Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 19th August 2024

19th August 2024

ASIA

APAC stocks were mixed with a somewhat cautious tone amid geopolitical uncertainty after Hamas rejected the latest ceasefire proposal and as participants await this week's key events including the Jackson Hole Symposium. ASX 200 traded rangebound as outperformance in gold miners and utilities was offset by weakness in consumer stocks. Nikkei 225 swung between gains and losses and traded on both sides of the 38,000 level after mixed Machinery Orders data, while the index was then pressured again later in the session alongside a firmer currency. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp. gained amid stimulus hopes after Premier Li hinted on Friday at targeted measures to smooth the economic cycle and promote consumption, while a recent report noted weak Chinese data raised the pressure for Beijing to provide support and revived talk of regarding the idea of China issuing shopping vouchers.

Westpac (WBC AT) - Q3 (AUD) unaudited net 1.8bln (prev. 1.8bln Y/Y, up 6% from H1 quarterly avg.), Co. said the cost of living and high interest rates remain a challenge for some customers, many businesses are facing cost pressures and experiencing lower demand. (Newswires)

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: DAX +0.80% at 18,329, FTSE 100 -0.43% at 8,311, FTSE 250 -0.21% at 21,049, CAC 40 +0.35% at 7,450, IBEX 35 +0.59% at 10,950, FTSE MIB +2.20% at 33,041, PSI +0.44% at 6,656, Euro Stoxx 50 +0.71% at 4,841, SMI +0.29% at 12,186.

SECTORS: Financials 0.88%, Telecoms 0.55%, Consumer Disc 0.51%, Utilities 0.44%, Materials 0.35%, IT 0.21%, Industrials 0.12%, Consumer Stpl 0.00%, Healthcare 0.00%, Energy -0.25%

FTSE 100

Ashtead (AHT LN) - Co. shareholders have been urged to vote against new US-style executive pay at next month's AGM which could potentially see CEO Horgan's pay double, with proxy adviser Glass Lewis calling the potential pay increase "excessive". Ashtead has denied threatening to leave its UK listing for the US to put pressure on shareholders to greenlight more generous pay packages for executives. (Times)

UK Housing - UK Rightmove House Price Index YY (Aug) 0.8% (Prev. 0.4%); MM (Aug) -1.5% (Prev. -0.4%). "The [month-on-month] reduction is largely attributed to the annual slowdown in market activity during the school summer holidays when many potential buyers pause their home search. As a result, sellers who list their homes during this period often price more competitively to attract the reduced pool of buyers", according to Yahoo Finance. Rightmove said that following the BoE’s decision to cut rates on Aug 1, British real estate agents have seen a pick-up in demand from buyers; no. of potential buyers surged to 19% (prev. 11% M/M). (Yahoo Finance)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

OSB (OSB LN) downgraded to Hold from Add at Peel Hunt

DAX

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

Varta (VAR1 GY) – Announced commercial agreement on restructuring concept, for a reduction of existing debt of EUR 485mln to EUR 200mln. Long-term funding has been secured. DDR Tojner and Porsche (P911 GY) will become shareholders after the recapitalization is completed. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

CAC

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

Ubisoft (UBI FP) – Cut 45 jobs from its US offices in San Francisco and North Carolina, according to Bloomberg. (Bloomberg)

BROKER MOVES

PAN EUROPE

ACS (ACS SM) / Acciona (ANA SM) – The Cos have been awarded a contract worth USD 4.6bln to build an express lane in Georgia. (Newswires)

Enel (ENEL IM) – The Chilean Government said the expiration process of electric supply concession to the Co’s local unit will continue; the move comes after thousands of customers in the Santiago area were left without power following a storm. (Newswires)

Stellantis (STLAM IM/STLAP FP) - UAW President Shawn Fain escalated criticism of Stellantis CEO, accusing him of price gouging and breaching the union's labour contract, CNBC reported. The criticism continues the union's ongoing dispute following last year’s contentious bargaining talks. (CNBC)

BROKER MOVES

SMI

UBS (UBSG SW) – Co. will divest its Quantitative Investment Strategies business. The portfolio oversees funds worth around USD 1.5bln, and the transaction is expected to close by Q4'24. (Newswires)

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

SCANDINAVIA

Bavarian Nordic (BAVA DC) - “Bavarian Nordic is working closely with all stakeholders to ensure equitable access to our mpox vaccine during the current PHECS and PHEIC. Importantly, we have built a strong partnership with the Africa CDC, both on supply, but also expanding our manufacturing network to include Africa. The company has informed the Africa CDC that it has the capacity to manufacture 10 million doses by the end of 2025, in addition to current orders, and could already supply up to 2 million doses this year”. (Bavarian Nordic)

Ericsson (ERICB SS) - Ericsson has agreed to sell its US call-routing business, Iconectiv, to Koch Equity Development for USD 1bln. The deal, part of Ericsson's cost-cutting efforts, is expected to close in H1 2025, resulting in one-time earnings of about SEK 8.8bln. (Bloomberg)

Equinor (EQNR NO) – Production at Gullfaks C Platform in the North Sea has shut and some workers were evacuated as a precaution following a well incident; it is unclear when production will be restarted. Overall gas production will be cut by 6.6mln cubic metres per day on Monday. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

US

Apple (AAPL)- Co. reportedly has ‘several hundred’ working on a robot arm with an attached iPad, according to TechCrunch

CLOSES: SPX +0.20% at 5,554, NDX +0.09% at 19,508, DJIA +0.24% at 40,659, RUT +0.27% at 2,141.

SECTORS: Financials +0.62%, Utilities +0.4%, Technology +0.26%, Communication Services +0.21%, Consumer Staples +0.19%, Consumer Discretionary +0.14%, Materials +0.12%, Health +0.03%, Real Estate -0.04%, Energy -0.14%, Industrials -0.19%.

19 Aug 2024 - 06:50- Research Sheet- Source: Newsquawk