Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News

17th March 2023

ASIA

Asian stocks were positive amid the improved global risk appetite after recent distressed bank lifelines including the SNB liquidity backstop for Credit Suisse and with large US banks teaming up to deposit USD 30bln in First Republic Bank. ASX 200 (+0.4%) was marginally higher with the index kept afloat amid outperformance in energy and as the top-weighted financial industry benefitted from the recent banking sector relief, although gains were limited by losses in real estate and the defensive sectors. Nikkei 225 (+1.1%) made headway above the psychological 27,000 level with railway stocks overrepresented amongst the top gainers, while automakers lagged at the opposite end of the spectrum. Hang Seng (+1.8%) and Shanghai Comp. (+1.4%) were in an upbeat mood as energy and tech spearhead the advances in Hong Kong and with Baidu eyeing double-digit percentage gains, while the mainland also benefitted from the PBoC’s continued liquidity efforts.

EUROPEAN CLOSES

BOURSES: EURO STOXX 50 +2.03% at 4,116, FTSE 100 +0.89% at 7,410, DAX 40 +1.57% at 14,967, CAC 40 +2.03% at 7,025, FTSE MIB +1.38% at 25,918, IBEX 35 +1.50% at 8,890, SMI +1.93% at 10,719.

SECTORS: IT 2.97%, Consumer Disc 2.24%, Industrials 1.97%, Consumer Stpl 1.65%, Financials 1.58%, Utilities 1.45%, Materials 1.02%, Telecoms 0.46%, Healthcare 0.17%, Energy -1.05%.

FTSE 100

Flight Names - Which? has determined that airlines owe millions to passengers in unpaid refunds and expenses. (Guardian)

IDS (IDS LN) - UK MPs are calling on Ofcom to investigate late letter delivery by Royal Mail, saying the Co. has been prioritising parcels over letters. (BBC)

Payment Names - UK FCA has ordered providers to strengthen their controls, threatening to shut down shadow banks unless they can ensure customer money is safe. (Telegraph)

UK Cos - UK Chancellor Hunt abandoned plans for sovereign wealth funds to pay corporation tax on property and commercial enterprises, according to FT. (FT)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

GSK (GSK LN) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank

DAX

Bayer (BAYN GY) - Received US FDA NDA supplementary 23 approval for Levitra. (Newswires)

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

Vonovia (VNA GY) - FY22 (EUR): Reveneue 6.3bln (prev. 5.2bln), adj. EBITDA 2.8bln (prev. 2.3bln). FY23 guidance: adj. EBITDA 2.6-2.85bln. (Newswires(

BROKER MOVES

Symrise (SY1 GY) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman Sachs

CAC

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

Sanofi (SAN FP) - Cuts U.S. list price of Lantus®, its most-prescribed insulin, by 78% and caps out-of-pocket Lantus costs at USD 35 for all patients with commercial insurance. (Newswires)

Societe Generale (GLE FP) upgraded to Buy from Hold at HSBC

PAN EUROPE

A2A (A2A IM) - Entered a non-binding offer for a stake in Egea. (Newswires)

Banking Names - Fed's Discount Window - Weekly Fed balance sheet data released Thursday revealed that lending at the Fed's discount window spiked by a record high; the central bank's 'emergency loans' stood at USD 318bln (vs USD 15bln W/W). Capital Economics said that it showed the scale of the stresses in the financial system, and was a far more severe liquidity crunch than at the start of the pandemic (emergency loans peaked at USD 130bln then), and not far off the financial crisis peak of USD 437.5bln in 2008. "The size of the spike in the Fed’s emergency lending underlines that this is a very serious crisis in the banking system that will have significant knock-on effects on the real economy," CapEco wrote.

Enel (ENEL IM) - FY22 (EUR): Revenue 140mln (prev. 85mln), Net Income 5.4bln (prev. 5.59bln). Confirms FY guidance. (Newswires)

UniCredit (UCG IM) - Chairman says the former remuneration head did not step down due to a disagreement over the CEO's remuneration. (FT)

BROKER MOVES

SMI

Credit Suisse (CSGN SW) - Co. is being sued by shareholders in the US over a failure to disclose material weakness in internal controls and significant Q4 outflows. Elsewhere, Bloomberg reports that the Co. and UBS (UBSG SW) are opposed to the idea of a forced combination. Finally, Co. says its average Liquidity Coverage Ratio was unchanged between March 8 and March 14, despite the banking crisis, according to Reuters. (Newswires)

Richemont (CFR SW) - Intends to terminate its South African depository receipt programmes, to list its "A" shares in Johannesburg as a secondary listing. (Newswires)

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

SCANDINAVIA

BROKER MOVES

US

CLOSES: SPX +1.76% at 3,960, NDX +2.69% at 12,581, DJIA +1.17% at 32,246, RUT +1.45% at 1,771.

SECTORS: Technology +2.82%, Communication Services +2.77%, Financials +1.95%, Consumer Discretionary +1.88%, Industrials +1.27%, Materials +1.17%, Health +0.96%, Energy +0.94%, Utilities +0.67%, Real Estate -0.06%, Consumer Staples -0.07%.

Banking Names - US regulators confirmed that 11 banks announced USD 30bln in deposits into First Republic Bank (FRC). First Republic Bank said it had a cash position of USD 34bln as of March 15th, not including USD 30bln of uninsured deposits and said insured deposits from March 8th-15th have remained stable, while it noted that daily deposit outflows have slowed considerably and it suspended its common stock dividend, according to Reuters. It was also reported that banks' initial commitment to First Republic will be at least 120 days, according to Bloomberg.

17 Mar 2023 - 06:43- Research Sheet- Source: Newsquawk