Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 16th April 2026

ASIA

APAC stocks mostly gained following the positive lead from Wall Street, where the S&P 500 and Nasdaq printed fresh all-time highs, amid tech strength and peace talk optimism. ASX 200 bucked the trend and gave back initial gains, and more, as notable outperformance in tech was offset by losses in energy, resources, materials, financials and miners. Nikkei 225 rallied to a fresh record high after reclaiming the 59,000 status amid the hopes for a Middle East resolution and with the index led by the momentum in tech stocks. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp were higher with further upside seen as the dust settled following the mixed Chinese GDP and activity data, in which GDP growth for Q1 missed expectations, but GDP Y/Y topped forecasts and printed at the high-end of China's official 2026 GDP growth target. Meanwhile, Industrial Production data for March was better-than-expected, but Retail Sales disappointed.

TSMC (TSM/2330 TT) - Q1 2026 (TWD): Net Income 572.5bln (exp. 542.38bln), Revenue 1.13tln (prev. 839.3bln Y/Y), Op. Profit 659bln (prev. 407.1bln Y/Y). Other Metrics: Op. Margin 58.1% (prev. 48.5% Y/Y), Gross Margin 66.2% (exp. 64.5%, prev. 58.8% Y/Y), Capex 11.1bln (prev. 11.5bln Q/Q). From a geographic perspective, revenue from customers based in North America accounted for 76% of total net revenue in 1Q26, while revenue from Asia Pacific, China, Japan, and EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa) accounted for 9%, 7%, 4%, and 4% of total net revenue respectively. (TSMC)

SK Hynix (000660 KS) - SK Hynix is targeting a June-July US listing via an ADR offering worth approximately USD 10bln. The chipmaker recently indicated the timeline to underwriters, having confidentially filed a draft Form F-1 with the SEC last month. The ADR is expected to be backed by new share issuance following the cancellation of KRW 12.24tln in treasury stock earlier this year. (The Korean Herald)

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: Euro Stoxx 50 -0.73% at 5,941, Dax 40 +0.18% at 24,087, FTSE 100 -0.47% at 10,560, CAC 40 -0.64% at 8,275, FTSE MIB -0.04% at 48,156, IBEX 35 -0.55% at 18,186, PSI -0.18% at 9,345, SMI -0.30% at 13,229, AEX -0.42% at 1,016

SECTORS: Financials 0.30%, Telecoms -0.03%, Industrials -0.39%, Materials -0.53%, Healthcare -0.56%, Utilities -0.57%, Consumer Stpl -0.75%, Consumer Disc -0.94%, Energy -0.99%, IT -1.98%

FTSE 100

Ex-Dividends - Games Workshop (GAW LN), Antofagasta (ANTO LN), Convatec (CTEC LN), Diageo (DGE LN) and LSEG (LSEG LN) will trade without entitlement to their latest dividend. (dividenddata)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

BP (BP/ LN) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS

Kingspan (KGP LN) initiated with Neutral at Goldman Sachs

DAX

Allianz SE (ALV GY) - Pimco has shifted from underweight to overweight European government bonds after a war-driven selloff, adding exposure across its global bond funds, Bloomberg reports. Chief investment officer for global fixed income Andrew Balls attributed the move to a mispricing caused by the sudden unwinding of previously popular trades. (Bloomberg)

Heidelberg Materials (HEI GY) - Provides an outlook update: Revenue and order intake on track according to preliminary figures. Geopolitical situation impacted operational performance toward the end of the fiscal year. Based on preliminary, unaudited figures, adjusted EBITDA margin for fiscal year 2025/2026 expected to fall short of guidance at approx. 6.6% (prev. saw 7.1%). Geopolitical situation impacts operating performance toward the end of the fiscal year. (Heidelberg Materials)

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

Aixtron (AIXA GY) - Co. is to launch a EUR 450mln convertible bond offering. (Aixtron)

Freenet (FNTN GY) - Co. to support strategic options for its TV streaming and aggregation platform waipu.tv initiated by Exaring AG’s minority shareholders. (Freenet)

BROKER MOVES

CAC

Airbus (AIR FP) - The US House Select Committee on China says Airbus Space likely provided satellite imagery of US military assets to China before Operation Epic Fury commenced. (Newswires)

Bouygues (EN FP) - Co. is leading a consortium that is moving close to a provisional agreement to acquire SFR, Bloomberg reports citing sources. Drahi, the owner of SFR, is looking for a valuation exceeding EUR 20bln. (Bloomberg)

Kering (KER FP) - Co. announced its ongoing ambition, targeting RoCE greater than 20T in the medium-term and Capex at 5-6% of revenue. (Kering)

Pernod Ricard (RI FP) - Q3 2026 (EUR): Revenue 1.95bln (exp. 1.95bln). By region: Americas -8% with the US -12%, Asia-RoW +6% with China -7%, Europe +1%. Sees FY organic net sales -3% to -4% due to the Middle East war. For the medium term, projects organic net sales growth in the range of 3-6% on average. (Pernod Ricard)

Vinci (DG FP) - Co. has been awarded a contract worth EUR 364mln to build a section of motorway in the Czech Republic. In other news, the Co. has acquired Technigaz in Quebec to expand its industrial solutions presence. (Vinci)

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

PAN EUROPE

DKSH (DKSH SW), Sanofi (SAN FP) - The two Cos have entered into a strategic partnership to expand patient access to Cardiovascular treatments across Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand as well as Diabetes treatments in Singapore and Thailand. (DKSH)

Fincantieri (FCT IM), Carnival (CCL) - Carnival’s Princess Cruises said it signed agreements with Fincantieri to build three new cruise ships on a next-generation platform, with deliveries planned for late 2035, 2038 and 2039. (Carnival)

Flughafen Wien (FLU AV) - March passengers 3.15mln, +5.1%. (Flughafen Wien)

Repsol (REP SM) - Co. is set to take back operational control of its Venezuelan oil assets and boost production following an agreement with the country’s government, according to FT. (FT)

Tech - The FT reports that the UK and EU plan to begin talks aimed at London’s inclusion in Brussels’ new multibillion-euro fund for tech companies. (FT)

TomTom (TOM2 NA) - Q1 2026 (EUR): Group Revenue 129mln (prev. 140mln Y/Y), Gross Result 116.4mln (prev. 123.2mln Y/Y), Gross Margin 90% (prev. 88% Y/Y). Reiterated 2026 guidance. (TomTom)

BROKER MOVES

SMI

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

Barry Callebaut (BARN SW) - H1 2025 (CHF): Sales 6.75bln (exp. 6.96bln), -3.7% Y/Y. Gross Profit 668.9mln, +2.3% Y/Y, PBT 138.5mln, +1.3% Y/Y. (Barry Callebaut)

Galderma (GALD SW) - Co. is launching Regenerating Skin Nectar with TriHex+. The new formulation also helps reinforce skin structure, restore skin barrier, and support long-term skin longevity. (Galderma)

VAT Group (VACN SW) - Q1 2026 (CHF): Revenue 200.9mln (exp. 217.5mln), Order intake 356.3mln (prev. 305.5mln Q/Q), confirms 2026 outlook, states sales was negatively impacted by about CHF 20-25mln in delayed revenue recognition, mainly due to conflict-related disruptions in the supply chain. (VAT Group)

BROKER MOVES

SCANDINAVIA

BROKER MOVES

US

CLOSES: SPX +0.80% at 7,023, NDX +1.40% at 26,205, DJI -0.15% at 48,464, RUT +0.30% at 2,714

SECTORS: Materials -1.30%, Industrials -1.24%, Utilities -0.93%, Health -0.72%, Consumer Staples -0.41%, Energy -0.28%, Real Estate -0.04%, Financials +0.76%, Communication Services +1.06%, Consumer Discretionary +1.37%, Technology +2.08%.

Alphabet (GOOG) - Google-linked data centres are seeking to raise USD 5.7bln through a junk-bond sale, which would be the largest such deal to fund the AI infrastructure boom, Bloomberg reports. Morgan Stanley began marketing the notes on Wednesday, and they could be priced as early as this week. (Bloomberg)

ESCO Technologies (ESE) - ESCO is to acquire the Megger business of TBG AG for USD 2.35bln, comprising USD 0.9bln in cash and ESCO equity valued at approximately USD 1.4bln. The deal values Megger at approximately 14x projected 2026 EBITDA including synergies. The deal is expected to yield approximately USD 60mln in cost synergies within three years. TBG will receive one ESCO board seat on closing. ESCO sees its Q2 adj. EPS at 1.91 (exp. 1.77), and Q2 revenue at USD 309mln (exp. 320.28mln), reflecting another quarter of strong sales growth and margin improvement.

General Motors (GM), Ford (F) - The Trump administration is in talks with automakers and other manufacturers about shifting some production capacity to weapons and military supplies, WSJ reports. Senior defence officials have held discussions with General Motors CEO and Ford CEO, among others, according to sources. (WSJ)

PPG Industries (PPG) - PPG announced global price increases of up to 20% across its paints, coatings and specialty products portfolio, citing volatility and supply constraints in petrochemical, energy and transport markets. The company said higher raw material, energy, logistics and packaging costs are driving the move, with some products, technologies and regions potentially facing larger increases and further rises possible.

16 Apr 2026 - 06:55- Fixed IncomeGeopolitical- Source: Newsquawk