Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News

15th June 2023

ASIA

Asia-Pac stocks traded mostly higher but with gains capped in the aftermath of the FOMC where a hawkish knee-jerk reaction to the Fed’s dot plots was partially unwound during the press conference after Powell distanced himself from projections, while the attention in the region shifted to the slew of key data releases. ASX 200 (+0.2%) was kept afloat in rangebound trade with the tailwinds from stellar jobs data partly clouded after Australia’s 3y/10y yield curve inverted for the first time since 2008. Nikkei 225 (+0.4%) was underpinned amid further currency depreciation and mostly better-than-expected data releases from Japan including Exports and Machinery Orders. Hang Seng (+0.8%) and Shanghai Comp. (+0.1%) were positive with outperformance in Hong Kong after the HKMA kept rates unchanged for the first time since March 2022 in lockstep with the Fed, while the advances were led by property names amid expectations for more support measures for the industry and after Chinese House Prices returned to growth. Furthermore, the PBoC cut its 1-year MLF rates by 10bps following similar cuts to short-term funding rates although participants also digested disappointing activity data from China after both Industrial Production and Retail Sales missed estimates.

EUROPEAN CLOSES

Bourses: Euro Stoxx 50 +0.65% at 4,375, FTSE 100 +0.10% at 7,602, DAX 40 +0.49% at 16,310, CAC 40 +0.52% at 7,328, FTSE MIB +0.88% at 27,809, IBEX 35 +1.06% at 9,432, SMI -0.43% at 11,278.

Sectors: Materials 1.35%, Financials 0.74%, Telecoms 0.52%, Utilities 0.48%, Consumer Disc 0.39%, Consumer Stpl 0.30%, Industrials 0.17%, IT 0.07%, Energy -0.20%, Healthcare -0.42%

FTSE 100

Ex-Dividend - Land Securities Group (LAND LN) and RS Group (RS1 LN) will trade without entitlement to their latest dividend. (Newswires)

HSBC (HSBA LN)/Standard Chartered (STAN LN) - Hong Kong's banking regulator is pressuring the Cos, among others, to take on board cryptocurrency exchanges as clients, via FT citing sources. (FT)

Legal & General (LGEN LN) - Co. has reportedly selected an external candidate to replace CEO Wilson. (Sky News)

Shell (SHEL LN) - CEO says they are not looking at big M&A for the next few years. Elsewhere, the CEO expressed some concern over the scale of UK government intervention within the energy market. (Newswires)

Supermarkets - UK PM Sunak has reportedly abandoned plans to impose a voluntary price cap on basic goods, following pushback from retailers in recent weeks who said such intervention would have no impact on prices. (Telegraph)

Unilever (ULVR LN) - To acquire Yasso Holdings in N. America. (Newswires)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

AB Foods (ABF LN) initiated with Outperform at Bernstein

Diageo (DGE LN) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman Sachs

Next (NXT LN) initiated with Marketperform at Bernstein

DAX

Hugo Boss (BOSS GY) - Update on "Claim 5", 2025 sales target has been increased to EUR 5bln. EBIT seen at EUR 600mln or more. Strong improvement in brand value, reflecting a surge in global brand relevance. (Newswires)

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

CAC

Thales (HO FP) - Relaunching production of the Starstreak missile, though caveats the relaunch could take over a year. (WSJ)

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

PAN EUROPE

Banca Generali (BGN IM) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies

Banking Names - European Commission intends to propose that banks, insurers and funds share customer data with fintechs, via Bloomberg citing sources; data would be in exchange for digital finance development payment. (Bloomberg)

Eni (ENI IM) - Reportedly ramped up talks with investors to sell a minority stake in its renewable and retail business, Plenitude, which could be valued at more than EUR 6bln; could sell 5-15%, according to Reuters sources. (Reuters)

Flight Names - Paris Air Show returns next week for the first occasion since the COVID pandemic began. Executives expect a number of multi-billion USD aircraft deals. (FT)

Saipem (SPM IM) - Moody's alters outlook to Positive, affirms the Ba3 rating. (Newswires)

Stellantis (STLAM IM/STLAP FP) - Canadian Finance Minister Freeland says they are confident in the value of the Stellantis investment that is on the way. (Newswires) In the context of Canada in discussions with the Co. for an EV battery plant

BROKER MOVES

FinecoBank (FBK IM) upgraded to Hold from Underperform at Jefferies

Inditex (ITX SM) initiated with Outperform at Bernstein

SMI

Holcim (HOLN SW) - Acquires Minerales y Agregados. (Newswires)

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

SCANDINAVIA

BROKER MOVES

H&M (HMB SS) initiated with Underperform at Bernstein

Swedbank (SWEDA SS) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Berenberg

US

CLOSES: SPX +0.08 at 4,372 NDX +0.70at 15,005, DJIA -0.68% at 33,979, RUT -1.17% at 1,874.

SECTORS: Energy -1.12%, Health -1.12%, Materials -0.43%, Financials -0.37%, Industrials -0.29%, Consumer Discretionary -0.11%, Utilities -0.07%, Communication Services +0.13%, Real Estate +0.32%, Consumer Staples +0.56%, Technology +1.14%.

15 Jun 2023 - 06:45- Research Sheet- Source: Newsquawk