Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 17th December 2024

ASIA

APAC stocks eventually traded mixed after the region initially showed a positive bias, taking cues from Wall Street, and in the absence of macro newsflow with looming risk events. ASX 200 firmed with banks underpinning the index, with Westpac among the gainers while its CFO announced plans to retire. Nikkei 225 trimmed earlier upside as traders were cautious ahead of the BoJ, with the decision contingent on the FOMC's announcement hours beforehand. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp traded within narrow parameters in uneventful trade amid quiet newsflow, with participants remaining non-committal ahead of major risk events.

Alibaba Group (9988 HK/ BABA) - Co. sells Intime; Expected gross proceeds to Alibaba from Intime sale is approximately RMB 7.4bln; Alibaba expects to record losses of approximately RMB 9.3bln as a result of sale of Intime. (Newswires

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: DAX -0.45% at 20,314, FTSE 100 -0.46% at 8,262, CAC 40 -0.71% at 7,357, Euro Stoxx 50 -0.46% at 4,945, AEX -0.23% at 891, IBEX 35 +0.23% at 11,779, FTSE MIB -0.43% at 34,740, SMI -0.05% at 11,689.

SECTORS: Healthcare 1.16%, Telecoms 0.07%, Industrials 0.01%, Financials 0.00%, IT -0.10%, Consumer Stpl -0.40%, Utilities -0.53%, Materials -0.67%, Consumer Disc -1.07%, Energy -1.63%

FTSE 100

BT (BT/ LN) - UK government approves Bharti Televentures' deal to buy a 24.5% stake in BT; BT will establish national security committee to oversee strategic work that has an impact on or is in respect of the national security of the UK. (Newswires)

Flutter (FLTR LN) - Fitch affirms co. at BBB-; outlook stable. (Newswires)

Rio Tinto (RIO LN) / BHP (BHP AT) - BHP and Rio Tinto, alongside BlueScope Steel, will develop Australia’s largest electric iron-making furnace at Kwinana, near Perth. The pilot will produce 30-40k tons of molten iron annually, using natural gas and hydrogen supplied by Woodside Energy to decarbonise steel production. (Newswires)

Rolls Royce (RR/ LN) / Prudential (PRU LN) - Co's are to help devise a UK Industrial Strategy; with the Chair’s of Prudential and Barclays's (BARC LN) to sit on a policy advisory board; a first meeting is to be held with Chancellor Reeves on Tuesday. (Bloomberg)

Shell (SHEL LN) - Restarts crude unit at Louisiana refinery, according to Reuters sources. (Reuters)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

Pershing Square Holdings (PSH LN) - Announced an additional share buyback program of USD 100mln. (Newswires)

Shein IPO - Shein is considering asking UK regulators to waive listing rules that require at least 10% of its shares to be sold via IPO in London, according to Reuters citing sources. (Reuters)

BROKER MOVES

DAX

Volkswagen (VOW3 GY) - IG Metall union says Volkswagen and unions paused negotiations on Monday night, and they are to continue on Tuesday. (Newswires)

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

ThyssenKrupp Nucera (NCH2 GY) - Q4 (EUR): Sales 250mln (exp. 252mln), EBIT Loss 3mln (exp. 7mln). Expects 2024/25 sales at 850-950mln (exp. 945mln), expects EBIT between -30mln to +5mln (exp. -6.7mln). CEO said coping with current phase of temporarily somewhat slower growth. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

CAC

EssilorLuxottica (EL FP) - Signed an agreement to acquire Espansione Group for accelerating its growth in the mid-tech space. (Newswires)

French Stocks - French Central Bank Forecasts: 2024 Growth seen at 1.1% (unchanged), 2025 seen at 0.9% (prev. 1.2% in Sept.); 2026 at 1.3% (prev. 1.5%), 2027% at 1.3%. HICP inflation 1.6% in 2025, 1.7% in 2026 and 1.9% in 2027. (Newswires)

Sanofi (SAN FP) - Prelim estimate for currency impact on Q4'24 sales is between -1% and -2%; on business EPS between -4 and -5%. (Newswires)

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

Atos (ATO FP) - Announced the final amounts of the subscriptions to the reserve capital increases for creditors under the accelerated safeguard plan. (Newswires)

Casino (CO FP) - Tanure reportedly in initial talks with Casino over GPA shares, according to Reuters source. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Airbus (AIR FP) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank

Safran (SAF FP) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank

PAN EUROPE

Oil Spill - A Russian tanker, the Volgoneft-212, ran aground in the Black Sea, spilling heavy fuel oil into the Kerch Strait, WSJ reports. The incident was caused by stormy weather, and resulted in one crew member's death, while 13 others were evacuated. Another tanker nearby was also damaged.

Telefonica (TEF SM) - Telefonica Brasil signed an agreement with Brazil authorities to change fixed telephone contracts from concession to authorisation format. (Newswires)

Telecom Italia (TIT IM) - An Italian court has given the Government and Telecom Italia until January 20th 2025 to discuss a potential accord over the co's request for EUR 1bln, according to Reuters citing sources. (Reuters)

UCB (UCB BB) - UCB announces ORCHESTRA1 minzasolmin study did not meet primary or secondary clinical endpoints. UCB reinforces commitment to Parkinson’s research, investigating multiple and distinct treatment approaches with different mechanisms of actions, to improve symptom management and slow or halt the progression of disease. (UCB)

Universal Music Group (UMG NA) - Universal Music Group's Virgin unit has agreed to acquire Downtown Music Holdings for USD 775mln. Founded in 2007, Downtown, initially a music publisher, now offers a range of services to independent artists, including music creation, distribution, and royalty collection.

BROKER MOVES

SMI

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

Sandoz (SDZ SW) - Takes further steps to resolve legacy US Generic Drug antitrust class action litigation; notes no impact on FY or mid-term financial guidance. Provision of USD 256mln taken to cover potential additional settlement costs with regard to the litigation. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

SCANDINAVIA

BROKER MOVES

US

CLOSES: SPX +0.38% at 6,074, NDX +1.45% at 22,097, DJI -0.25% at 43,717, RUT +0.64% at 2,362.

SECTORS: Consumer Discretionary +1.74%, Communication Services +1.29%, Technology +1.01%, Industrials +0.08%, Financials -0.04%, Consumer Staples -0.36%, Real Estate -0.60%, Utilities -0.83%, Materials -0.98%, Health -1.25%, Energy -2.19%.

Arm Holdings (ARM), Qualcomm (QCOM) - Arm Holdings Plc and Qualcomm Inc. are embroiled in a legal dispute before a Delaware jury, centered on Qualcomm's 2021 acquisition of Nuvia and a licensing agreement for Arm’s technology. The conflict, arising from a shift in their relationship, could disrupt the chip industry, Bloomberg said. (Bloomberg)

ByteDance - TikTok and its parent company ByteDance have requested the US Supreme Court block the upcoming ban on the app, set for January. The move comes as they seek a delay while appealing the decision, citing support from President-elect Donald Trump. Separately, TikTok CEO Shou Chew met with president-elect Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago ahead of a US ban set for January, over national security concerns. The meeting followed Trump's comments about possibly reversing the ban to protect the app.

17 Dec 2024 - 06:40- Research Sheet- Source: Newsquawk