Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 12th December 2023

12th December 2023

ASIA

Asia-Pac stocks were mostly positive as the region took impetus from the gains on Wall St where the major indices steadily edged higher in a catalyst-light session ahead of upcoming major risk events. ASX 200 (+0.5%) was led by outperformance in the tech sector but with the upside in the index capped following mixed data releases in which Westpac Consumer Sentiment improved but NAB Business Confidence printed its worst reading since 2012. Nikkei 225 (+0.2%) surged at the open and briefly reclaimed the 33,000 level after a recent source report that the BoJ sees little need to end negative rates in December and officials have not yet seen sufficient evidence of wage growth which would support sustainable inflation. However, the index then steadily gave up nearly all of its gains as the effects of a firmer currency gradually seeped through. Hang Seng (+0.8%) and Shanghai Comp. (Flat) were both initially underpinned after China convened the Central Economic Work Conference to discuss the 2024 growth target and the State Council issued measures on integrated development of domestic and foreign trade, although the mainland index ultimately lagged and was contained beneath the psychological 3,000 level.

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: DAX +0.21% at 16,794.43, FTSE 100 -0.13% at 7,544.89, CAC 40 +0.33% at 7,551.53, Euro Stoxx 50 +0.36% at 4,539.65, IBEX 35 -0.25% at 10,198.00, FTSE MIB +0.07% at 30,426.58, SMI +0.47% at 11,124.20.

SECTORS: Industrials 0.66%, IT 0.54%, Telecoms 0.48%, Consumer Disc 0.36%, Healthcare 0.33%, Financials 0.26%, Materials -0.03%, Consumer Stpl -0.10%, Energy -0.15%, Utilities -0.69%

FTSE 100

British American Tobacco (BATS LN) - Billionaire Kenneth Dart's, Spring Mountain Investments, has increased its position in BATS to 10% (prev. 9%) following the Co's recent share sell-off, according to The Times. He remains one of the largest shareholders of the Co. (The Times)

Rentokil (RTO LN) – Citigroup has removed the Co. from its Europe Focus list. (Newswires)

Telecom Names – UK’s OFCOM has proposed a ban on inflation-linked mid-contract price increases, concerned that customer contracts do not provide sufficient price certainty. (Newswires)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

Spectris (SXS LN) - HMS Network acquires Red Lion Controls and significantly expands its presence in North America. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Rio Tinto (RIO LN) upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JP Morgan

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

DAX

SAP (SAP GY) - Oracle Corp (ORCL) - Q2 2024 (USD): Adj. EPS 1.34 (exp. 1.32), Revenue 12.90bln (exp. 13.05bln). Oracle shares fell 8.8% after-market. SAP holds a 10.49% in the DAX 40, 4.5% weightings in the Euro Stoxx 50, and a 1.39% weighting in the Stoxx 600.

Volkswagen (VOW3 GY) - Workers organising with the UAW at Honda (7267 JT) in Indiana, Hyundai (005380 SK) in Alabama and Volkswagen in Tennessee have filed charges against management. (Newswires)

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

Carl Zeiss Meditec (AFX GY) - FY23 (EUR): EPS 3.25 (exp. 2.93), Revenue 2.09bln (exp. 2.10bln). (Newswires) Shares +3.5% in pre-market trade

Puma (PUMA GY) - Co. is to end its sponsorship of Israel's national football team, via the FT. Furthermore, Co. is to announce two new sponsorship teams next year. (FT)

BROKER MOVES

CAC

Sanofi (SAN FP) - US FTC said it seeks to block Sanofi's acquision of a rare disease drug that threatens Sanofi's monopoly. Co. said it is disappointed with FTC's challenge to a proposed license agreement with Maze Therapeutics and respectfully disagrees with the action as it also delays potential advancements. (Newswires)

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

Euronext (ENX FP) – CEO told the FT that Deutsche Boerse (DB1 GY) CEO Weimer approached him around 18 months ago regarding the creation of a “new tech exchange” within Europe, similar to the Nasdaq. Euronext rejected the proposal. (FT)

Wendel (MF FP) - Dividend to be raised 20% next year. Cos' ambition is to build a dual business model based on permanent capital and private asset management, generating an attractive and recurring return to shareholders. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

PAN EUROPE

Chip Names - US Commerce Secretary Raimondo expects to make 10-12 semiconductor chips funding awards within the next year including multi-billion announcements. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Aalberts (AALB NA) upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley

ArcelorMittal (MT NA) upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JP Morgan

Endesa (ELE SM) downgraded to Hold from Buy at SocGen

Signify (LIGHT NA) upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley

SMI

Roche (ROG SW) - Nature medicine study validates Predicine BEACON MRD Liquid Bopsy assay in Genetech's Phase 1b clinal trial of divarasib plus cetuximab in CRC. (Newswires)

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

Baloise (BALN SW) – Hugo Lasat will not stand for re-election to the board, proposing Guido Furer at the next AGM. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Alcon (ALC SW) initiated with Buy at Stifel Nicolaus

SCANDINAVIA

Nordic Semiconductor (NOD NO) - Names Wollan as CEO, effective Jan 1st. (Newswires)

Nokia (NOKIA FH) - Cuts FY26 comparable Op. margin at least 13% (prev. guidance 14%), other targets remain unchanged; disclose initial planning assumptions of 2024. In other news, Deutsche Telekom (DTE GY) and Nokia to begin deployment of multi-vendor Open RAN network in Germany. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Norsk Hydro (NHY NO) upgraded to Overweight from Underweight at JP Morgan

Rockwool (ROCKA DC) downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman Sachs

Saab (SAABB SS) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Citi

Sandvik (SANS SS) downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley

Wartsila (WRT1V FH) downgraded to Underweight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley

US

CLOSES: SPX +0.39% at 4,622, NDX +0.85% at 16,221, DJIA +0.43% at 36,404, RUT +0.15% at 1,883.

SECTORS: Consumer Staples +0.97%, Industrials +0.9%, Materials +0.71%, Financials +0.68%, Utilities +0.67%, Health +0.61%, Technology +0.42%, Real Estate +0.33%, Energy +0.12%, Consumer Discretionary +0.12%, Communication Services -1.04%.

Alphabet (GOOG) - Loses Google Play antitrust fight with Epic Games, according to Bloomberg. (Bloomberg)

Apple's (AAPL) - Vison Pro is set to be put on sale soon and the supply chain has prepared to produce 1mln units annually, according to Jiemian. (Jiemian)

Boeing (BA) - Is cutting at least 50% of strategy staff assigned to divisions as part of strategy reorganisation, while the strategy cuts go further and faster than initially expected, according to Reuters sources. (Reuters)

Berkshire Hathaway (BRK/A) - Reports 5.2% passive stake in HP (HPQ) as of end-November 2023 vs 11.4% stake at end-April 2022. (Newswires)

Hasbro (HAS) - The toymaker will cut nearly 20% of its workforce amid sluggish sales, WSJ reports, as weak sales for toys and games persist even amid the holiday shopping period. HAS to cut around 1,100 jobs in addition to the 800 cuts announced earlier this year. Hasbro confirmed the reporting and said it would eliminate an additional 900 positions starting in Q4. Shares fell 5.5% after it filed its 8K.

Nvidia (NVDA) - US Commerce Secretary Raimondo says Nvidia "can, will and should sell AI chips to China" for commercial purposes, via Reuters interview

Oracle Corp (ORCL) - Q2 2024 (USD): Adj. EPS 1.34 (exp. 1.32), Revenue 12.90bln (exp. 13.05bln). Cloud revenue USD 4.8bln (exp. 4.86bln). Cloud Infrastructure revenue USD 1.6bln (exp. 1.55bln). Cloud Application revenue USD 3.2bln (exp. 3.15bln). Cloud services and license support revenue USD 9.64bln (exp. 9.69bln) Service revenue USD 1.37bln (exp. 1.41bln). Adj. operating margin 43% (exp. 42.6%). (Newswires) Shares fell 8.8% after-market

12 Dec 2023 - 06:52- Research Sheet- Source: Newsquawk