Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 15th April 2024

15th April 2024

ASIA

APAC stocks mostly declined as participants reflected on the geopolitical events over the weekend whereby Iran launched its first direct attack on Israel which was largely intercepted with very little damage caused, while the region also got its first opportunity to react to disappointing Chinese trade data. ASX 200 was pressured with underperformance in gold miners and tech, while sentiment was also not helped by the recent surprise contraction of imports by Australia's largest trading partner. Nikkei 225 was the worst hit and briefly dipped below 39,000 but recovered some of the losses with the help of a weaker currency. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp. were mixed as the mainland bucked the trend after recent disappointing trade data from China added to the case for policy support measures. Participants now await tomorrow's GDP and activity data, while the PBoC provided no surprises and maintained the 1-year MLF Rate at 2.50%, as expected.

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: DAX: -0.28% at 17,860.73, FTSE 100: +0.91% at 7,923.80, CAC 40: -0.16% at 7,980.39, Euro Stoxx 50: -0.25% at 4,933.25, IBEX 35: +0.34% at 10,660.70, FTSE MIB: +0.15% at 33,638.48, SMI: -0.72% at 11,356.60.

SECTORS: Energy 2.72%, Utilities 2.04%, Materials 0.74%, Healthcare 0.54%, Industrials 0.07%, Telecoms 0.04%, Financials -0.09%, Consumer Stpl -0.39%, IT -0.39%, Consumer Disc -1.05%

FTSE 100

Gold/Copper Miners - Spot gold was boosted at the open with a seemingly early haven bid in the precious metal before it reversed most of the gains. Copper futures were underpinned but have since eased back from today's best levels amid the risk aversion.

Shell (SHEL LN) - Civil society groups call for the blocking of Shell's GBP 1.3bln proposed sale of its onshore business in Nigeria - to ensure safeguards are put in place regarding human rights, according to Bloomberg. (Bloomberg)

UK Homebuilders - The UK Treasury was urged by the British Property Federation industry group to reverse the decision to end stamp-duty relief for multiple dwellings and warned the move will discourage the construction of homes being built in England, according to FT. (FT)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

Foxtons (FOXT LN) - Co. is said to have hired M&A bankers from Rothschild amid growing pressure from shareholders to sell itself for a valuation of more than GBP 160mln by year-end (vs GBP 155mln market cap at close on Friday), according to The Times. (Times)

BROKER MOVES

DAX

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

Lufthansa (LHA GY) – Suspended flights to Amman, Beirut, Erbil and Tel Aviv until at least Monday 15th April. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Adidas (ADS GY) upgraded to Overweight from Underweight at Morgan Stanley

CAC

BNP Paribas (BNP FP) / Ageas (AGS BB) – BNP has signed an agreement with Fosun to acquire its 9% stake in Ageas. BNP Paribas adds Q4 Net Income attributable to equity holders EUR total consideration is estimated to approx. 730mln (prev. 2.15bln Y/Y).

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

PAN EUROPE

Defence Names - Israel’s military said there were more than 300 projectiles fired by Iran at Israel with some of the launches from Iraq, Yemen and Iran but noted that 99% of them were intercepted and there was very little damage caused, while it said Iran undertook a very grave action that pushes the region towards escalation and Israel’s armed forces retain full functionality and are discussing options for follow-up operations, according to Reuters and CBS News. G7 leaders condemned Iran’s attack on Israel and reaffirmed the G7's commitment to Israel’s security, while they will continue to work to stabilise the situation and avoid further escalation, as well as demanded that Iran and its proxies cease their attacks, according to Reuters. (CBS/Reuters) Separately, VacEck’s defence industry-focused ETF has reached more than USD 550mln in net assets in its first year, and up around 20% in 2024, according to Reuters. (Reuters)

Aluminium/Nickel Miners - Aluminium prices surged with gains of around 8.5% at one point in APAC trade after the US banned imports of Russian-origin aluminium, copper and nickel into the US on Friday and limited their use on global metal exchanges in OTC derivatives trading. Note: Norsk Hydro (NHY NO) is one of the largest aluminium firms globally. Rio Tinto (RIO LN) partakes in the mining and refining of aluminium. Boliden (BOL SS) produces a large amount of nickel.

Fincantieri (FCT IM) / Leonardo (LDO IM) – Negotiations between the Co’s over Whitehead / WASS are at an advanced stage, though talks have slowed due to disagreements over the price, via Finanza. (Finanza)

Iberdrola (IBE SM) – Q1 Net Electricity Production -9.9% Y/Y at 40,904 GWh. (Newswires)

Prysmian (PRY IM) – To acquire Encore Wire (WIRE) for USD 290/shr (prev. close USD 260.98) in cash, implied enterprise value approx. EUR 3.9bln. The deal is expected to generate run-rate pre-rate tax synergies of approx. 140mln within 4 years of closing. (Newswires)

Saipem (SPM IM) – Received a contract valued between USD 0.75-1.5bln. (Newswires)

Telecom Italia (TIT IM) – Co. and trade unions signed a deal on 15 months of defensive solidarity, until 30 June 2025. The deal includes a reduction in working hours of around 13.84% for about 23k employees. (Newswires)

UniCredit (UCG IM) – Shareholders gave CEO Orcel another three-year mandate and backed the pay remuneration policy. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

SMI

Swiss Re (SREN SW) – Shareholders approve all proposals at 2024 AGM. (Newswires)

Roche (ROG SW) - Roche’s Columvi met the primary endpoint of overall survival in people with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma in the Phase III STARGLO study. (Roche)

UBS (UBSG SW) – The Swiss Finance Minister said the Government’s capital requirements for Swiss banks will slow growth at UBS. (Newswires)

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

Avolta (AVOL SW) – Co. extended its retail contract with Athens International Airport to 2034. (Newswires)

Temenos (TEMN SW) – Announced completion of independent examination and publication of the report. A special committee has determined that Hindenburg Research has made incorrect and misleading allegations about the Co. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

SCANDINAVIA

Kesko (KESKOB FH) – (Mar): Sales -8.9% or by -11.8% in comparable terms. Grocery division totalled EUR 543.7mln, -3%. (Newswires)

Telenor (TEL NO) – CFO Tone Hegland Bachke is to leave the Co. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

US

CLOSES: SPX -1.46% at 5,123, NDX -1.66% at 18,003, DJIA -1.24% at 37,983, RUT -1.93% at 2,003.

SECTORS: Materials -1.77%, Technology -1.64%, Consumer Discretionary -1.61%, Energy -1.54%, Health -1.52%, Communication Services -1.49%, Financials -1.44%, Industrials -1.07%, Real Estate -1.04%, Consumer Staples -0.91%, Utilities -0.74%.

Apple (AAPL) - Co. reportedly lost its top phone maker spot to Samsung Electronics (005930 KS) after its smartphone shipments dropped about 10% in Q1, according to IDC. (IDC)

Tesla (TSLA) - Co. on Friday lowered the monthly FSD subscription price to USD 99/month in the US (prev. USD 199/month). Separately, Co. announced to Gigafactory Texas employees that it will shorten the Cybertruck production shift amid rumours that it is preparing a round of layoffs, according to Electrek. (Electrek)

15 Apr 2024 - 06:50- Research Sheet- Source: Newsquawk