Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 16th January 2025

ASIA

APAC stocks traded mostly higher as the region took impetus from the rally on Wall St in the aftermath of the soft-leaning US CPI data which boosted Fed rate cut bets and saw money market pricing of cuts for this year return to around pre-NFP levels. ASX 200 advanced at the open with outperformance in tech and financials although miners lagged with Rio Tinto shares indecisive after its quarterly update. Nikkei 225 gained but was well off today's best levels amid a firmer currency and the risk of a potential BoJ rate hike next week. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp were choppy and initially boosted after the PBoC continued with its liquidity efforts and with analysts suggesting the PBoC could lower RRR ahead of the Chinese New Year later this month, although the gains in the mainland were then pared amid lingering trade frictions after the US strengthened restrictions on advanced computing semiconductors to prevent diversion to China. Indices then resumed to the upside heading into the European open.

TSMC (2330 TT/TSM) - Net income 374.7bln (exp. 369.8bln), oper. profit 425.7bln (exp. 411.4bln), rev. 868.5bln (prelim. 868.4bln). Guides Q1 rev. USD 25.0bln-25.8bln (exp. 23.9bln), Q1 oper. margin 46.5%-48.5% (exp. 46.4%), gross margin 57%-59% (exp. 56.9%). Sees 2025 capex USD 38bln-42bln (exp. 35.15bln). Sees 2025 revenue increasing by close to 20% in USD-terms. Strong surge in AI demand is seen continuing in 2025. (Newswires)

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: DAX: +1.70% at 20,616, FTSE 100: +1.21% at 8,301, CAC 40: +0.69% at 7,475, Euro Stoxx 50: +1.09% at 5,035, AEX: +1.01% at 894, IBEX 35: +1.25% at 11,899, FTSE MIB: +1.49% at 35,647, SMI: +0.69% at 11,784, PSI: +1.29% at 6,459.

SECTORS: Financials 1.87%, Utilities 1.79%, IT 1.37%, Healthcare 1.33%, Materials 1.24%, Industrials 1.22%, Telecoms 0.88%, Energy 0.83%, Consumer Disc 0.64%, Consumer Stpl 0.24%

FTSE 100

Barclays (BARC LN) - Apple (AAPL) is in talks with Barclays and with Synchrony Financial (SYF) to replace Goldman Sachs (GS) in credit card deal, according to a source cited by Reuters. (Reuters)

BP (BP/ LN) / Shell (SHEL LN) - New York City lawsuit against Exxon (XOM), BP and Shell has been dismissed; lawsuit saw the co's liable for misleading the public about their products. (Newswires)

Ex-dividends - Diploma (DPLM LN) and Compass (CPG LN) will trade without entitlement to their latest dividend payouts. (dividenddata)

Flutter (FLTR LN) - Downside in Flutter and DraftKings (DKNG) (in US trade on Wednesday) attributed to Maryland hiking sports betting tax rate to 30% from 15%; Also announced increase the cannabis tax rate from 9% to 15% (effective FY27 (July 2026)). (Newswires)

Rio Tinto (RIO LN) - Co. Q4 Pilbara iron ore output fell 1% Y/Y to 86.5mln tons, iron ore shipments fell 1% Y/Y to 85.7mln tons, mined copper rose 26% Y/Y to 202k tons, aluminium output fell 1% Y/Y to 837k tons, Co. stated Kennecott production will be impacted in 2025 and 2026 in line with the annualised mine production rate from last three quarters of 2024. On China, the economy has presented mixed signals during Q4 due to property market headwinds, however there were signs of stabilisation in November. (Newswires)

Shell (SHEL LN) - Co. to halt Spain gas trading operations due to tax reasons, via Cinco Dias citing sources. (Cinco Dias)

UK Housing - UK RICS House Price Balance (Dec) 28% vs. Exp. 28% (Prev. 25%); RICS Chief Economists says the survey "points to a further improvement in sentiment in the housing market despite concerns about the potential impact of rising bond yields on borrowing costs". (RICS)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

AB Foods (ABF LN) downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Citi

DAX

Volkswagen (VOW GY) - Chinese investors are interested in unwanted German car factories and investing in Volkswagen (VOW GY) factories is highly feasible, according to a source familiar with Chinese government thinking cited by Reuters. CFO says after cost-cutting deal, productivity must go up, according to Reuters. (Reuters)

Zalando (ZAL GY) - FY24 (EUR): Revenue 10.5bln (exp. 10.48bln), Adj. EBIT 510mln; exceeds its own profitability guidance for FY24 after better-than-expected Q4. (Newswires) Shares +7.3% in pre-market trade

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

Fraport (FRA GY) - 61.6mln passengers carried in 2024, +3.7% Y/Y. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

CAC

Kering (KER FP) - Co. and Ardian sign an investment agreement regarding prime real estate assets in Paris; Net proceeds for Kering will amount to EUR 837mln. Ardian to hold 60% stake in portfolio, Kering to hold 40%. Deal expected to close in Q1 25. (Newswires)

Renault (RNO FP) - In 2024, says all brands are growing thanks to ten launches. FY Total Vehicle Sales 2.26mln, +1.3% Y/Y. Europe +3.5%; EVs are 13% of total car sales in 2024 (vs. 11.6% in 9m). (Newswires)

Saint Gobain (SGO FP) - Completed acquisition of Ovniber in Mexico and Central America. (Newswires)

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

ADP (ADP FP) - Paris airport traffic in Dec 2024, 8.3mn passengers +5% Y/Y. (Newswires)

Alstom (ALO FP) - To overhaul and modernise 181 bi-level commuter rail cars for Metrolink in Canada. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Klepierre (LI FP) downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at BNP Paribas

Safran (SAF FP) downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley

PAN EUROPE

Repsol (REP SM) - Q4 estimated production 554k BPD, refining margin indicator in Spain of USD 4.80/bbl. (Newswires)

Stellantis (STLAM IM/STLAP FP) - Q4 Global Unit Deliveries 1.40mln, -9% Y/Y. In Enlarge Europe, -6% Y/Y; North America -28% Y/Y. (Newswires)

UMG (UMG NA) - Pershing Square exercised its right to request an offering and secondary listing of UMG in the US. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

SMI

Geberit (GEBN SW) - Q4 (CHF): Sales 3.00bln (exp. 3.09bln), constant with prev. year due to unfavourable currency developments. Adjusts FY24 EBITDA margin "slightly below prior year". (Newswires)

Novartis (NOVN SW) - Won a temporary pause to Entresto generic launch in the US. (Newswires)

Richemont (CFR SW) - Q3 (CHF): Sales 6.15bln (exp. 5.64bln), Sales at constant FX +10% (exp. +0.92%); Europe Rev. +19% (exp. +6.38%), Japan +19% (exp. 18.7%), Americas +22% (exp. +10.4%), APAC -7% (exp. -15.8%). Notes of continued weak demand in Mainland China. Watchmaker business sales -8% Y/Y, Jewellery business sales +14%. (Newswires)

Sika (SIKA SW) - Expands its global footprint with new plants in Singapore and China. (Newswires)

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

SCANDINAVIA

Aker BP (AKERBP NO) - Q4 Update: Due to underlift, net volume sold was 439.2 mboepd; equity production avg. 439 mboepd (prev. guided 430-440). (Newswires)

Kesko (KESKOB FH) - December sales +7.1% Y/Y, +3.9% in comparable terms. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

US

CLOSES: SPX +1.83% at 5,950, NDX +2.31% at 21,238, DJIA +1.65% at 43,222, RUT +1.99% at 2,263

SECTORS: Consumer Staples -0.09%, Health +0.24%, Real Estate +0.44%, Industrials +0.67%,, Materials +0.91%, Energy +1.39%, Utilities +1.46%, Technology +2.22%, Financials +2.58%, Communication Services +2.66%, Consumer Discretionary +3.02%.

Apple (AAPL) - Chinese smartphone annual shipments rose 4% Y/Y in 2024 to 285mln units and China Q4 smartphone shipments rose 5% Y/Y to 77.4mln units, while Apple (AAPL) smartphone shipments from China fell 25% Y/Y to 13.1mln units in Q4, according to Canalys. (Canalys)

TikTok - US President-elect Trump considers executive order hoping to save TikTok from ban in US law, according to Washington Post. (Washington Post)

16 Jan 2025 - 06:55- Research Sheet- Source: Newsquawk