Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 12th December 2024

ASIA

APAC stocks eventually mimicked the sentiment on Wall Street and traded mostly higher following a slow start to the session and despite a lack of macro news flow. ASX 200 saw its earlier gains hampered after a strong Aussie jobs report which followed the dovish RBA yesterday, in which Governor Bullock said the Board will be watching all data including employment. Nikkei 225 reclaimed the 40,000 level for the first time since mid-October with gains driven by the Industrial and IT sectors, although at one point, the upside was capped by the firmer JPY. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp were somewhat lethargic at the start, but momentum picked up, although there was little notable reaction seen on reports that US President-elect Trump invited Chinese President Xi to attend his inauguration next month, whilst it was not clear whether Xi has accepted the invitation. Participants now await the outcome of the Central Economic Work Conference.

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: DAX: +0.42% at 20,414, FTSE 100: +0.28% at 8,303, CAC 40: +0.39% at 7,423, Euro Stoxx 50: +0.16% at 4,960, AEX: +0.30% at 896, IBEX 35: -1.47% at 11,789, FTSE MIB: +0.60% at 34,731, SMI: +0.27% at 11,678, PSI: +0.14% at 6,352.

SECTORS: Industrials 0.91%, Consumer Stpl 0.48%, Materials 0.37%, IT 0.28%, Telecoms 0.27%, Financials 0.25%, Healthcare 0.16%, Consumer Disc 0.05%, Utilities -0.70%, Energy -0.93%

FTSE 100

BAE Systems (BA/ LN) - BAE secured a USD 656.2mln fixed-price-incentive US Army contract to produce M2A4 and M7A4 vehicles.

Tobacco Names - US FDA seeks reduction in nicotine levels for cigarettes, according to NYT. (NYT)

UK Housing - UK RICS Housing Survey (Nov) 25.0 vs. Exp. 19.0 (Prev. 16.0); highest since September 2022. RICS said "Measures of buyer demand remain positive with house price growth appearing to gain traction" (RICS)

UK Energy - Ofgem has proposed reforming how companies deal with customer who are in debt and said they should offer tariffs free of some charges, via Reuters. (Reuters)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

Shein IPO - UK's financial regulators are taking longer than usual to approve Shein's IPO as it checking supply chain oversight, according to Reuters citing sources. (Reuters)

BROKER MOVES

Pennon (PNN LN) upgraded to Overweight from Equalweight at Barclays

United Utilities (UU/ LN) upgraded to Equalweight from Underweight at Barclays

DAX

Volkswagen (VOW3 GY) - Co. offers 14% wage increase over four years and profit sharing to UAW union at its Tennessee plant. (Newswires)

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

Fraport (FRA GY) - (Nov) 4.6mln passengers flew through the airport, +1% Y/Y. (Newswires)

Hensoldt (HAG GY) - Revenues of around EUR 2.4bln is expected in 2024; medium term target of 10% avg. annual growth. Still targets dividend payout ratio of 30-40% of adj. net income for 2024 and in medium term. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

CAC

Eurazeo (RF FP) - Enters into exclusive discussions with an investor consortium led by La Financiere de Blacailloux re. the sale of its stake in Albingia. (Newswires)

French Stocks - New French PM reportedly set to be named on Thursday, according to a government source cited by Bloomberg. (Bloomberg)

SocGen (GLE FP) - Disclosure of regulatory capital requirements effective from 1st January 2025: Minimum requirements from 1st January 2025 applicable on a consolidated basis will remain stable at 10.22% for CET1 ratio, 12.14% for Tier 1 ratio and 14.71% for total capital ratio. (Newswires)

STMicroelectronics (STM FP) - Quobly forges strategic collaboration with STMicroelectronics to accelerate its quantum processor manufacturing for large-scale quantum computing solutions. First commercial products expected by 2027. (Newswires)

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

Sopra Steria (SOP FP) - Targets 2028 rev. more than EUR 8bln; organic rev. +2-5% per year after 2025. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

SocGen (GLE FP) upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Goldman Sachs

PAN EUROPE

BMPS (BMPS IM) - Pillar 2 requirement reduced to 2.50% (prev. 2.75%). (Newswires)

Brunello Cucinelli (BCU IM) - Sees revenues up between 11-12% in 2024, expects 10% growth for 2025 and 2026; sees growth in Q4 in line with Q3. (Newswires)

Grifols (GRF SM) - Private placement of EUR 1.3bln of 7.125% senior secured notes due in May 2030 at par. Bloomberg writes that this debt placement aims to calm investors. (Newswires)

OMV (OMV AV) - Announced termination of Austrian supply contract with Gazprom export with immediate effect. (Newswires)

Saipem (SPM IM) - Won two projects for CO2 transport storage in the UK for around EUR 650mln. (Newswires)

Prysmian (PRY IM) - AGCM investigates possible anti-competitive arrangement in the Italian Cable market. (Newswires)

Pirelli (PIRC IM) - Camfin plans to increase its stake to 29.9% vs currently 26.1%. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

SMI

Lonza (LONN SW) - Affirms FY24 guidance. To exit capsules and health ingredients business with reorganisation strategy. Guides FY25 sales +20%. (Newswires)

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

Flughafen Zurich (FHZN SW) - (Nov) 2.19mln passengers handled at Zurich airport, +7.3% Y/Y. (Newswires)

Helvetia (HELN SW) - Targets 2025-27 underlying EPS CAFR 9-11%; cumulative dividend payments of CHF 1.2bln. (Newswires)

Schindler Holding (SCHP SW) - Appoints Paolo Compagna as CEO, effective Apr 1 2025. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

SCANDINAVIA

Maersk (MAERSKB DC) - Exec sees global container market volume growth between 5-7% in 2025, bolstered by strong demand from the US. (Reuters)

BROKER MOVES

US

CLOSES: SPX +0.82% at 6,084, NDX +1.85% at 21,764, DJIA -0.22% at 44,149, RUT +0.48% at 2,394

SECTORS: Health -1.3%, Consumer Staples -0.63%, Utilities -0.57%, Materials -0.37%, Real Estate -0.24%, Industrials -0.19%, Energy +0.02%, Financials +0.26%, Technology +1.5%, Consumer Discretionary +2.02%, Communication Services +3.08%.

Adobe (ABDE) - Adobe's shares fell almost 10% in afterhours trading; despite beating on profits and sales, its outlook was underwhelming, stoking AI disruption fears, according to Bloomberg. Q3 adj. EPS 4.81 (exp. 4.66), Q3 revenue USD 5.6bln (exp. 5.54bln), Q3 operating margin 46.3% (exp. 45.6%); Q3 subscription revenue USD 5.37bln (exp. 5.28bln), Q3 net new digital media ARR USD 578mln (exp. 550mln). Q3 R&D expenses USD 999mln (exp. 1.02bln). Exec said it will be introducing a new higher-priced firefly offering. Sees Q1 adj. EPS between 4.95–5.00 (exp. 4.95), and sees Q1 digital media revenue between USD 4.17–4.20bln (exp. 4.24bln). Sees FY25 adj. EPS between 20.20–20.50 (exp. 20.52), and sees FY25 revenue between USD 23.30–23.55bln (exp. 23.78bln).

Bank of America (BAC) - CEO Moynihan says they feel good about NII and expected to come in around USD 14.3bln (exp. 14.29bln) in Q4. Notes wealth management fees will be up 20% Y/Y. Expect record Q4 for trading. IB fees will be +25% Y/Y. (Newswires)

Microsoft (MSFT), General Motors (GM) - Microsoft expects an USD 800mln impairment charge in Q2 of FY25 after General Motors (GM) decided to cease funding Cruise's robotaxi development and buy out minority shares. The charge, which will impact EPS by USD 0.09/shr, was excluded from prior guidance.

US Steel (X) - Biden Administration reportedly split over US Steel deal, with Pentagon and State Department all concluding USD 15bln Nippon Steel (5401 JT) acquisition poses no national security risk, but Biden thinks it does, via FT. (FT)

12 Dec 2024 - 06:44- Exclusive- Source: Newsquawk