Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 16th September 2024

ASIA

APAC stocks were mixed amid the holiday-thinned conditions with many key markets in the region closed and as participants braced for this week's central bank announcements including from the FOMC, BoE and BoJ. ASX 200 mildly gained as real estate and financials led the advances across most sectors aside from defensives. Hang Seng was dragged lower amid the absence of mainland participants and with underperformance seen in property developers after Chinese house prices further deteriorated, while the latest Chinese Industrial Production and Retail Sales also disappointed.

BHP (BHP AT) - Warns that AI growth will worsen the copper shortfall and sees demand for the red metal to increase more than 70% by 2050, according to FT. (FT)

Chinese Data - Chinese Industrial Output YY (Aug) 4.5% vs. Exp. 4.8% (Prev. 5.1%); Urban Investment (YTD)YY (Aug) 3.4% vs. Exp. 3.5% (Prev. 3.6%); Retail Sales YY (Aug) 2.1% vs. Exp. 2.5% (Prev. 2.7%); China House Prices YY (Aug) -5.3% (Prev. -5.0%)

Nippon Steel Corp. (5401 JT) - Nippon Steel may bid for Italy's troubled ex-Ilva steel plant, Il Sole reports, adding that discussions between Italian officials and the Japanese embassy discussed the potential offer last week.

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: DAX: +0.92% at 18,689, FTSE 100: +0.39% at 8,273, CAC 40: +0.41% at 7,465, Euro Stoxx 50: +0.61% at 4,843, AEX: +0.71% at 900, IBEX 35: +1.23% at 11,540, FTSE MIB: +0.34% at 33,568, SMI: +0.46% at 12,045, PSI: +0.68% at 6,839.

SECTORS: IT 1.22%, Materials 1.16%, Telecoms 0.89%, Industrials 0.87%, Consumer Disc 0.81%, Financials 0.79%, Utilities 0.75%, Energy 0.62%, Healthcare 0.30%, Consumer Stpl 0.01%

FTSE 100

AstraZeneca (AZN LN) - Imfinzi perioperative regimen reduced the risk of recurrence by 32% and the risk of death by 25% vs. neoadjuvant chemotherapy alone in muscle-invasive bladder cancer in the NIAGARA Phase III trial. Positive results from the NIAGARA Phase III trial showed AstraZeneca’s Imfinzi (durvalumab) in combination with chemotherapy demonstrated a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in the primary endpoint of event-free survival (AstraZeneca)

BP (BP/ LN) - After determining conditions are safe to return, it is restarting operations at its Castrol Lubricants facility in Port Allen, LA. Storm Francine did not have significant impacts on its offshore assets in the Gulf of Mexico. (Newswires)

Barclays (BARC LN) - Co. is struggling to sell its stake in UK payments business, due to disagreements on its valuation, via Reuters citing sources. (Reuters)

Rentokil (RTO LN) – Trian Partners, Nelson Peltz’s activist hedge fund, is said to be calling for a shakeup at Rentokil following a slide in share prices. (Times/CityAM)

Rightmove (RMV LN) – REA Group (REA AT) is reportedly poised to increase its offer for Rightmove the GBP 5.6bln bid was rejected last week, according to The Mail on Sunday sources. REA has until September 30th to make a firm offer for Rightmove under UK takeover rules. (The Mail on Sunday/CityAM)

Shell (SHEL LN) - Says it's ramping up production at Appomattox, Mars, Vito, Ursa and Olympus following the resolution of downstream issues. Perdudi, Auger, and Enchilada/salsa remain shut in due to other downstream issues. Drilling means paused at whale asset. (Newswires)

UK Housing - UK Rightmove House Price Index YY (Sep) 1.2% (Prev. 0.8%); Rightmove House Price Index MM (Sep) 0.8% (Prev. -1.5%); Rightmove said the UK housing market recovered momentum this month following the BoE's first rate cut in over three years and amid greater political certainty following the July election, but noted that concerns remain.

OTHER UK COMPANIES

Shein IPO - Shein faces greater political scrutiny ahead of its planned London IPO with a Labour MP calling for the UK government to ban imported products made by forced labour in Xinjiang, according to FT. (FT)

BROKER MOVES

DAX

Commerzbank (CBK GY) - UniCredit (UCG IM) CEO Orcel in a Handelsblatt interview says "in case of Commerzbank merger, savings could be achieved in central functions, tech and data. Will be an active shareholder, after all, we hold a 9% stake and have invested EUR 1.5bln. Merger with Commerzbank could create value for all stakeholders." Commerzbank declined to comment on these comments. Elsewhere, top officials within Germany were reportedly not informed in advance about the invitation for UniCredit to bid for the government stake in Commerzbank, via FT citing sources. (Handelsblatt/FT)

Daimler Truck (DTG GY) - To start series production of fully-electric heavy truck. (Newswires)

Munich Re (MUV2 GY), Property Reinsurance - Munich Re CEO dismissed calls for property reinsurance price cuts, calling them "nonsense.," FT reports. He argued that rising costs, driven by climate change, justified higher premiums and that reinsurers are still recovering from catastrophe-hit years. CEO also highlighted challenges in finding affordable insurance in disaster-prone areas and the need for public-private schemes to manage large-scale risks like cyber attacks. (Newswires)

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

MTU Aero (MTX GY) downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Citi Shares -1.9% in pre-market trade

CAC

Eurofins (ERF FP) - Co. network expands its BioPharma product testing offering in the US with the acquisition of Infinity Laboratories. (Newswires)

Rexel (RXL FP) - BoD rejects an unsolicited prelim proposal from QXO (QXO). The proposal values Rexel at EUR 28-28.40/shr. Says the deal significantly undervalues the Co. and does not reflect its value creation potential through its "Power Up 25" plan. (Newswires)

Sanofi (SAN FP) and Regeneron (REGN) - Announces US FDA has approved Dupixent as an add-on maintenance treatment for patients aged 12-17yrs with inadequately controlled chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps. (Newswires)

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

Ipsen (IPN FP) - Trial investigating Cabometyx (cabozantinib) in combination with atezolizumab demonstrated a positive trend towards improvement for one of the primary endpoints of overall survival, but did not meet statistical significance. Ipsen will not pursue regulatory submissions for the combination regimen in countries where we have commercialization rights (outside of the US and Japan). Remain confident in the proven profile of Cabometyx as a monotherapy and in combination with immunotherapy, across approved and potential future indications. (Ipsen)

Vallourec (VK FP) - Co. to buy Thermotite Do Brasil for USD 17.5mln. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Icade (ICAD FP) upgraded to Buy from Sell at Citi

PAN EUROPE

Banca Generali (BGN IM) - To pay EUR 3.04/shr for every share of Intermonte, a takeover bid aimed at delisting. (Newswires)

Eni (ENI IM) - Reportedly in talks with several funds over a potential sale of another minority stake in low-carbon unit Plenitude, via Reuters sources. Talks between Eni and investors on Plenitude based on valuation of over EUR 10bln for the business, the sources added. (Reuters)

Luxury names - Chinese Retail Sales YY (Aug) 2.1% vs. Exp. 2.5% (Prev. 2.7%)

Ryanair (RYA ID), Boeing (BA) - Ryanair CEO said it may receive only 20 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft by next summer, down from 25, due to the ongoing Boeing workers' strike, CNBC reports. The airline was initially set to get 30 planes by the summer of 2025 but has faced delays and supply chain issues. (CNBC)

Saipem (SPM IM) - Awarded offshore contract in Qatar for USD 4bln. (Newswires)

UniCredit (UCG IM) - ECB approves UniCredit EUR 1.7bln share buy-back tranche and approval was based on financial information provided by UniCredit that demonstrated a robust position in stress scenarios. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Generali (G IM) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Jefferies

SMI

Roche (ROG SW) - Halozyme announces FDA approval of Roche's Subcutaneous OCREVUS ZUNOVO with ENHANZE for people with relapsing and primary progressive multiple sclerosis. (Roche)

SoftwareOne (SWON SW) - Reportedly considering a deal for Crayon as APAX closes in, according to Bloomberg. (Bloomberg)

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

Nestle (NESN SW) downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley

SCANDINAVIA

Genmab (GMAB DC) - Treatment with rinatabart sesutecan (Rina-S) showed an encouraging response rate in heavily pretreated patients with ovarian cancer in the dose expansion cohort. Responses with Rina-S were observed across FRα expression levels. Phase 3 trial will further evaluate the safety and efficacy of Rina-S at 120 mg/m2 in patients with advanced ovarian cancer. (Newswires)

Sampo (SAMPO FH) - Directed issuance of new Sampo A shares to TopDanmark (TOP DC) shareholders in connection with the exchange offer. BoD has resolved to issue 48.19mn new Sampo A shares. The subscription price for offer shares is EUR 41.50/shr. Sampo increases its share buyback programme to EUR 475mln and extends it to 30 Nov 2024. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

US

CLOSES: SPX +0.54% at 5,626, NDX +0.47% at 19,515, DJIA +0.72% at 41,394, RUT +2.49% at 2,182.

SECTORS: Utilities +1.41%, Communication Services +1.02%, Industrials +0.98%, Materials +0.89%, Consumer Staples +0.61%, Real Estate +0.59%, Consumer Discretionary +0.51%, Technology +0.42%, Energy +0.42%, Financials +0.34%, Health +0.19%.

Boeing (BA) - CFO says 'there was disconnect' with unions on proposal and strike will jeopardise recovery and will impact production and deliveries. Q3 margins to be negative at defense unit. (Newswires)

Google (GOOGL) - EU Antitrust officials reportedly likely to order Google to stop anti-competitive Adtech practices but with no break-up order for now, according to Reuters citing sources. Regulators could issue a break-up order at a later stage if anti-competitive practices continue. EU decision is unlikely before EU Antitrust Chief Vestager leaves office in November. Decision likely to be issued by end of 2024 or 2025 under new antitrust chief. (Reuters)

16 Sep 2024 - 06:56- Research Sheet- Source: Newsquawk