Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 13th November 2023

13th November 2023

ASIA

Asia-Pac stocks were subdued and failed to sustain the early momentum from last Friday’s rally on Wall St with the region cautious ahead of this week’s key risk events including US CPI and Chinese activity data, the Biden-Xi meeting on the sidelines of the APEC summit and the US government shutdown deadline. ASX 200 (-0.4%) was lacklustre amid weakness in the largest weighted financials sector following earnings from ANZ Bank which posted a record FY cash profit but missed analysts’ forecasts and noted the external environment is likely to remain challenging, while hawkish comments from RBA’s Kohler and disruption at ports due to a cyber incident adds to the headwinds for stocks. Nikkei 225 (Flat) was initially positive after softer-than-expected PPI data which printed its slowest pace of annual growth since February 2021 although the index eventually reversed its gains amid rising Japanese yields and a slew of earnings releases. Hang Seng (+0.1%) and Shanghai Comp. (-0.1%) traded cautiously as optimism from Alibaba and JD.com’s higher Singles Day sales was offset ahead of the approaching tier-1 data releases from China and the Biden-Xi summit.

Alibaba (9988 HK) - Co. said its Singles Day sales increased this year with Taobao and Tmall recording positive Y/Y growth in GMV. (Newswires)

Didi Global (DIDIY) - Q3 (CNY) net 107mln, rev. 51.4bln, authorised a share buyback of up to USD 1bln over 24 months. (Newswires)

Origin Energy (ORG AT) - Largest shareholder AustralianSuper rejects offer to acquire Origin Energy from Brookfield consortium. (Newswires)

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: DAX -0.77% at 15,234, FTSE 100 -1.28% at 7,361, CAC 40 -0.96% at 7,045, Euro Stoxx 50 -0.77% at 4,196, IBEX 35 -0.36% at 9,372, FTSE MIB -0.49% at 28,504, SMI -0.89% at 10,550.

SECTORS: Energy 0.65%, IT 0.09%, Utilities 0.00%, Financials -0.60%, Materials -0.74%, Industrials -0.83%, Telecoms -0.88%, Healthcare -1.34%, Consumer Stpl -2.01%, Consumer Disc -2.11%

FTSE 100

Housing Names - UK Rightmove House Prices MM (Nov) -1.7% (Prev. 0.5%); House Prices YY (Nov) -1.3% (Prev. -0.8%). (Rightmove)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

International Distributions Services (IDS LN) - Co’s Royal Mail faces a claim upward of GBP 600mln in damages from logistics firm Whistl over anti-competitive behaviour which led to over 2k job cuts at Whistl. (CityAM)

Metro Bank (MTRO LN) – The bank was added to the UK FCA’s financial crime watchlist in June, the bank admitted over the weekend. Co. said the FCA was looking into “the ongoing management of financial crime risk within the group’s back book as well as specific concerns over the effectiveness of financial crime controls over the group’s online account provisions”. Co. said it continues to engage and cooperate fully with the FCA. A source cited by the Times suggested the investigation into the bank’s financial crime system had been “long-running”. (CityAM/ Times)

BROKER MOVES

DAX

BMW (BMW GY) – Co. said it is seeking clarification at its Moroccan cobalt mine. In response to a report in Sueddeutsche Zeitung which alleges serious violations of environmental and labour protection regulations at mines within Morocco. (Newswires)

Bayer (BAYN GY) - New asundexian Phase III study to include patients with atrial fibrillation ineligible for oral anticoagulant treatment. (Businesswire)

Continental (CON GY) - Continental might cut 5,500 jobs soon (around 3% of its global staff), Bloomberg reported. Around 1,000 jobs in Germany, mainly in offices, might go. The report said that production and development jobs were safe for now. (Bloomberg)

Volkswagen (VOW3 GY) - Co. is to reduce administrative personnel costs by a fifth and targets VW brand Op. margin at least 6.5% by 2026. (Handelsblatt)

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

Fraport (FRA GY) – Airport October activity: Movements highest since October 2019; 5.7mln passengers, +14.9% Y/Y; Cargo 173k/MT, -2.0% Y/Y. (Newswires)

Salzgitter (SZG GY) - 9M (EUR): Pretax 254.3mln (prev. 1.15bln Y/Y), Revenue 8.4bln (prev. 9.4bln Y/Y). (Newswires)

Talanx (TLX GY) - 9M (EUR): EBIT 2.76bln (prev. 2.24bln Y/Y), Net Income 2.04bln (prev. 1.66bln Y/Y), Dilutes EPS 5.05 (prev. 3.66 Y/Y). Forward guidance provided. A clear rise in profits to more than EUR 1.7 billion is expected for 2024. (Newswires/Talanx)

BROKER MOVES

Evonik Industries (EVK GY) upgraded to Buy from Hold at SocGen

CAC

Airbus (AIR FP)/ Leonardo (LDO IM)/ Rolls-Royce (RR/ LN)/ Safran (SAF FP)/ Thales (HO FP) – Cos are among those making an appearance at the Dubai Air Show 2023 taking place between 13th and 17th November. Firms such as Boeing (BA), Lockheed Martin (LMT), and RTX (RTX) will also partake. (Royal Aeronautical Society)

Airbus (AIR FP)/ Rolls-Royce (RR/ LN) - Turkish Airlines is in talks with Airbus, and is reportedly discussing an order for its biggest order yet with 345 planes including A350s and A321 NEOs, Bloomberg reported. Talks also include Rolls-Royce for jet engine maintenance. (Newswires)

Alstom (ALO FP) - Co. is mulling cutting around 600 jobs at its UK Litchurch Lane Factory, which employs around 2k people, according to The Times. The decision follows the UK government’s decision to trim the HS2 project, for which the factory was set to play a key role in building high speed. (Times/CityAM/Yahoo Finance)

Renault (RNO FP) - Mitsubishi Motors (7211 JT) is set to invest USD 132mln in Renault's new EV Co., via Nikkei. (Nikkei)

SocGen (GLE FP) - Co. weighs the sale of its German finance unit as it aims to boost valuation by getting rid of non-core businesses. (BNN Bloomberg)

Vinci (DG FP) - Co. is to work with the Hungarian Government to acquire Budapest Airport, via Bloomberg. An earlier acquisition attempt valued the airport at EUR 4.4bln. (Bloomberg)

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

PAN EUROPE

Solvay (SOLB BB) – Syensqo unveils a new strategy and FY28 targets: 5% to 7% net sales growth over 2024-2028; Underlying EBITDA Margin (in %) to mid-20s by 2028; ROCE to mid-teens by 2028. Expected to have a strong balance sheet and foundation for accelerated growth, with an expected strong investment grade rating. (Syensqo) Syensqo is a Specialty spinoff of Solvay

UCB (UCB BB) - Post hoc analysis showed meaningful efficacy of certolizumab pegol for RA patients with high Rheumatoid Factor (RF) levels. (UCB)

BROKER MOVES

SMI

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

SCANDINAVIA

Novo Nordisk (NOVOB DC) - Novo Nordisk released data over the weekend noting its drug Wegovy reduced overall death risk by 18%, showing promise in cutting heart attack risks, FT reported. Full data was presented, aiming to convince insurers. Results also suggest benefits for kidney disease. The drug faces competition from Eli Lilly's (LLY) Zepbound and AstraZeneca's (AZN LN) pill. (FT/Bloomberg)

Pandora (PNDORA DC) – CEO said the Co. is increasingly optimistic in the run-up to the Christmas season, with the CEO noting strong momentum despite the broader trend of sales slowdowns among luxury firms, according to the FT. “When people have less money, you see a softening at the high end… we are still an accessible gift”, said the CEO. (FT/CityAM)

BROKER MOVES

US

CLOSES: SPX +1.53% at 4,414, NDX +2.25% at 15,529, DJI +1.15% at 34,283, RUT+0.98% at 1,704

SECTORS: Technology +2.59%, Communication Svs +1.67%, Cons Disc +1.66%, Industrials +1.34%, Materials +1.16%, Financials +1.14%, Real Estate +1.1%, Energy +1.07%, Cons Stpl +0.66%, Health +0.6%, Utilities +0.52%.

Ford (F) - UAW's production workers at Ford's (F) Louisville assembly, Kentucky truck plants vote against the new labour deal, while skilled workers vote for the deal. (Newswires)

Tesla (TSLA) - India is mulling cutting EV taxes to lure Tesla (TSLA), according to FT. (FT)

Nvidia (NVDA) - Is working on a new lineup of AI chips customized for China that could be made available as soon as the end of this year, according to WSJ sources. The new chips comply with US rules that prevented Nvidia from shipping more advanced semiconductors to the country without a license. (WSJ)

13 Nov 2023 - 06:46- Research Sheet- Source: Newsquawk