Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 19th August 2025

ASIA

APAC stocks traded mixed following the ultimately flat performance stateside amid a lack of fresh macro catalysts, as focus centred on geopolitical updates and amid cautiousness ahead of Powell's speech at Jackson Hole on Friday. ASX 200 pulled back from record highs with heavy losses in healthcare as CSL shares fell by a double-digit percentage after the announcement to spin-off its flu vaccine business and cut 15% of its workforce, while tech was at the other end of the spectrum and miners also gained post-BHP earnings despite the mining giant reporting a 26% drop in FY underlying profit. Nikkei 225 swung between gains and losses after failing to sustain the initial upward momentum that had lifted the index to a fresh record high. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp kept afloat following a firm liquidity effort by the PBoC which injected CNY 580bln through its 7-day reverse repo operation, while there were also comments yesterday by Chinese Premier Li who said the nation should consolidate and expand the positive trend in the economy, as well as stabilise market expectations and should continue to stimulate consumption potential.

Shein IPO - Shein has reportedly weighed moving back to China in order to facilitate HK IPO. (Newswires)

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: Euro Stoxx 50 -0.25% at 5,435, Dax 40 -0.23% at 24,302, FTSE 100 +0.21% at 9,158, CAC 40 -0.50% at 7,884, FTSE MIB -0.03% at 42,642, IBEX 35 -0.17% at 15,252, PSI +1.28% at 7,880, SMI -0.15% at 12,056, AEX +0.13% at 897.

SECTORS: Healthcare 1.48%, Telecoms 0.62%, Consumer Stpl 0.36%, Industrials 0.01%, IT -0.01%, Consumer Disc -0.12%, Financials -0.39%, Utilities -0.50%, Energy -0.52%, Materials -0.61%

FTSE 100

Balfour Beatty (BBY LN) - Co. appoints William Motherway as VP of risk for US infrastructure operations. (Newswires)

Rio Tinto (RIO LN) - US appeals court temporarily blocks the land transfer for Arizona's Resolution Copper project. (Newswires)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

Fresnillo (FRES LN) downgraded to Hold from Add at Peel Hunt

Metro Bank (MTRO LN) upgraded to Outperform from Sector Perform at RBC

Legal & General (LGEN LN) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at UBS

DAX

Volkswagen (VOW3 GY) - Volkswagen Mexico and Autoworkers' Union Sitiavw reach wage agreement on a 4% rise for 2025, the automaker says. (Newswires)

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

Merck (MRK GY) downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Barclays

CAC

Sanofi (SAN FP) - Beyfortus (nirsevimab) approved in Singapore to protect all infants against RSV disease. (PR Newswire)

Vinci (DG FP) - Co. won design and build contract in Australia, valued at about EUR 450mln. (Newswires)

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

ADP (ADP FP) - July: Passengers 36.3mln, +1.4% Y/Y. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

PAN EUROPE

Geopolitics - Russia's Kremlin said US President Trump and Russian President Putin held a phone call in which they discussed the idea of exploring the possibility of raising the level of Russian and Ukrainian representatives in the negotiations.

Mining Names - BHP (BHP AT) - FY (USD) underlying net 10.2bln (exp. 10.2bln, prev. 13.4bln Y/Y), rev. 51.3bln (prev. 55.7bln Y/Y), Co. announces divestment of Carajas assets in Brazil for up to USD 465mln. (Newswires)

Mediobanca (MB IM) - Co. says ECB has authorised it to acquire control of Banca Generali (G IM). (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

SMI

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

PSP Swiss Property (PSPN SW) - H1 (CHF): EPS 4.24 (prev. 3.41 Y/Y), Net Income 194.3mln (prev. 156.3mln Y/Y). Confirms outlook 2025. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

SCANDINAVIA

Jyske Bank (JYSK DC) - Q2 (DKK): NII 2.18bln (exp. 2.17bln), Net Income 1.28bln (exp. 1.09bln), Core Income 3.27bln (exp. 3.11bln). 2025 Outlook: Expectations are in line with the assumptions for the financial targets for 2028. Notes that core income is exp. to decline in 2025, as a result of lower NII. T Loan impairment charges will remain low in 2025. (Newswires)

Skanska (SKAB SS) - Received a USD 249mln project in NY for bridge cable dehumidification. (Newswires)

TietoEvery (TIETO FH) - TietoEvery Banking will get fixed fee increase of about EUR 35mln. Court ruling on a customer dispute remains value and contributes to H2 financial performance. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

US

CLOSES: SPX -0.02% at 6,449, NDX +0.01% at 23,713, DJI -0.08% at 44,910, RUT +0.40% at 2,296.

SECTORS: Industrials +0.4%, Consumer Discretionary +0.38%, Technology +0.13%, Financials +0.12%, Consumer Staples +0.08%, Health -0.23%, Utilities -0.49%, Energy -0.57%, Materials -0.58%, Communication Services -0.7%, Real Estate -0.95%.

Arm (ARM) - Co. hires Amazon (AMZN) AI chip director Rami Sinno to aid its effort to build in-house chip, via Reuters. (Reuters)

NVIDIA (NVDA) - Co. would need to increase H20 prices by 18% in response to the US Government's profit-sharing policy, according to Money UDN citing a report by Deepwater Asset Management's Munster. 

Intel (INTC) - US President Trump's administration is reportedly considering taking a 10% stake in Intel, via Bloomberg citing sources; reportedly considering converting the Co's Chips Act grants into equity

Palo Alto Networks (PANW) - Q4 2025 (USD): Adj. EPS 0.95 (exp. 0.89), Revenue 2.536bln (exp. 2.502bln). Outlook: Q1 revenue 2.45-2.47bln (exp. 2.44bln). FY revenue 10.475-10.525bln (exp. 10.42bln). Q1 EPS 0.88-0.90 (exp. 0.84). FY EPS 3.75-3.85 (exp. 3.65). (Newswires)

US Rating - S&P affirms US at AA+; Outlook Stable

19 Aug 2025 - 06:52- Research Sheet- Source: Newsquawk