Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 18th September 2024

ASIA

APAC stocks were mostly rangebound with participants lacking conviction heading into the crucial Fed policy decision. ASX 200 was contained amid light macro newsflow and a quiet overnight calendar heading into this week's central bank updates. Nikkei 225 initially rallied on currency weakness but then reversed course and briefly wiped out its gains after mixed data and as the JPY nursed some of its losses. Some BoJ policymakers are reportedly worried that they may not be able to increase interest rates much further as a stronger JPY would result in cheaper imports, slow inflation and impact corporate earnings, via WSJ citing sources. Shanghai Comp initially struggled for direction on return from the holiday closures before retreating below the 2,700 level. Hong Kong participants were absent from the market, while the weak activity data from over the weekend had little impact and the PBoC delayed its MLF operations once again.

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: DAX: +0.52% at 18,731, FTSE 100: +0.38% at 8,310, CAC 40: +0.51% at 7,487, Euro Stoxx 50: +0.67% at 4,860, AEX: +0.51% at 900, IBEX 35: +1.06% at 11,703, FTSE MIB: +0.63% at 33,780, SMI: +0.30% at 12,041, PSI: +0.41% at 6,818.

SECTORS: Consumer Disc 1.05%, Industrials 0.84%, IT 0.76%, Materials 0.72%, Financials 0.66%, Utilities 0.64%, Energy 0.50%, Consumer Stpl -0.20%, Telecoms -0.25%, Healthcare -0.74%

FTSE 100

Reckitt (RKT LN) – Co. has begun talks of a GBP 6bln sale of its Homecare assets, according to Bloomberg citing sources. A formal process is expected to begin within a few months and to be completed in 2025. (Bloomberg)

Rio Tinto (RIO LN) – Launches Biofuel Crop Farming trial for renewable diesel production in Australia. (Newswires)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

IHG (IHG LN) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman Sachs

Spectris (SXS LN) downgraded to Hold from Buy at HSBC

Whitbread (WTB LN) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman Sachs

DAX

Commerzbank (CBK GY) – German Finance Ministry plans to keep selling shares in the Co., according to Bloomberg; more sales would need unanimous approval from Government bodies. The CFO said the German Government should hold on to its shares and reflect calmly. (Bloomberg/Newswires)

Continental (CON GY) – Co. pushes ahead with preparations for a spinoff of its struggling car parts business, according to Bloomberg citing sources. (Bloomberg)

German Auto Names – DigiTimes reports that supply chain sources have highlighted that BMW (BMW GY), Mercedes-Benz (MBG GY) and Volkswagen (VOW3 GY) all face common challenges and are struggling to adapt to auto electrification. (DigiTimes)

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

Nordex (NDX1 GY) - UKA places order with Nordex for 68MW of N175/6.x (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

BMW (BMW GY) upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Citi; Citi removes stock from its focus list. (Newswires)

Commerzbank (CBK GY) upgraded to Equal Weight from Underweight at Barclays

CAC

Airbus (AIR FP) – Indonesian Air Force orders four Airbus H145 helicopters. (Newswires)

Danone (BN FP) – To double the number of global partnerships over the next two years. (Newswires)

Essilor Luxottica (EL FP) – Co. announced new corporate HQ in Paris. (Newswires)

Renault (RNO FP) – Renault Argentina announced a USD 350mln investment to build a new pickup truck model. (Newswires)

Vinci (DG FP) – August passenger traffic +6.2% Y/Y. (Newswires)

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

Air France (AF FP) – Increased services to Northern Europe, by co’s own operation and through a commercial cooperation agreement with SAS; adds 8 additional routes. (Newswires)

Eutelsat (ETL FP) – Co. and Cinetcomm signed a distribution agreement. (Newswires)

Ubisoft (UBI FP) - Electronic Arts (EA) says it is on track towards the high end of net bookings guidance provided on July 30th for Q2 and FY25. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

BNP Paribas (BNP FP) downgraded to Hold from Buy at HSBC

PAN EUROPE

Auto Stocks - China's Commerce Minister said in EV tariff talks with Germany's Economic Minister that there is deep integration of the Chinese and German auto industries, and the imposition of tariffs will seriously interfere with trade and investment cooperation. Chinese Commerce Minister added that the imposition of tariffs will cause damage to the interests of both sides, and it is hoped that Germany will proceed from its interests, and push the European Commission and China to work in the same direction. China hopes to reach a solution in line with WTO rules as soon as possible and avoid the escalation of China-EU economic and trade frictions. (Newswires)

Crypto Names – SIX Group is considering the creation of a European venue for crypto trading, to enter a market dominated by the likes of Binance and Coinbase (COIN), via FT citing global head of exchange Sibbern; article adds Co. is considering leveraging its reputation and Swiss crypto laws as a draw for large investors. (FT)

Generali (G IM) – Agreed to sell its Turkish business; a stake sale of 42% and to be completed by H1’25. (Newswires)

Moncler (MONC IM) – Grinta said it was exiting from the group by selling its residual stake; Moncler secondary ABB’s orders below EUR 49.80/shr risk missing, indicated demand exceeds deal size. (Newswires)

Poste Italiane (PST IM) – Italy approved a decree to sell a stake in Post Italiane; Italy to retain a 50% stake in the Co. (Newswires)

Stellantis (STLAM IM/STLAP FP) - UAW President Shawn Fain said the union will soon vote on authorising a strike against Stellantis, accusing the carmaker of failing to meet investment commitments from a previous agreement. Fain criticised Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares, calling him "the problem." (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

SMI

Novartis (NOVN SW) - FDA approves Novartis' Kisqali to reduce the risk of recurrence in people with HR+/HER2- early breast cancer. (Newswires)

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

Sonovo (SOON SW) downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Barclays

SCANDINAVIA

Elekta (EKTAB SS) - Co's AI-powered adaptive CT-Linac received a CE mark. (Newswires)

Skanska (SKAB SS) - Constructs new building in Texas for USD 87mln. (Newswires)

Novo Nordisk (NOVOB DC) - Ozempic is 'very likely' part of the next US price cut negotiations and is ready for the next round of price talks. (Newswires) Shares seen lower by 1% to 2%

BROKER MOVES

US

CLOSES: SPX +0.03% at 5,635, NDX +0.05% at 19,432, DJIA -0.04% at 41,606, RUT +0.74% at 2,205

SECTORS: Health -1.01%, Consumer Staples -0.93%, Real Estate -0.84%, Technology -0.09%, Utilities -0.08%, Materials +0.16%, Communication Services +0.41%, Financials +0.51%, Industrials +0.52%, Consumer Discretionary +0.62%, Energy +1.41%.

Apple (AAPL) - JPMorgan (JPM) is reportedly in talks with Apple to take over Credit Card from Goldman Sachs (GS), according to WSJ. (WSJ)

Leoni (LNNNY), Luxshare Precision Company - Apple (AAPL) supplier Luxshare acquires German auto supplier Leoni in diversification bid, DigiTimes reports. Companies in Apple's supply chain have been seeking to diversify from their dependence on the Cupertino company after iPhone sales in the Greater China region slumped in H1 of 2024 under competition from Chinese smartphone brands, the report added.

Salesforce (CRM)/ Nvidia (NVDA) - Cos forge strategic collaboration to advance AI agent innovation. (Newswires)

18 Sep 2024 - 06:52- Research Sheet- Source: Newsquawk