Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 16th April 2025

ASIA

APAC stocks were mostly subdued following the choppy and rangebound performance on Wall St. amid mixed data releases and as trade frictions lingered, while the mostly better-than-expected Chinese GDP and activity data failed to inspire a bid. ASX 200 clawed back losses amid strength in gold miners, consumer staples and financial but with gains limited by weakness in miners including Rio Tinto which reported a drop in quarterly iron production and shipments. Nikkei 225 trickled lower to beneath the 34,000 level amid the ongoing global trade war concerns and despite encouraging Machinery Orders. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp underperformed amid US-China trade frictions the US said to intend to use tariff negotiations with other countries to isolate China and will also require a licence for NVIDIA to export H20 processors to China, while mostly better-than-expected GDP and activity data from China failed to inspire given that they were from a period before the US-China tariff escalation.

Chinese Demand - China MOFCOM issues action plan to promote service consumption which covers areas including catering, tourism and leisure. China stats bureau official says to fully stimulate the vitality of all businesses and China is to promote steady, sustained economic growth. (Newswires)

Chinese Data - Chinese Retail Sales YY (Mar) 5.9% vs. Exp. 4.2% (Prev. 4.0%). GDP QQ SA (Q1) 1.2% vs. Exp. 1.4% (Prev. 1.6%). GDP YY (Q1) 5.4% vs. Exp. 5.1% (Prev. 5.4%). Industrial Output YY (Mar) 7.7% vs. Exp. 5.8% (Prev. 5.9%). (Newswires)

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: DAX: +1.32% at 21,232, FTSE 100: +1.41% at 8,249, CAC 40: +0.86% at 7,335, Euro Stoxx 50: +1.08% at 4,965, AEX: +2.12% at 857, IBEX 35: +2.06% at 12,870, FTSE MIB: +2.39% at 35,844, SMI: +0.75% at 11,609, PSI: +1.87% at 6,706

SECTORS: Financials 2.40%, IT 2.40%, Industrials 2.39%, Utilities 2.17%, Telecoms 1.57%, Energy 1.47%, Materials 1.33%, Consumer Stpl 0.67%, Healthcare 0.64%, Consumer Disc -0.22%

FTSE 100

Barclays (BARC LN) - Co. said to be near a stake sale in its payments unit to Brookfield (BAM), according to Bloomberg. (Bloomberg)

Rio Tinto (RIO LN) - Quarterly Pilbara iron ore output fell 10% Y/Y to 69.8mln tons, iron ore shipments fell 9% Y/Y to 70.7mln tons, maintains FY25 production guidance Says: Quarterly copper (consol basis) production rose 16% Y/Y to 210 KT. Quarterly alumina production rose 3% Y/Y to 1.9mln tons. Quarterly bauxite production rose 12% Y/Y to 15mln tons. Production and cost guidance for year on track, with Pilbara iron ore shipments expected to be at lower end of guidance. There is an uncertain future impact from tariffs on commodity markets going forward. There was limited impact on our commodities from the imposition of tariffs in Q1. (Newswires)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

Playtech (PTEC LN) - Co. to name former Dazn exec. Gleasure as the next Chairman, via Sky News. (Sky News)

BROKER MOVES

DAX

Mercedes Benz (MBG GY) - Announces Chamberlain to succeed Psillakis as CEO of Mercedes Benz USA. (Newswires)

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

Hella (HLE GY) - Q1 (EUR): Revenue 2bln (exp. 1.95bln). CEO said start to new year was solid and in line with expectations. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Delivery Hero (DHER GY) upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Citi

Nordex (NDX1 GY) initiated with Buy at Berenberg

CAC

TotalEnergies (TTE FP) - The FT writes that the co. is sticking with its clean energy push, whilst rivals such as BP (BP/ LN) and Shell (SHEL LN) have rolled back on their plans. Head of renewable energy said, “We think we can get the same level of profitability". (FT)

Technip Energies (TE FP) - Awarded a FEED contract in Australia. (Newswires)

Vinci (DG FP) - Q1 Airport Traffic +6%. Notes that Asian market traffic with China exceeds 2019 levels. (Newswires)

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

Edenred (EDEN FP) - Q1 (EUR): Op. Revenue 667mln (exp. 668mln, prev. 625mln Y/Y). Affirms FY guidance. (Newswires)

Ipsen (IPN FP) - Q1 (EUR): Revenue 919mln (exp. 918mln, prev. 822mln Y/Y). Affirms FY25 guidance. (Newswires)

Sartorius Stedim Biotech (DIM FP) - Q1 (EUR): Adj. EBITDA 229mln (exp. 209mln, prev. 101mln Y/Y), Revenue 745mln (exp. 712mln, prev. 666.9mln Y/Y). (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

LVMH (MC FP) downgraded to Hold from Buy at TD Cowen; PT cut to EUR 500 (prev. 840).

Veolia (VIE FP) downgraded to Underperform from Hold at Jefferies

PAN EUROPE

Trade - White House press secretary states over 15 trade deal proposals that are actively being considered and they believe they can announce some very soon. US President Trump says tariff pause was because it's a transition; tariff pause came from need for flexibility; may want countries to choose between US or China - Fox News. US intends to use tariff negotiations to isolate China with officials planning to use the negotiations of more than 70 nations to ask them to disallow China to ship goods through their countries, according to WSJ. Hong Kong Post suspends the postal service for items containing goods to the US. Hong Kong Post said for sending items to the US, the public in Hong Kong should be prepared to pay exorbitant and unreasonable fees due to the US's unreasonable and bullying acts. (Newswires)

ASML (ASML NA) - Q1 (EUR) Net Income 2.36bln (exp. 2.28bln), Revenue 7.74bln (exp. 7.83bln); Raises annual dividend to EUR 6.40/shr, +4.9% Other Metrics: Bookings 3.94bln (exp. 4.82bln) Q2 Outlook: Gross Margin 50-52% (exp. 52.3%). CEO notes that the bandwidth for Q2'25 gross margin guidance is larger than usual, citing tariff uncertainty. Revenue 7.2-7.7bln (exp. 7.66bln) Affirms FY guidance. Commentary: Notes that in its conversation so far with customers supports the expectations that 2025 and 2026 will be growth years. Sees tariff situation will remain dynamic for a while. AI continues to be a primary growth driver for the industry. Q1 Net Sale System Sales (by region): US 16% (prev. 28% Q/Q), China 27% (prev. 27% Q/Q), Japan 1% (prev. 10% Q/Q), Taiwan 16% (prev. 10% Q/Q), South Korea 40% (prev. 25% Q/Q). (Newswires)

BMPS (BMPS IM) / Mediobanca (MB IM) / Anima (ANIM IM) - Anima is to back BMPS's bid for Mediobanca, according to Reuters citing sources. (Reuters)

PostNL (PNL NA) - New CEO Berendsen appointed as CEO. (Newswires)

WDP (WDP BB) - Accelerates growth ambition KDL with EUR 60mln real estate deal. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

SMI

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

Swiss Life (SLHN SW) - Aims to raise fee result to more than CHF 1bln by 2027 (prev. 850-900mln in 2024). (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

SCANDINAVIA

EQT (EQT SS) - Per Franzen appointed as CEO. Elsewhere, Co. has received over USD 10bln for its new Asia fund. (Newswires)

Nordea (NDAFI FH) - Q1 (EUR): NII 1.82bln (exp. 1.79bln), Loan Losses 13mln (prev. 33mln Y/Y). (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Maersk (MAERSKB DC) upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Citi

US

CLOSES: SPX -0.17% at 5,397, NDX +0.18% at 18,830, DJI -0.38% at 40,369, RUT +0.11% at 1,883

SECTORS: Consumer Discretionary -0.80%, Health -0.69%, Consumer Staples -0.67%, Materials -0.63%, Communication Services -0.55%, Industrials -0.53%, Energy -0.13%, Utilities +0.05%, Financials +0.23%, Real Estate +0.23%, Technology +0.34%.

Eisai Co. (ESAIY) - Eisai's Alzheimer’s drug Leqembi has been approved for use in the EU, following earlier approvals in the US and Japan. The European Commission cleared the drug for treating adults with mild cognitive impairment and dementia, marking a significant milestone in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. (Newswires)

JB Hunt (JBHT) - Q1 EPS 1.17 (exp. 1.15), revenue USD 2.92bln (exp. 2.90bln). Revenue also declined as weak freight demand and excess capacity persisted. Q1 net income of USD 117.7mln (vs 127.5mln Y/Y). Revenue declined amid continued weak freight demand and excess industry capacity. The company is the first major US freight operator to report earnings following the introduction of new Trump-era tariffs, underscoring ongoing challenges in the transportation sector. (Newswires)

Meta Platforms (META) - CEO Mark Zuckerberg offered the FTC USD 450mln to settle a long-running antitrust case, significantly lower than the FTC's USD 30bln demand, WSJ reports. The case concerns Meta's acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp. Zuckerberg was confident that President Trump would support him in negotiations with the FTC, having built closer ties with the President; however, FTC Chair deemed Zuckerberg's offer as not credible, insisting on a settlement of no less than USD 18bln, along with a consent decree. (Newswires)

Nvidia (NVDA) - Shares fell 6.3% afterhours following an announcement that it expects Q1 FY26 charges of up to USD 5.5bln related to H20 products, following new indefinite US export restrictions to China and D:5 countries. The US now requires licences for products meeting H20 performance levels due to supercomputing risks, affecting inventory, purchase commitments, and related reserves, it said. (Newswires)

Tesla's (TSLA) - Co. plans to ship components from China for Cybercab and Semi electric trucks in the US were suspended after President Trump raised tariffs on Chinese goods amid a trade war, according to a source cited by Reuters. (Reuters)

United Airlines Holdings Inc (UAL) Q1 2025 (USD): Adj. EPS 0.91 (exp. 0.75), Revenue 13.2bln (exp. 13.26bln). (Newswires)

16 Apr 2025 - 06:56- Data- Source: Newsquawk