Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 16th January 2024

16th January 2024

ASIA

APAC stocks were pressured in the absence of a lead from Wall Street and amid the upside in yields.ASX 200 retreated with miners among the worst hit after lower iron ore output and shipments by Rio Tinto. Nikkei 225 extended beneath the 36,000 level owing to slightly higher yields and firmer-than-expected PPI data. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp conformed to the downbeat mood but with the losses in the mainland initially cushioned after a substantial PBoC liquidity operation, while Beijing reportedly told some institutional investors in recent days not to sell stocks.

Chinese stocks - Chinese authorities reportedly told some institutional investors in recent days not to sell stocks as the Chinese stock rout resumes, according to FT. (FT)

Hyundai Motor (005380 KS)/ Kia Motors (000270 KS) - Cos' combined FY23 profit is expected at KRW 27.0tln. (Yonhap)

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: DAX -0.5% at 16,622.22, FTSE 100 0.4% at 7,594.91, CAC 40 -0.7% at 7,411.68, Euro Stoxx 50 -0.6% at 4,454.75, IBEX 35 -0.2% at 10,076.90, FTSE MIB -0.5% at 30,327.72, SMI -0.2% at 11,207.51.

SECTORS: Telecoms 0.42%, Utilities -0.10%, IT -0.31%, Financials -0.33%, Energy -0.36%, Consumer Disc -0.39%, Healthcare -0.52%, Materials -0.65%, Consumer Stpl -0.71%, Industrials -0.77%

FTSE 100

Barclays (BARC LN) - CEO said the UK “badly needs” an economic development agency, to depoliticise industrial policymaking and drive growth. (FT)

Coca-Cola HBC (CCH LN) - CFO Ben Almanzar to step down, effective end-May. (Newswires)

Fuel Retailers - UK’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has outlined a proposal, currently under consultation, which would require forecourts to share updated prices within 30 minutes to enable access to the cheapest fuel. (Sky News)

Rio Tinto (RIO LN) - Quarterly Pilbara iron ore output 87.5mln tons vs prev. 89.5mln tons Y/Y, shipments 86.3mln tons vs prev. 87.3mln tons Y/Y, mined copper output 160k tons vs prev. 131k tons Y/Y, aluminium output 846k tons vs prev. 783k tons Y/Y. Maintains 2024 production guidance and noted there is good demand for materials they produce, Co. noted commodity prices found some support during the quarter and it continues to see strong performance from underground mine Oyu Tolgoi. Rio Tinto also stated that its Dampier Salt JV agreed to the sale of Lake Macleod operations for AUD 375mln. On China, Co. said "Stimulus measures are expected to drive a gradual recovery in 2024, albeit weighted towards the second half, with the real estate sector remaining weak” (Newswires/Rio Tinto) Shares -1.3% in Australian listing.

Shell (SHEL LN) - Amundi (AMUN FP) and 26 other investors are supporting a resolution by activist group Follow This which calls for the Co. to align its medium-term green targets with the Paris agreement, particularly setting a scope 3 target. (FT) scope 3 accounts for the emissions of its products which are sold to customers.

Pension Funds - British pension funds are preparing to "flood the market" with billions of GBP of private assets, according to Bloomberg. As much as GBP 200bln in assets could be offloaded as rising interest rates provide funds with an opportunity to offload part of the risk of meeting future liabilities. (Bloomberg)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

Drax (DRAX LN) – Analysis from leading energy think tank Ember suggests installing carbon capture and storage at the UK’s largest power station could eventually add some GBP 1bln a year to household bills, with Drax previously stating it plans to spend billions of Pounds on converting two of the four units at its BECCS power station. Ember also suggests that if Drax were to convert all four units, the cost of running the station could increase to GBP 1.7bln a year (vs average subsidies of GBP 785mln between 2018-2022). (Times)

BROKER MOVES

Crest Nicholson (CRST LN) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies

Direct Line (DLG LN) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Berenberg

Lloyds (LLOY LN) downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at Autonomous Research

ITV (ITV LN) downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman Sachs

Rightmove (RMV LN) downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at JP Morgan

Rolls-Royce (RR/ LN) downgraded to Sell from Hold at Berenberg

Persimmon (PSN LN) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Jefferies

Taylor Wimpey (TW/ LN) downgraded to Hold from Add at Peel Hunt

DAX

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

Fraport (FRA GY) - December passenger traffic 4.6mln; +15% Y/Y. (Newswires)

Hugo Boss (BOSS GY) - Q4 (EUR): adj. Sales 1.177bln (exp. 1.17bln), EBIT 121mln (exp. 112mln). FY23: adj. Sales 4.19bln (exp. 4.19bln), +18% to a record level; EBIT 410mln (exp. 418mln). Robust growth across all regions with particular strength in the Americas. Co. successfully attained the raised targets for FY23. FY24 guidance will be provided on March 7th. (Newswires). Shares seen -1.9% in pre-market trade

Nordex (NDX1 GY) – Reports FY23 order intake 7.4 GW, +16% Y/Y. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Allianz (ALV GY) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Citi

HelloFresh (HFG GY) downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman Sachs

CAC

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

JC Decaux (DEC FP) - Wins the renewal of the exclusive advertising contracts for Hong Kong MTR and Airport Express. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Arkema (ARK FP) upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays

Publicis (PUB FP) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman Sachs

Worldline (WLN FP) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Stifel Nicolaus

PAN EUROPE

Grifols (GRF SM) - Co. asks regulators to bring forward 2023 earnings, via El Confidential (El Confidential)

InPost (INPST NA) - CFO Aleksandrowicz to step down and van Engelen to be the new CFO effective April 2nd. (Newswires)

Red Sea exposed stocks - The US warns its ships to avoid the South Red Sea until further notice, and warned its merchant ships of potential for Houthi retaliation. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Adyen (ADYEN NA) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Stifel Nicolaus

Aegon (AGN NA) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Citi

AB InBev (ABI BB) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Citi

ABN AMRO (ABN NA) downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at JP Morgan

Banco BPM (BAMI IM) downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at JP Morgan

Banco Sabadell (SAB SM) downgraded to Neutral from Underweight at JP Morgan

Generali (G IM) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Citi

SMI

ABB (ABBN SW) - Chairman Voser, speaking to Reuters, says Co. sees less of an impact for itself from Red Sea disruptions; there will be more acquisitions to come, with specific interest in markets in the US, Europe, and India. (Newswires)

Roche (ROG SW) - European Commission approves Roche’s Tecentriq SC, the EU's first PD-(L)1 cancer immunotherapy subcutaneous injection for multiple cancer types. (Roche)

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

Lindt & Sprüngli (LISN SW) - FY23 (CHF): Revenue 5.2bln, +4.6% Y/Y, Organic Sales +10.3% Y/Y. Says persistent inflation depressed consumer sentiment. Co. is confident it will meet 2023 targets. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Partners (PGHN SW) downgraded to Sell from Hold at SocGen

Roche (ROG SW) downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley

Sandoz (SDZ SW) initiated with Buy at Citi

SCANDINAVIA

Skanska (SKAB SS) - Awarded SEK 660mln order to renovate and expand office building in Norway. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Elisa (ELISA FH) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Nordea

Sampo (SAMAS FH) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Berenberg

Schibsted (SCHB NO) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman Sachs

Wartsila (WRT1V FH) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Citi

US - Closed on Monday

16 Jan 2024 - 06:54- Exclusive- Source: Newsquawk