Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 1st October 2024

ASIA

APAC stocks began the new quarter mixed amid a slew of data releases and several key market closures with markets in Mainland China, Hong Kong and South Korea closed, while participants also reflected on Fed chair Powell's recent comments and Israel's ground offensive in Lebanon. ASX 200 was pressured as underperformance in the mining, materials and financial sectors overshadowed the resilience in tech and defensives, while data releases were mixed as Retail Sales topped forecasts but Building Approvals showed a sharper-than-feared contraction. Nikkei 225 rallied after the recent heavy selling with the recovery facilitated by a weaker currency amid mixed Tankan data and varied BoJ opinions.

TSMC (2330 TT/TSM) - Co. said it has activated routine typhoon alert preparation procedures at all its Taiwan fabs and construction sites but does not expect a significant impact on operations. (Newswires)

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: DAX: -0.68% at 19,342, FTSE 100: -1.01% at 8,237, CAC 40: -2.00% at 7,636, Euro Stoxx 50: -1.31% at 5,001, AEX: -0.80% at 910, IBEX 35: -0.76% at 11,877, FTSE MIB: -1.73% at 34,125, SMI: -0.52% at 12,171, PSI: -0.23% at 6,793.

SECTORS: Energy 0.10%, Utilities -0.37%, Materials -0.40%, Healthcare -0.65%, Telecoms -0.71%, Consumer Stpl -0.82%, Financials -1.07%, Industrials -1.21%, IT -1.38%, Consumer Disc -2.04%

FTSE 100

Haleon (HLN LN) – Pfizer (PFE) intends to sell around USD 540mln shares in Haleon; this will reduce its stake from 22.6% to 16.2%. The bookrunner said the sale was multiple times oversubscribed. (Newswires)

Reckitt (RKT LN) / Abbott (ABT) – This week a Missouri mother will seek to convince a jury that baby formula produced by Reckitt and Abbott led to her premature baby getting severe intestinal illness; plaintiffs argue the cos failed to warn about the NEC risk from cow’s milk-based formula. (Newswires)

UK Retail - UK BRC Retail Shop Price Index YY (Sep) -0.6% vs Exp. -0.3% (Prev. -0.3%) - Food inflation picked up to 2.3% in September, up from 2.0% in August. This is above the 3-month average rate of 2.2%. The annual rate continues to ease in this category and inflation remained at its lowest rate since November 2021; "Food inflation picked up to 2.3% in September, up from 2.0% in August. This is above the 3-month average rate of 2.2%. The annual rate continues to ease in this category and inflation remained at its lowest rate since November 2021." (BRC)

Unilever (ULVR LN) – Co. strikes climate deals with Walmart and others to meet sustainability goals. (Newswires)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

DAX

Covestro (1COV GY) - UAE's ADNOC nears USD 13bln deal to buy Germany's Covestro, WSJ reports. Sources add that ADNOC is likely to announce the deal as soon as this week, should no unexpected issues arise. (WSJ) Shares +3.3% in pre-market trade

Fresenius (FRE GY) - Fresenius Kabi and Formycon received U.S. FDA approval for Biosimilar Otulfi (ustekinumab-aauz). (Fresenius)

SAP (SAP GY) - CEO Klein has said he is “totally against” regulating AI, saying that it would “harm the competitiveness of Europe a lot if I can better test my AI models” in the US. (FT)

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

CAC

Engie (ENGI FP) – Co. won a new concession to build and operate around 1000km of transmission lines in Brazil; revenue of BRL 252.2mln. (Newswires)

French Stocks - French PM Barnier is planning to announce additional tax increases of EUR 15-18bln in an attempt to gain back control of the nation's finances, according to Le Parisien. (Le Parisien)

LVMH (MC FP) – Co. announced that it has sold Off White LLC; terms not disclosed. (Newswires)

Technip Energies (TE FP) – Announced that Long Son Petrochemicals passed its final performance acceptance test. (Newswires)

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

Casino (CO FP) - Said a new strategy will be presented in November and the agreement signed with trade unions in 7 group host companies concerned with employment protection plan, has been validated by management. 1,200 positions are currently vacant within the group and open to in-placement. 18 stores and four logistics platforms have no buyer identified to date and their employees will be included as planned in the employment protection plan. 230 proposals have already been approved for projects involving permanent employment, business start-ups or retraining. The final number of jobs eliminated could be fewer than 3,000. (Newswires)

Jcdecaux (DEC FP) – Co. has acquired from its founders 70% of IMC; the new JV owned by JCdecaux includes Publigrafik and Top Partners. (Newswires)

Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (URW FP) – Announced sale of Gaite-Montparnasse office for the total acquisition cost of EUR 172.5mln. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Worldline (WLN FP) upgraded to Hold from Underperform at Jefferies

PAN EUROPE

DSM-Firmenich (DSFIR NA) – Completed the sale of its Meg-3 fish oil business to KD Pharma. (Newswires)

Stellantis (STLAM IM / STLAP FP) - Is recalling 190k plug-in hybrid Jeep Wranger and Grand Cherokee vehicles for fire risks. (Newswires)

UniCredit (UCG IM) / Commerzbank (CBK GY) – Fitch Ratings said UniCredit’s acquisition of a 21% stake in Commerzbank would not have an immediate effect on UniCredit’s "BBB/Stable" rating. Fitch adds that a full takeover faces significant hurdles in Germany, but could have positive implications for UniCredit if risks are well managed. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

SMI

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

SCANDINAVIA

Nokia (NOKIA FH) – Co. record USD 572mln impairment charge from submarine networks business sale. (Newswires)

Vestas (VWS DC) – Secured 41 MW order in Spain. Elsewhere, it signed a conditional agreement for a 1.1 GW offshore wind project in Scotland. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

US

CLOSES: SPX +0.42% at 5,762, NDX +0.26% at 20,061, DJIA +0.04% at 42,330, RUT +0.24% at 2,230

SECTORS: Materials -0.60%, Consumer Discretionary -0.28%, Consumer Staples +0.09%, Financials +0.32%, Utilities +0.42%, Industrials +0.48%, Technology +0.58%, Health +0.61%, Real Estate +0.76%, Communication Services +0.79%, Energy +0.83%.

CVS Health (CVS) - CVS Health is undertaking a strategic review that may include breaking up the company, WSJ reports. The board has engaged bankers to assist with this process, which has been ongoing for several weeks. No immediate decisions are expected, and significant changes may not occur, the report adds. (WSJ)

US Trade - US ports along the East and Gulf Coast are poised to close on Tuesday amid strikes. "The ILA is demanding sizable wage hikes and a complete ban on the use of automated cranes, gates and container-moving trucks in unloading or loading freight at ports handling about half of the country's ship cargo, according to CBS. (CBS)

01 Oct 2024 - 06:46- Research Sheet- Source: Newsquawk