Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 20th June 2023

20th June 2023

ASIA

Asia-Pac stocks were mostly lower with risk appetite subdued in the absence of a lead from Wall St due to the Juneteenth holiday and as markets digested the PBoC’s cuts to its benchmark lending rates. ASX 200 (+0.9%) was led higher by gains in the commodity-related sectors and following the RBA Minutes from the June meeting which noted that the arguments were “finely balanced” between a 25bps hike or keeping rates steady at the last meeting, while money markets are currently leaning towards rates being kept unchanged for next month. Nikkei 225 (-0.2%) was negative although the losses were stemmed as the index held above the 33,000 level and with several major Japanese trading houses dominating the list of best performers after Berkshire Hathaway lifted its stake in five of them. Hang Seng (-1.4%) and Shanghai Comp. (-0.2%) declined despite the PBoC’s liquidity boost and 10bp cuts to its benchmark Loan Prime Rates. This was widely expected for the 1-year LPR after similar cuts to short-term funding rates but disappointed those anticipating a deeper 15bps cut for the 5-year LPR which is viewed as the reference for mortgages and in turn, weighed on Hong Kong-listed mainland developers.

Alibaba (9988 HK) - Announced Joseph Tsai as the next Chairman and Eddie Yongming Wu was named CEO with current Chairman and CEO Daniel Zhang to serve exclusively as Chairman and CEO of Alibaba Cloud Intelligence Group. (Newswires)

For chip names - TSMC has recently started preparations for the trial production of 2mln chips and will send 1000 R&D personnel to the Zhuke Fab 20 fab under construction, according to reports. (CTEE)

EUROPEAN CLOSES

Bourses: DAX: -0.96% at 16,201.20, FTSE 100: -0.71% at 7,588.48, CAC 40: -1.01% at 7,314.05, Euro Stoxx 50: -0.74% at 4,362.38, IBEX 35: -0.66% at 9,431.90, FTSE MIB: -0.39% at 27,754.18, SMI: -0.70% at 11,306.64.

Sectors: Energy -0.07%, Financials -0.32%, IT -0.45%, Telecoms -0.54%, Consumer Stpl -0.88%, Consumer Disc -1.02%, Utilities -1.06%, Industrials -1.07%, Healthcare -1.54%, Materials -2.37%

FTSE 100

Supermarkets - Kantar's latest grocery market share figures and update on inflation, for the 12 weeks ending 11 June 2023, will be released Tuesday 20 June at 08:00BST. (Kantar)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

Diageo (DGE LN) reiterated with Overweight at JPMorgan Chase

Ocado (OCDO LN) reiterated with Underweight at JPMorgan Chase

DAX

Deutsche Post DHL (DPW GY) - Co. is to change name to "DHL Group", with current ticker "DPW" to be replaced with "DHL", effective July 1st. (Newswires)

German Cos - Chinese Premier Li held talks with the German business sector on Monday in which the meeting discussed the economic situation in China and globally, technology development trends, and views on so-called “de-risking”, according to Global Times (Global Times) The two will conduct a presser around 11:40BST/06:40EDT, according to reports. (Newswires)

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

Lanxess AG (LXS GY) - Q2 (EUR): EBITDA ~100mln, to remain below average market expectations. Cuts FY23 EBITDA guidance to 600-650mln (prev. 850-950mln). Co. cited generally weak demand, especially in the construction industry, electronics and consumer-related products. Adds that a recovery in June is not visible. (Newswires) -6% in pre-market trade

Software AG (SOW GY) – Bain Capital and Rocket support the Silver Lake offer for Software AG and have sold all their shares to Silver Lake which now has 41% of Software AG and intends to pursue a delisting when possible after the offer closes. Rocket sale occurred at a price of EUR 32/shr. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Heidelberg Materials (HEI GY) upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at BNP Paribas

CAC

Airbus (AIR FP) - Confirms a record 500 aircraft order from India's IndiGO for A320s. CEO adds the deal is premature to think about production rates higher than the planned 75 narrowbodies a month. (Newswires)

Sanofi (SAN FP) - Arbitral tribunal dismisses claim brought by Boehringer Ingelheim (“BI”) against Sanofi for indemnification of potential liabilities related to the ongoing Zantac litigation in the U.S.; decision is final and cannot be appealed. Key U.S. federal court ruling in December 2022 found no reliable evidence that Zantac causes the alleged injuries, bolstered similar findings by FDA and EMA; tens of thousands of claimants have abandoned their claims. (Sanofi)

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

Aeroports de Paris (ADP FP) - Reports May passenger traffic 8.9mln, +13.5% y/y. (Newswires)

JC Decaux SA (DEC FP) - Co. has won an exclusive 6-year OOH/DOOH advertising contract in Norway with Oslo Sporveien. The contract includes advertising on all buses, trams and the Oslo metro. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

PAN EUROPE

Stellantis (STLAM IM/STALP FP) – Co’s JV with Foxconn (2317 TT) SiliconAuto is to tailor chips aimed at new generation of automotive industry vehicle platforms, starting in 2026. (Stellantis)

BROKER MOVES

SMI

UBS (USBG SW) - Co. could potentially be subject to hundreds of millions of dollars in penalties re. Credit Suisse’s Archegos Capital mishandling, via FT citing sources as regulators conclude their investigation. (FT)

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

SCANDINAVIA

BROKER MOVES

Getinge AB (GETIB SS) downgraded to Hold from Buy at DNB Markets

Hexagon (HEXAB SS) downgraded to Hold from Buy at DNB Markets

US - Closed on Monday

Adobe (ADBE) - USD 20bln deal to acquire Figma is under threat from EU investigation, according to FT. (Newswires)

20 Jun 2023 - 06:50- Exclusive- Source: Newsquawk