Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 11th March 2024

11th March 2024

ASIA

APAC stocks traded with a downbeat mood with most major indices pressured after Friday's tech-led declines in the US, while participants also digested last week's hawkish BoJ source reports and Japanese GDP. ASX 200 slumped in which the mining and resources industries led the declines across all sectors. Nikkei 225 fell beneath the 39,000 level following recent source reports that suggested a potential exit from NIRP this month and after Japan's revised Q4 GDP data missed expectations but showed the economy averted a technical recession. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp. bucked the trend with the former boosted by tech strength and with Hong Kong's top market regulator seeking an expansion of the Stock Connect and lowering the asset threshold for mainland China investors to CNY 100k. Conversely, the mainland was much less decisive after mixed Chinese inflation data which showed a return to acceleration in consumer prices.

Real Estate / China Vanke (2202 HK) - Chinese regulators held meetings with financial firms to discuss China Vanke (2202 HK) debt, while regulators asked large Vanke lenders to enhance financing support, according to sources. Chinese regulators asked private debt holders to discuss maturity extension. (Newswires)

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: DAX: -0.02% at 17,810.75, FTSE 100: -0.43% at 7,659.74, CAC 40: +0.15% at 8,028.01, Euro Stoxx 50: -0.24% at 4,962.15, IBEX 35: -0.13% at 10,305.70, FTSE MIB: -0.04% at 33,403.80, SMI: +0.62% at 11,647.14.

SECTORS: Consumer Stpl 0.48%, Financials 0.41%, Materials 0.34%, Consumer Disc 0.21%, Telecoms 0.12%, Industrials 0.06%, Energy 0.05%, Utilities -0.29%, Healthcare -0.30%, IT -1.86%

FTSE 100

LSEG (LSE LN) - Thomson Reuters CEO says they have a war chest to spend on acquisitions/AI investment. (FT) Thomson Reuters intends to sell the remainder of its stake in LSE during 2025.

OTHER UK COMPANIES

eToro - CEO Assia said they are considering listing in New York or London; a US listing would provide a broader range of investors while a UK listing aligns with their European focus. (FT)

British Land (BLND LN) - Co. is reportedly to appoint William Rucker as the successor to Chairman Tim Score. (Sky News)

Virgin Money UK (VMUK LN) - Customers and politicians are demanding that Building Society Nationwide give members a vote on the planned takeover of Virgin Money, of approx. GBP 3bln, according to This is Money. (This is Money)

BROKER MOVES

Virgin Money UK (VMUK LN) downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Macquarie

DAX

Daimler Truck (DTG GY) - The UAW union says about 7k members at Daimler Trucks North America voted 96% in favour of authorising a strike action if necessary. (Newswires)

Merck (MRK GY) - Unit Emd Serno Inc receives US FDA BLA supplemental 16 approval for Bavencio. (Newswires)

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

Leg Immobilien (LEG GY) - FY23 (EUR): FFO 453.9mln (exp. 456.9mln), Adj. EBITDA 672.8mln (exp. 610.6mln), Div/shr 2.45 (exp. 2.18). Affirms FY24 guidance. (Newswires)

Lufthansa (LHA GY) - Plans to gradually resume flight operations in Frankfurt and Munich. (Newswires)

Hypoport (HYQ GY) - FY23 (EUR): Net 20.5mln (prev. 18.7mln Y/Y), EBIT 13.3mln (exp. 11.8mln), Revenue 360mln (exp. 358mln). Affirms FY24 guidance. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Hugo Boss (BOSS GY) upgraded to Buy from Add at Baader Helvea Shares indicated higher by 1.8% in pre-market trade

HelloFresh (HFG GY) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies

CAC

Airbus (AIR FP) - LATAM Boeing (BA) 787 encountered a "technical problem" on the Sydney-Auckland flight which resulted in a "quick little drop" during the flight, according to the New Zealand Herald. (NZH)

Kering (KER FP), EssilorLuxottica (EL FP) - Kering and EssilorLuxottica are said to be among the suitors for Italian eyewear manufacturer Marcolin, FT reports citing sources. Current private equity owners are seeking a valuation as high as EUR 1.3bln, and have held prelim talks recently. US-based Marchon has also expressed an interest, the report adds. (FT)

Sanofi (SAN FP) - New Phase 2b results for amlitelimab support potential for best-in-class maintenance of response in atopic dermatitis. Positive results from Part 2 of the investigational amlitelimab Phase 2b study STREAM-AD showed sustained improvement of signs and symptoms for 28 weeks in adults with moderate to severe AD who previously responded to amlitelimab and continued treatment. (Sanofi)

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

PAN EUROPE

Auto Names - Chinese Vehicle Sales (Feb): -19.9% Y/Y (prev. +47.9% in Jan), according to the Industry Association; Jan-Feb Vehicle Sales +11.1% (prev. -15.2% Y/Y). (Newswires)

China-exposed Stocks - Chinese CPI MM (Feb) 1.0% vs. Exp. 0.7% (Prev. 0.3%); CPI YY (Feb) 0.7% vs. Exp. 0.3% (Prev. -0.8%); PPI YY (Feb) -2.7% vs. Exp. -2.5% (Prev. -2.5%). (Newswires)

Enel (ENEL IM) - Signs an agreement to sell 90% of a new company to A2A (A2A IM), The new Co. is for electricity distribution in some municipalities of Italy. (Newswires)

HAL Trust (HAL NA) – Safilo and Missoni announce a multi-year renewal of their global eyewear licensing agreement. (Newswires) HAL Trust holds 49% of Safilo

Italian Chip Industry - Italy is reportedly finalising the terms of a state-backed deal with chip firm Silicon Box worth around EUR 3.0bln to build an industrial site in the country, according to Reuters citing sources. (Reuters)

Inditex (ITX SM) - Investors tell Co. to make its full list of suppliers public so they can better assess any supply chain risks, according to Reuters. Currently, the Co. shares its full supplier list with the Industrial Global Union. (Reuters)

Portugal's Election - Portugal's socialist leader Pedro Nuno Santos concedes defeat in Sunday's tight election and the leader of the centre-right democratic alliance Luis Montenegro claimed victory. Analysis: Exit polls had earlier suggested that Portugal’s centre-right coalition is on course to narrowly defeat the incumbent socialists but is well short of a majority.

Telecom Italia (TIT IM) - Provides additional FY24-26 targets; targets FY26 normalised net cash flow EUR 800mln. (Newswires)

UCB (UCB BB) - The first presentation of Year 4 BIMZELX data showed long-term maintenance of complete skin clearance in moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

SMI

Julius Baer (BAER SW) - Proposes Bruce Fletcher and Andrea Sambo for election into BoD on April 11 2024. (Newswires)

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

SCANDINAVIA

Klarna - Co-founder Jacobsson has purchased a stake in the Co. via a special purpose vehicle, the total stake is unknown but FT sources say it could exceed 8%. (FT)

Novo Nordisk (NOVOB DC) - WeGovy has been approved in the US for cardiovascular risk reduction in people with overweight or obesity and established cardiovascular disease. Has filed for label expansion in the EU and a decision is expected in 2024. (Newswires)

Skanksa (SKAB SS) - Signs supplemental award to upgrade waterfront facility in the US for USD 120mln. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Sampo (SAMAS FH) downgraded to Hold from Buy at HSBC

US

CLOSES: SPX -0.65% at 5,123, NDX -1.53% at 18,018, DJIA -0.18% at 38,722, RUT -0.10% at 2,082.

SECTORS: Technology -1.84%, Consumer Staples -0.83%, Materials -0.56%, Consumer Discretionary -0.5%, Industrials -0.26%, Health -0.24%, Communication Services UNCH, Financials +0.19%, Utilities +0.21%, Energy +0.4%, Real Estate +1.13%.

Altice (ATUS) - Said to ask rival bidders to revise their offers for Altice Portugal, according to sources via Bloomberg. Saudi Telecom is said to have submitted the highest bid for Altice Portugal. Iliad talks on Altice Portugal are noted to have cooled while Warburg is reportedly unwilling to increase their bid, the sources added. (Bloomberg)

Key Tech Events - This week features a number of events for the tech sector specifically, that traders will be watching: on Monday, Oracle (ORCL) reports earnings after the market close, NVDA CEO keynote at its GTC 2024 event (4 pm EST); Adobe (ADBE) holds an analyst meeting on Tuesday; Broadcom's (AVGO) will attend an analyst meeting on Wednesday focussing on AI, while Micron (MU) reports earnings; On Thursday, Adobe (ADBE) is due to publish its quarterly earnings, while Microsoft (MSFT) will hold an event focussed on scaling AI in with its Copilot, Windows, and Surface products, while Marvel (MRVL) will hold an analyst meeting on the same day.

Macy's (M) - Cracks door to an agreement with Arkhouse, according to Axios; Macy's could directly negotiate a sale with activist investor Arkhouse without launching a strategic review. (Newswires)

TSMC (TSM) - To win more than USD 5bln in grants for US chip plants, according to Bloomberg. (Bloomberg)

Tesla (TSLA) - The Germany plant's head of works council says the Gruenheide plant will restart production this week. (Newswires)

11 Mar 2024 - 06:49- Research Sheet- Source: Newsquawk