Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 11th March 2026

ASIA

APAC stocks traded higher as the recent easing of oil prices helped the region shrug off the lacklustre lead from Wall Street and reports of Iran beginning to lay mines in the Strait of Hormuz. ASX 200 gained with strength in mining, resources, materials and financials, front-running the advances, but with upside capped amid increased bets for the RBA to hike rates at next week's meeting following recent central bank rhetoric and calls by some of Australia's largest banks for consecutive rate increases in March and May. Nikkei 225 rallied following the recent easing of oil price pressures and as softer-than-expected PPI data, which showed a surprise monthly deflation, supports the case for a delay in BoJ policy normalisation. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp lagged amid quiet catalysts and with Chinese officials said to be frustrated by what they see as insufficient US preparation for the Trump-Xi summit later this month, while China also moved to curb the use of OpenClaw AI by banks and state agencies.

Chinese Autos - China February vehicle sales fell 15.2% Y/Y vs. 3.2% decline in January, according to industry association. (Newswires)

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: Euro Stoxx 50 +2.73% at 5,841, Dax 40 +2.25% at 23,935, FTSE 100 +1.59% at 10,412, CAC 40 +1.79% at 8,057, FTSE MIB +2.67% at 45,202, IBEX 35 +3.05% at 17,445, PSI +1.67% at 9,024, SMI +0.42% at 13,055, AEX +1.98% at 1,002.

SECTORS: Industrials 2.88%, IT 2.85%, Financials 2.77%, Materials 2.51%, Consumer Disc 2.31%, Utilities 1.83%, Telecoms 0.75%, Healthcare 0.20%, Consumer Stpl 0.03%, Energy -1.03%

FTSE 100

Glencore (GLEN LN) - Workers at Glencore’s Australian copper refinery plan to strike from Friday after failing to reach agreement in a pay dispute. The Australian Workers’ Union said it notified Glencore that employees would walk off unless the company offered higher wages, and said Glencore pays staff almost 15% less than nearby plants run by other companies. (Bloomberg)

Rio Tinto (RIO LN) - The Co. has secured a USD 1.175bln financing package from four international lenders to support development of the Rincon lithium project in Argentina’s Salta Province. (Rio Tinto)

Shell (SHEL LN), Chevron (CVX) - Chevron and Shell are nearing major oil production deals in Venezuela under new oil legislation, Reuters reports. Chevron would expand Petropiar into Ayacucho 8 in the Orinoco Belt, while Shell targets Carito and Pirital in Monagas North. (Reuters)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

DAX

Henkel (HEN3 GY) – FY 2025 (EUR): Sales 20.5bln (exp. 20.6bln), Adj. EBIT 3.03bln (exp. 3.07bln). Dividend proposal of EUR 2.07 euros proposed per preferred share, +1.5% Y/Y. Outlook for fiscal 2026: Further top- and bottom-line growth expected, though the year is expected to start a bit slower. (Henkel)

Porsche AG (P911 GY) – FY 2025 (EUR): Revenue 36.3bln (exp. 36.8bln), Op. Profit 413mln (exp. 480mln), Deliveries to customers 279,449 (prev. 310,718 Y/Y). CEO: "We are considering the expansion of our product portfolio in order to grow in higher-margin segments”. Pins the declining revenue/op. profit metrics on, extraordinary expenses of approximately EUR 3.9bln. These consist of the realignment of the product strategy and the rescaling of the company, additional expenses from battery activities and US tariffs. FY Outlook: Revenue 35-36bln (exp. 36.7bln), RoS 5.5-7.5% (exp. 7.89%). Propose a dividend of 1.00 euros per ordinary share and 1.01 euros per preferred share to the Porsche AG Annual General Meeting. "Due to the extraordinary burdens of 2025, the dividend will therefore be significantly reduced compared to the previous year". CEO: to streamline the leadership structure, headcount reduction measures planned are not sufficient, to look int expanding the product portfolio to target higher-margin segments. (Porsche AG)

Rheinmetall (RHM GY) – FY 2025 (EUR): Net Income 696mln (exp. 1.15bln), Revenue 9.9bln (prev. 9.75bln Y/Y), Backlog 63.8bln (prev. 49.9bln Y/Y). Raises dividend to EUR 11.50/shr (prev. EUR 8.10/shr).Guides initial FY26 Revenue 14-14.5bln (exp. 15bln), Op. Margin 19% (exp. 19.1%). For the year 2026, the Group expects continuing growth in sales and earnings with further increases in profitability. CEO: “We are on track for success with our acquisitions and partnerships, which will enable us to continue securing our growth in the long term”. (Rheinmetall)

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

Wacker Chemie (WCH GY) - FY 2025 (EUR): EPS -16.53 (exp. -0.79), Sales 5.49bln (exp. 5.47bln). CEO: "In 2025, the chemical industry faced tremendous pressure. Demand in many customer sectors remained weak”. Outlook for 2026: Sales growth in the low single-digit percentage range expected; EBITDA likely to be in a range between EUR 550-700mln. (Wacker Chemie)

BROKER MOVES

CAC

Airbus (AIR FP) - Airbus Helicopters and Garuda Technologies have signed a contract for the delivery of up to 18 Flexrotor Uncrewed Aerial Systems. (Airbus)

Bouyges (EN FP) - The Co.'s Colas Group has been awarded a contract by the SBCTA to construct new express lanes, and improve freight and vehicle lanes California worth around EUR 264mln. (Bouyges)

Thales (HO FP) - Launches SkyDefender, which is a multi-layer, multi-domain Integrated Air and Missile Defence system providing full protection against all types of air threats, on land, at sea and in space. (Thales)

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

Alstom (ALO FP) – Co. to supply 153 trains to Comboios de Portugal and establish manufacturing facility in Portugal. (Alstom)

Dassault Aviation (AM FP) – Co. unveiled the Falcon 10X. (Dassault Aviation)

Eurazeo (RF FP) – FY 2025 (EUR): AuM 28bln, +8% Y/Y, Asset management EBITDA 206mln, +12% Y/Y. Expected shareholder distributions of around EUR 400mln in 2026. (Eurazeo)

Elis (ELIS FP) – FY 2025 (EUR): Adj. EBIT 766.6mln (exp. 740.1mln), Adj. EBITDA 1.7bln (exp. 1.7bln). Co. to buy back shares for EUR 500mln. 2026: Adjusted EBITDA margin and adjusted EBIT margin expected to increase slightly (Elis)

BROKER MOVES

PAN EUROPE

Energy names - IEA has proposed the largest ever release of oil from strategic reserves to bring down the price of crude, according to WSJ. (WSJ)

Inditex (ITX SM) – Q4 2025 (EUR): EBIT 2.05bln (exp. 2.02bln), Revenue 11.6bln (exp. 11.7bln). Notes that Feb 1 – Mar 8 Revenue +9% Y/Y (prev. +7% Y/Y). FY: EBITDA 11.3bln (exp. 11.2bln), Net Income 6.2bln (exp. 6.17bln), Sales 39.9bln (exp. 39.9bln). Dividend of EUR 1.75/shr, composed of an ordinary dividend of EUR 1.20 and a bonus dividend of EUR 0.55/shr. Outlook: Strong commitment to profitable growth. The increase in annual gross space in 2026 is expected to be around 5% with a positive net space contribution, in conjunction with strong online growth. At current exchange rates, Inditex expects a -1% currency impact on sales in 2026. For 2026, Inditex expects a stable gross margin (+/-50 bps). (Inditex)

UCB (UCB BB) - Bimekizumab achieved statistically significant superiority over risankizumab in reducing disease activity, as measured by the stringent ACR50 endpoint, at Week 16 in adults living with active psoriatic arthritis. (UCB)

BROKER MOVES

SMI

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

Avolta (AVOL SW) – FY 2025 (CHF): Op. Profit 1.1bln, +18.1% Y/Y, EBITDA 1.32bln, +4.5% Y/Y. Dividend CHF 1.15/shr, +15% Y/Y. Co. to launch new share buyback of up to CHF 225mln. (Avolta)

Galderma (GALD SW) – Co. has agreed to repurchase 1.6 million shares at a price of CHF 143.75 per share for a total consideration of CHF 232 million in the context of the accelerated bookbuild offering. (Galderma)

Sandoz (SDZ SW) - Sandoz issues CHF 550mln in bonds and extends its USD 2 billion revolving credit facility by one year. (Sandoz)

BROKER MOVES

SCANDINAVIA

Clas Ohlson (CLASB SS) – Q3 2025 (SEK): Sales 4.08bln (exp. 4.08bln), EPS 8.09 (exp. 7.74). (Clas Ohlson)

BROKER MOVES

UPM-Kymmene (UPM FH) upgraded to Hold from Sell at Berenberg

US

CLOSES: SPX -0.21% at 6,781, NDX -0.04% at 24,956, DJI -0.07% at 47,707, RUT -0.22% at 2,548

SECTORS: Energy -1.32%, Health -0.73%, Utilities -0.65%, Industrials -0.57%, Financials -0.55%, Real Estate -0.16%, Materials -0.15%, Consumer Staples -0.13%, Consumer Discretionary -0.01%, Technology +0.08%, Communication Services +0.26%.

JPMorgan (JPM) - JPMorgan has marked down certain loans held by private credit groups and is tightening lending to the sector, FT reports. The markdowns apply to software-company loans amid concerns over AI disruption. The report said investor withdrawals have hit private credit vehicles including BlackRock’s (BLK) USD 26bln HPS Corporate Lending Fund, and JPMorgan is being more cautious on lending against software assets. (FT)

Oracle (ORCL) - Oracle shares rose 11.6% in extended trading after it reported earnings and revenue above expectations, and raised its FY revenue guidance as cloud revenue surged. Q3 adj. EPS 1.79 (exp. 1.70), Q3 revenue USD 17.19bln (exp. 16.91bln); Q3 cloud revenue +44% Y/Y to USD 8.9bln (exp. 8.85bln), cloud infrastructure revenue +84% to USD 4.9bln, RPO increased more than four-fold Y/Y to USD 553bln (exp. 556bln). It said it continues to see strong AI infrastructure demand and that much of the increase in backlog relates to large-scale AI contracts supported by customer prepayments or customer-supplied GPUs. Management said demand for cloud computing for AI training and inferencing continues to outpace supply, that inferencing is growing very rapidly, and that AI code generation is helping Oracle build more software at lower cost with fewer people. Sees Q4 adj. EPS between 1.96-2.00 (exp. 1.42) and sees Q4 revenue growth between +19-21%, with total cloud revenue growth between +46-50%. Backs FY26 revenue view USD 67bln (exp. 66.95bln), and backs FY26 CapEx view USD 50bln. Raises FY27 revenue view to USD 90bln (exp. 86.37bln) and said it expects to comfortably meet and likely exceed its FY27 revenue growth forecast. (Oracle)

Texas Instruments (TXN) - Texas Instruments is reportedly preparing to raise prices on a range of semiconductor products from April 2026, according to Digitimes, which added that the scale of the increases will vary across different product categories. (Digitimes)

11 Mar 2026 - 06:57- Research Sheet- Source: Newsquawk