Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 20th April 2026

ASIA

APAC stocks were mostly higher as the region shrugged off the escalatory geopolitical headlines from over the weekend, including the reclosure of the Strait of Hormuz and attacks on several vessels by Iran, while US President Trump announced that the US Navy intercepted an Iranian-flagged vessel and blew a hole in the engine room after it attempted to get past the US blockade. This resulted in a spike in oil prices at the reopen and saw US index futures decline, although asset classes have faded the extremes as focus turns to talks in Islamabad, with President Trump sending negotiators for talks with Iran, although there is no confirmation yet on whether Iran will attend. ASX 200 traded little changed amid the mixed price action in commodity-related stocks and with financials subdued after NAB flagged a spike in impairments due to the Middle East conflict. Nikkei 225 rallied with the index briefly returning to the 59,000-level following the recent unwinding of April rate hike bets, and with the index unfazed by the rise in oil prices. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp were higher amid earnings updates, but with further upside capped by a lack of macro catalysts, while the PBoC provided no surprises as it announced China's benchmark LPRs were maintained at their current levels for the eleventh consecutive month.

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: Euro Stoxx 50 +2.17% at 6,062, Dax 40 +2.25% at 24,699, FTSE 100 +0.73% at 10,668, CAC 40 +1.97% at 8,425, FTSE MIB +1.75% at 48,869, IBEX 35 +2.18% at 18,485, PSI -0.51% at 9,185, SMI +1.70% at 13,397, AEX +0.69% at 1,024

SECTORS: Consumer Disc 3.54%, Industrials 2.83%, IT 2.26%, Financials 2.24%, Healthcare 1.91%, Materials 1.20%, Consumer Stpl 1.05%, Telecoms -0.38%, Utilities -1.43%, Energy -5.90%

FTSE 100

AstraZeneca (AZN LN) - Co.'s Alexion Pharmaceuticals has been granted US FDA orphan drug designation for palacaparib for the treatment of malignant glioma. (US FDA)

Associated British Foods (ABF LN) - A shareholder told The Mail on Sunday that the plan to spin off Primark will make both the clothing chain and the remaining food business more cyclical and riskier. This comes amid the Co.'s H1 results, in which an announcement of the separation is expected. (The Mail on Sunday)

GSK (GSK LN) - Co. has been granted US FDA orphan drug designation for momelotinib for the treatment of Vacuoles E1 enzyme, X-linked autoinflammatory, somatic (VEXAS) syndrome. (US FDA)

Housing - UK Rightmove House Prices YY (Apr) -0.9% (Prev. -0.2%). The firm said, "While spring usually brings stronger price growth, higher mortgage rates due to global uncertainty are limiting buyers' spending power and keeping new seller pricing cautious". (Rightmove)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

Hunting (HTG LN) downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight at Barclays

NatWest (NWG LN) downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Keefe Bruyette

DAX

Deutsche Bank (DBK GY) - Deutsche Bank is marketing a USD 230mln private-credit deal for AirAsia Aviation Group, testing investor appetite for the airline amid rising fuel prices, Bloomberg reports. The 18-month revenue bond is backed by ticket sales on several AirAsia routes and has been underwritten and fully funded by Deutsche. (Bloomberg)

Siemens (SIE GY) - Siemens said it will prioritise AI investment in the US and China if the EU does not ease its regulations, Bloomberg reports. CEO said most of the company’s EUR 1bln industrial AI investment will go to the US and criticised the EU’s AI Act and Data Act as overly restrictive. Elsewhere, the Co. has launched the Eigen Engineering Agent, bringing purpose-built AI to industrial automation engineering. (Siemens/Bloomberg)

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

TUI (TUI1 GY) - Co. is to resume cancelled voyages. This comes following WSJ reports that the first cruise ship passed through the Strait of Hormuz. (Newswires)

Wacker Chemie (WCH GY) - Q1 2026 (EUR): Sales 1.41bln (exp. 1.39bln), EBITDA 173mln (exp. 144.3mln). FY Outlook: 550-700mln (exp. 631.2mln). Now expects full-year sales growth in the “high single-digit” percentage range (prev. guided “low single-digit” percentage range). This is due to higher raw material and energy prices being passed on to customers as a result of the conflict in the Middle East. (Wacker Chemie)

BROKER MOVES

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

Deutsche Bank (DBK GY) downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Barclays

CAC

Carrefour (CA FP) - Co. announces the sale of its minority stake in CarrefourSA in Turkey to Aydın. (Carrefour)

Sanofi (SAN FP) - Sanofi said its protein-based COVID-19 vaccine Nuvaxovid showed statistically significantly lower systemic reactogenicity than Moderna’s mNEXSPIKE in the 1,000-participant US COMPARE study. At least one systemic reaction occurred in 83.6% of Nuvaxovid recipients versus 91.6% for mNEXSPIKE, with fewer moderate-to-severe systemic and local symptoms. (Sanofi)

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

Rubis (RUI FP) - Co. is reportedly exploring the acquisition of Trafigura's Puma Energy, potentially valued at EUR 2.5bln, Bloomberg reports citing sources. (Bloomberg)

BROKER MOVES

Arkema (AKE FP) upgraded to Market Perform from Underperform at Societe Generale

Arkema (AKE FP) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Berenberg

Sanofi (SAN FP) downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at BNP Paribas

PAN EUROPE

Argenx (ARGX BB) - Co. said the study met its primary endpoint, showing oMG patients treated with VYVGART demonstrated statistically significant improvement from baseline in the Myasthenia Impairment Index Patient-Reported Outcome ocular scores at Week 4 versus placebo. (Argenx)

Banking Names - UK Chancellor Reeves has called executives from Barclays (BARC LN), HSBC (HSBA LN), NatWest (NWG LN) and Santander (SAN SM) to a meeting on the 22nd of April, Sky News reports. (Sky News)

Renault (RNO FP) / Stellantis (STLAM IM/STLAP FP) / Autos - EV sales across Europe’s main markets soared by 29.4% Y/Y in Q1’26. (Reuters)

Saipem (SPM IM) - Co. has signed a contract with Eni Industrial Evolution for the realisation of the new Priolo biorefinery in Sicily, worth approximately EUR 700mln upon completion. (Saipem)

Telecom Italia (TIT IM) - Telecom Italia announced that shares subject to withdrawal from its April 2026 rights issue will be purchased by shareholders who exercised option and pre-emption rights, at a price of EUR 0.5117 per share. A total of around 59.4bln shares will be absorbed through these rights, with excess demand allocated proportionally, for a total payout of EUR 1.03bln to withdrawing shareholders. The transaction remains subject to no legal opposition to the capital reduction and, if completed, will be settled via the Monte Titoli system through intermediaries. (Telecom Italia)

Terna (TRN IM) - Board member Stefano Cappiello will resign, effective on May 5. (Terna)

UCB (UCB BB) - Co. to acquire Neurona Therapeutics, advancing its innovative leadership in epilepsy through regenerative science. Total transaction value of up to USD 1.15bln consisting of a USD 650mln upfront payment plus up to USD 500mln in potential future milestone payments. (UCB)

UniCredit (UCG IM) / Commerzbank (CBK GY) - UniCredit outlines approach for acceleration of Commerzbank transformation into a new future-ready era. UniCredit sees significant upside and risk reduction potential for Commerzbank beyond its current Momentum strategy to create additional value. It is the view of UniCredit as a significant shareholder that Commerzbank is insufficiently prepared for future challenges and is overly focused on short-term delivery. UniCredit believes that Commerzbank should reposition to be future-ready by accelerating top line growth and focusing on investing and transforming. (UniCredit) CEO Orcel will host a conference call at 08:00 BST on April 20

BROKER MOVES

BBVA (BBVA SM) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at UBS

Saipem (SPM IM) downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Barclays

SMI

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

Julius Baer (BAER SW) upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays

UBS (UBSG SW) upgraded to Equal Weight from Underweight at Barclays

SCANDINAVIA

Lundbeck (HLUNB DC) - Eptinezumab met its primary endpoint of decrease in mean monthly migraine days over months 1-3 in both episodic and chronic migraine. The primary outcome was percent of patients with "much" or "very much" improved on the 7-point PGIC scale. (Lundbeck)

Mowi (MOWI NO) - Q1 2026 (EUR): EBIT 221mln (exp. 226.5mln). (Mowi)

Orion (ORNBV FH) - Co. receives US FDA orphan drug designation for its treatment of mesothelioma. (US FDA)

BROKER MOVES

Neste (NESTE FH) upgraded to Accumulate from Reduce at Inderes

US

CLOSES: SPX +1.20% at 7,126, NDX +1.29% at 26,672, DJI +1.79% at 49,447, RUT +2.11% at 2,777

SECTORS: Energy -2.94%, Utilities -0.42%, Materials +0.48%, Financials +0.75%, Communication Services +0.77%, Consumer Staples +1.32%, Health +1.45%, Real Estate +1.45%, Technology +1.59%, Industrials +1.82%, Consumer Discretionary +1.97%.

American Airlines (AAL), United Airlines (UAL) - American Airlines said it is not engaged in or interested in merger discussions with United Airlines, arguing that such a combination would be negative for competition and consumers. The company said it remains focused on its own strategy and long-term positioning. (NYT)

Eli Lilly (LLY) - Eli Lilly is in advanced talks to acquire Kelonia Therapeutics for more than USD 2bln, WSJ reports. A deal could be announced as soon as Monday and may include additional consideration if Kelonia meets certain milestones. (WSJ)

Marvell Technology (MRVL), Alphabet (GOOGL) - Google is in talks with Marvell to develop two new AI chips, The Information reports. One would be a memory processing unit designed to work with Google’s TPU, while the other would be a new TPU built specifically to run AI models more efficiently. (The Information)

Meta Platforms (META) - Meta plans a first wave of layoffs on 20th May that will cut about 10% of its workforce, or nearly 8,000 jobs, Reuters reports. Further layoffs are planned for later in 2026 as the company pursues AI-driven efficiency, with details of later cuts still to be decided. (Reuters)

20 Apr 2026 - 06:57- Research Sheet- Source: Newsquawk