX 200 failed to sustain its early momentum as gains in the mining, materials and resources sectors were offset by underperformance in real estate, consumer discretionary and tech, while there was a surge in Johns Lyng Group after it agreed to a takeover from a private equity group. Nikkei 225 was choppy as tailwinds from a weaker currency were counterbalanced by ongoing trade uncertainty. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp were on the front foot despite the lack of obvious bullish catalysts although US Secretary of State Rubio and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi are set to meet today in Malaysia at the sidelines of ASEAN.

Japan-US: Japan’s tariff negotiator Akazawa risks missing talks with Treasury Secretary Bessent and Commerce Secretary Lutnick during their visit to Osaka on July 19th, Bloomberg reports. The US officials will attend the World Expo, but have not confirmed meetings with Akazawa for trade discussions.

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: Euro Stoxx 50 -0.09% at 5,441, Dax 40 -0.31% at 24,473, FTSE 100 +1.23% at 8,976, CAC 40 +0.30% at 7,902, FTSE MIB -0.72% at 40,528, IBEX 35 -0.79% at 14,142, PSI -0.56% at 7,748, SMI +0.98% at 12,125, AEX +0.93% at 927.

SECTORS: Healthcare 1.81%, Consumer Disc 1.66%, Materials 1.61%, Consumer Stpl 0.95%, Energy 0.88%, IT 0.64%, Industrials 0.46%, Financials -0.43%, Telecoms -0.60%, Utilities -0.87%.

FTSE 100

Flutter Entertainment (FLTR LN) - Boyd Gaming will sell its 5% FanDuel stake to Flutter for USD 1.755bln in cash; deal is expected to close in Q3 2025, pending regulatory approval. (Newswires)

Unilever (ULVR LN) - Co. sold its Venezuelan ice cream business, including the Tio Rico brand, office and factory, to truck maker Mack de Venezuela amid inflation and political uncertainty. The deal took effect on July 3rd, and financial terms were not disclosed. (Newswires)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

Shell (SHEL LN) downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Santander

SSP Group (SSPG LN) downgraded to sell from Neutral at UBS

DAX

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

Fraport (FRA GY) - June passenger update: 5.8mln passengers, +2.9% Y/Y; cargo volumes 174.3k/MT, -2.3% Y/Y. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

CAC

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

Technip Energies (TE FP) - Awarded a large contract, between EUR 250-500mln, for a floating LNG facility in Africa. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Nexans (NEX FP) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman Sachs

PAN EUROPE

Banking Names - India has expanded foreign investors’ access to its USD 639bln credit market by allowing global banks like HSBC (HSBA LN) and Standard Chartered (STAN LN) to offer total return swaps for corporate bonds, according to sources cited by Bloomberg. The move was approved by the regulator for the GIFT City special economic zone. (Bloomberg)

Brunello Cucinelli (BC IM) - H1 (EUR): Revenue 684mln, +10.2% Y/Y; Retail Sales +10.3%, Wholesale +10.1%. (Newswires)

Crypto Names - Chinese brokerage stocks surged overnight, seeing their largest jump in nine months, amid optimism over potential crypto-trading licences, and expectations that more firms will gain regulatory approval for crypto trading.

Flight Names - Heathrow airport announces a GBP 10bln private investment plan. Once concluded, the five year scheme will allow for an additional 10mln passengers a year. (Newswires)

GSK (GSK LN)/Sanofi (SAN FP) - Delaware's Supreme Court has ruled that patients suing the Co's and Pfizer (PFE) cannot introduce reports from several experts to support their claim that the heartburn drug Zantac causes cancer. (Newswires)

Metal/Mining Names - US President Trump’s planned 50% import tariffs on copper are expected to cover materials used in power grids, the military, and data centres, including semi-finished products, Bloomberg reports. Details remain private and the measures have not been formalised, with potential changes still possible, it adds. (Bloomberg)

BROKER MOVES

SMI

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

SCANDINAVIA

Aker Solutions (AKSO NO) - Q2 (NOK): Revenue 15.2bln (exp. 13.5bln), EBITDA 1.3bln (exp. 1.26bln), order backlog 68bln. (Newswires)

DNB (DNB NO) - Q2 (NOK): NII 16.15bln (exp. 16.5bln), Net Commissions/Fees 4.37bln (exp. 4.43bln), CET1 18.3%. Results driven by loan growth and high customer activity. (Newswires)

Storebrand (STB NO) - Q2 (NOK): Net 1.43bln (exp. 0.95bln. Intends a NOK 1.5bln buyback in 2025. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Wartsila (WRT1V FH) downgraded to Hold from But at Kepler

US

CLOSES: SPX +0.27% at 6,280, NDX -0.16% at 22,829, DJI +0.43% at 44,651, RUT +0.48% at 2,263.

SECTORS: Consumer Discretionary +0.98%, Energy +0.79%, Utilities +0.78%, Financials +0.64%, Health +0.63%, Industrials +0.52%, Real Estate +0.48%, Materials +0.46%, Consumer Staples +0.12%, Technology -0.12%, Communication Services -0.48%

Alphabet (GOOG) - Google will offer steep cloud discounts to the US government under a deal expected within weeks, aligning with efforts to curb federal spending, FT reports. Google earlier gave a 71% discount on its apps suite. Oracle (ORCL) is offering 75% off software and cloud, while similar concessions from Microsoft (MSFT) and AWS (AMZN) are anticipated, the report adds.

Apple (AAPL) - Apple plans to launch new iPads, MacBooks, an external Mac monitor, and a low-end iPhone 17e by early 2026, aiming to revive consistent revenue growth after this Autumn’s iPhone cycle, Bloomberg reports. The iPhone 17e will follow the USD 599 model released earlier in 2025, targeting the budget smartphone segment.

Fed Supervision - The Fed proposed easing its supervisory framework for large banks, allowing firms with up to one “deficient-1” rating to still qualify as “well managed,” Bloomberg reports. The move aims to revise the current four-tier rating system and will undergo public consultation.

Levi's (LEVI) - Levi Strauss shares rose 7.2% in extended trading following a Q2 earnings beat, and guidance raise, where sales strength is expected to offset most of the impact from President Trump’s tariffs. It reported Q2 adj. EPS 0.22 (exp. 0.13), Q2 revenue of USD 1.4bln (exp. 1.37bln); Q2 DTC rose 11% Y/Y, and is now 50% of total sales; e-commerce sales were up 13%. Sees Q3 EPS between 0.28–0.30 (exp. 0.30), and Q3 gross margin flat to +30bps. It raised its FY25 EPS outlook to between 1.25–1.30 (exp. 1.23), and lifted its FY revenue growth view to growth +1-2% (prev. saw -2% to -1%).

NVIDIA (NVDA) - CEO Jensen Huang met US President Trump at the White House ahead of a planned China visit, and as the Co. closed above a USD 4tln valuation, Reuters reports. Huang has criticised US export curbs on AI chips, which led to USD 2.5bln lost sales in Q1 and an expected USD 8bln hit in Q2.

T-Mobile (TMUS), USCellular (USM) - The DoJ has cleared T-Mobile’s USD 4.4bln acquisition of USCellular, citing the latter’s inability to compete with the Big 3. Despite concerns over spectrum consolidation, the DoJ found no grounds to block the deal. USCellular shares rose 2% after hours; T-Mobile also gained slightly.

WD-40 (WDFC) - Q3 EPS 1.54 (vs 1.46 Y/Y), Q3 revenue +1% Y/Y at USD 156.9mln; CEO highlighted record net sales, 2% growth in core maintenance products, and 310bps gross margin improvement to 56%. WD-40 raised FY25 EPS outlook to between 5.30-5.60 (Exp. 5.52), narrows revenue view to USD 600-620mln (exp. 627.1mln).

11 Jul 2025 - 06:50- Research Sheet- Source: Newsquawk