Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 19th September 2024

ASIA

APAC stocks were in the green as the region reacted to the Fed's oversized 50bps rate cut. ASX 200 was underpinned and printed a fresh record high albeit despite somewhat ambiguous jobs data which showed headline Employment Change topped forecast but was entirely due to Part-Time work as Full-Time jobs contracted. Nikkei 225 outperformed and surged above the 37,000 level on the back of a weaker currency. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp conformed to the positive mood with the former led higher by strength in tech and property after the HKMA cut rates by 50bps in lockstep with the Fed, while the mainland index was also boosted following the PBoC's continued liquidity efforts and despite the lingering EU tariff concerns.

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: DAX: -0.03% at 18,720, FTSE 100: -0.68% at 8,254, CAC 40: -0.57% at 7,445, Euro Stoxx 50: -0.50% at 4,836, AEX: -0.85% at 893, IBEX 35: -0.16% at 11,685, FTSE MIB: -0.37% at 33,655, SMI: -0.55% at 11,976, PSI: -0.93% at 6,755.

SECTORS: Energy -0.02%, Telecoms -0.07%, Financials -0.27%, Industrials -0.36%, Materials -0.41%, Healthcare -0.65%, Consumer Disc -0.68%, Consumer Stpl -0.70%, Utilities -0.88%, IT -0.91%

FTSE 100

BP (BP/ LN) – BP’s Pan American Energy is looking at supply contracts with Asian consumers to allocate LNG from the floating project in Argentina-Pan American. (Newswires)

FTSE 100 Ex-Dividend - Unite Group (UTG LN) will trade without entitlement to its latest dividend payout. (dividenddata)

Rolls Royce (RR/ LN) – Co. & Netinera signed a further contract for a complete overhaul of around 170 rail MTU power packs. (Newswires)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

Asos (ASC LN) downgraded to Reduce from Hold at HSBC

Ashtead (AHT LN) initiated with Buy at Berenberg

DAX

Commerzbank (CBK GY) – Co. is looking to speed up its process to replace outgoing CEO Knof, amid the recent developments with UniCredit (UCG IM), according to Bloomberg. Sources suggest CFO Orlopp is still viewed as the strongest candidate. (Newswires)

Deutsche Telekom (DTE GY) - T-Mobile (TMUS) expects to add 12mln mobile broadband customers by 2028; sees USD 38-39bln (exp. 33.83bln) in EBITDA next year. Will return up to USD 50bln through dividends and share buybacks through 2027. Boosts quarterly dividend by 35% to USD 0.88/shr. Expects to deliver service revenue of USD 75-76bln in 2027. Expects TFB to deliver double-digit service revenue compound annual growth rate from 2023 to 2027. Expects 2027 adj. FCF to be USD 18-19bln in 2027. (Newswires) Note: as of 2023, Deutsche Telekom holds a 51% stake in T-Mobile.

Deutsche Bank (DBK GY) – Lowers its Prime Rate to 8%. (Newswires)

Vonovia (VNA GY) – Initiation of the process to conclude a domination and profit and loss transfer agreement between Vonovia SE and Deutsche Wohnen SE (DWNI GY). Deutsche Wohnen SE is seen +20.5% in pre-market trade (Newswires)

Volkswagen (VOW3 GY) - IG Metall flyer repeats the demand that all locations must remain and a new job security deal. (Newswires)

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

Wacker Chemie (WCH GY) – Confirms strategy and long-term growth targets; sales to reach EUR 10bln by 2030; EBITDA margin of over 20% targeted. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

CAC

Airbus (AIR FP) / Rolls Royce (RR/ LN) – The Hong Kong probe found that the Cathay Airbus defect could have caused “extensive” damage, according to AFP. (AFP)

Thales (HO FP) – Won contract for seven additional SAMP/T NG in France. (Newswires)

Vinci (DG FP) – Wins two new road link contracts in Australia for a contract worth more than EUR 200mln. (Newswires)

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

PAN EUROPE

Arcadis (ARCAD NA) – Co. partners with Heineken (HEIA NA) to support carbon reduction efforts at breweries. (Newswires)

Auto Stocks - Europe car sales fell 16.5% Y/Y in August, according to Bloomberg. (Bloomberg)

Santander (SAN SM) – Lowers its Prime Rate to 8%. (Newswires)

Port Strikes - A potential dockworkers' strike on the US East Coast and the Gulf of Mexico could disrupt goods flow immediately, affecting about half of US imports, Reuters reports. Retailers and manufacturers are shifting cargo to the West Coast to mitigate risks. A prolonged strike could lead to significant delays and backlogs. (Reuters)

UniCredit (UCG IM) - CEO said the German Government has sold its 4.5% share to UniCredit. For the moment no plans to go above 9%, via FAZ. (FAZ)

BROKER MOVES

SMI

Holcim (HOLN SW) – Co. invests in low-carbon tech firm Sublime Systems. (Newswires)

Roche (ROG SW) - Positive phase III results show Xofluza significantly reduces the transmission of influenza viruses. Data from the CENTERSTONE study shows single-dose Xofluza reduces transmission of influenza from an infected person to household members. This is the first time that any antiviral used in the treatment of a respiratory viral illness has demonstrated a transmission reduction benefit in a global phase III study. Reducing the spread of infection in the household could help limit transmission within communities and societies, easing the burden of both seasonal and pandemic influenza on healthcare systems. (Roche)

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

SCANDINAVIA

Ericsson (ERICB SS)/ Nokia (NOKIA FH) - T-Mobile (TMUS) announced a technology partnership with NVIDIA (NVDA), Ericsson, and Nokia to advance the future of mobile networking with AI at the centre. (Newswires)

EQT (EQT SS) – To sell Open Systems to Swiss Post. (Newswires)

Novo Nordisk (NOVOB DC) – Him & Hers Health (HIMS) said it will sell compounded versions of Wegovy to patients in certain professions for USD 99/month. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

US

CLOSES: SPX -0.29% at 5,618, NDX -0.45% at 19,344, DJIA -0.25% at 41,503, RUT +0.04% at 2,206

SECTORS: Utilities -0.77%, Technology -0.51%, Consumer Staples -0.44%, Materials -0.38%, Real Estate -0.30%, Financials -0.28%, Consumer Discretionary -0.19%, Health -0.16%, Industrials -0.09%, Communication Services +0.02%, Energy +0.25%.

Alphabet (GOOG) - Google's offer to sell its AdX ad marketplace to address EU antitrust concerns has been deemed inadequate by European publishers, who seek a more comprehensive divestment to resolve conflicts of interest, Reuters reports; the EU is likely to initially impose restrictions on Google's practices rather than mandate asset sales. Alphabet's self-driving unit Waymo is in talks with Hyundai to manufacture autonomous taxis using Hyundai’s Ioniq 5 electric vehicles, replacing Zeekr's offerings; the negotiations coincide with upcoming US tariffs on Chinese imports. Separately, Alphabet's YouTube is revamping its TV app to allow creators to organise content into seasons and episodes and will integrate Google DeepMind's AI model to help generate video clips and offer AI-driven content ideas. Elsewhere, according to a filing, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22.5K shares on September 18th for a total USD 3.6mln.

Boeing (BA) - CEO says it is initiating temporary furloughs over the coming days to impact a large number of US-based execs, managers, and employees; adds it is important they take difficult steps to preserve cash and ensure it can successfully recover. (Newswires)

Sysco (SYY) - CEO Hourican said that traffic in Q4 was down roughly 3% at restaurants, and for the current quarter, that global industry traffic has "softened a bit" and "It's softer than that minus 3%". CEO added "We said in our conference a couple of weeks ago that July was minus 5%." The CEO later added that, despite this softness, the company has "full confidence" in its 2025 guidance. (Newswires)

19 Sep 2024 - 06:51- Research Sheet- Source: Newsquawk