Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 21st August 2025

ASIA

APAC stocks traded mixed, albeit with a mildly positive bias as the region attempted to shrug off the lacklustre lead from Wall St, where sentiment was dampened amid continued tech weakness and hawkish-leaning FOMC Minutes. ASX 200 outperformed amid a slew of earnings releases and breached the 9,000 level for the first time in history. Nikkei 225 was dragged lower by weakness in pharmaceuticals and automakers, with the latter not helped by reports that Japanese automakers are passing some of the expense of US tariffs through to American car buyers, which is a change from their strategy of absorbing the impact. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp were mixed with the Hong Kong benchmark led lower by underperformance in tech stocks including Baidu and Xiaomi, despite both recently reporting a jump in profits, while the mainland remained propped up following the PBoC's liquidity efforts.

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: Euro Stoxx 50 -0.22% at 5,471, Dax 40 -0.60% at 24,277, FTSE 100 +1.08% at 9,288, CAC 40 -0.08% at 7,973, FTSE MIB -0.36% at 42,865, IBEX 35 -0.08% at 15,292, PSI +0.29% at 7,986, SMI +0.47% at 12,270, AEX +0.76% at 909.

SECTORS: Consumer Stpl 2.38%, Utilities 0.98%, Healthcare 0.82%, Telecoms 0.76%, Energy 0.30%, Financials 0.30%, Materials 0.22%, Consumer Disc 0.05%, IT -0.88%, Industrials -1.05%

FTSE 100

BP (BP/ LN) - Co's 440k BPD refinery in Whiting, Indiana is restarting after flooding disrupted operations, but it is not expected to be at full rates until early next week. (Newswires)

Ex-dividends - InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG LN), Schroders (SDR LN), Entain (ENT LN), Babcock International Group (BAB LN), Mondi (MNDI LN) and ConvaTec Group (CTEC LN) will trade without entitlement to their latest dividend pay-out. (Newswires)

Flutter (FLTR LN) / CME (CME) - CME Group and Flutter’s FanDuel are partnering to launch event-based contracts in the US, allowing customers to take USD 1.00 “yes” or “no” positions on markets including S&P 500, Nasdaq-100, oil, gold, cryptocurrencies, and economic indicators. A JV will operate a non-clearing FCM, with CME listing and CFTC review pending, expected later this year. (Newswires)

UK Homebuilders - Bloomberg reports that London homebuilders are putting off constructions amid a broader slump. (Bloomberg)

UK Pensions - UK Chancellor Reeves is said to be mulling cutting the tax-free pension lump sum in a move that would be expected to raise more than GBP 2bln a year, according to Telegraph sources. (Telegraph)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

DCC (DCC LN) - Received high court approval for reduction of capital. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

ConvaTec (CTEC LN) upgraded to Outperform from Sector Perform at RBC

Unilever (ULVR LN) initiated with Outperform at CICC Research

DAX

Volkswagen (VOW3 GY) - Volkswagen is scaling back its all-in EV strategy after slow adoption, buggy software, and weak demand, especially in Europe and the US, and delays in China, Bloomberg reports. The pivot follows the Dieselgate scandal, which cost EUR 32bln and damaged trust, prompting a prior aggressive EV push that has not met targets. (Bloomberg)

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

K+S (SDF GY) downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at BNP Paribas

CAC

Air Lease (AL), Airbus (AIR FP) - Air Lease delivered two new Airbus A321-200neo aircraft to China Airlines, marking the seventh and eighth A321neos leased from Air Lease’s orderbook. The deliveries on August 16th and August 20th support China Airlines’ fleet expansion, network development, and modernisation strategy in response to rising travel demand.

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

Credit Ag (ACA FP) downgraded to Underperform from Market Perform at Keefe Bruyette

Safran (SAF FP) upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at SocGen

PAN EUROPE

Aegon (AGN NA) - H1 (EUR): Op. Income 845mln (prev. 705mln Y/Y), Net Income 606mln (prev. -65mln Y/Y). Increases ongoing buyback program to EUR 400mln (boosted by EUR 200mln). Affirms guidance. (Newswires)

European Banks - The Anthropocene Fixed Income Institute urged the ECB to impose higher haircuts on debt from banks most exposed to climate risk, raising funding costs for environmental laggards, Bloomberg reports. The ECB plans to start applying climate-risk penalties to corporate bonds used as collateral from the second half of next year.

PKN Orlen (PKN PO) - Q2 (PLN) Net Income 1.57bln (prev. -40mln Y/Y), EBITDA LIFO 7.72bln (prev. 4.54bln Y/Y). (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

SMI

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

BKW (BKW SW) - H1 (CHF): Net Income 203.3mln (exp. 205mln), Revenue 2.25bln (exp. 2.35bln). Affirms guidance. (Newswires)

Swiss Prime (SPSN SW) - H1 (CHF): Rental Income 225.3mln, -3% Y/Y. Cuts FY25 FFO 4.10-4.15/shr (prev. guided 4.15-4.20/shr). (Newswires)

Temenos (TEMN SW) - Downgraded FY25 EBIT growth 7% (prev. guided 9%). (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Alcon (ALC SW) downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JP Morgan

SCANDINAVIA

Aker BP (AKRBP NO) - Makes significant oil discovery in Yggdrasil area. Recoverable volume exp. at 96-134mln barrels of oil equivalent. (Newswires)

GN Store Nord (GN DC) - Q2 (DKK): Revenue 4.16bln (exp. 4.12bln). (Newswires)

Salmar (SALM NO) - Q2 (NOK): Revenue 6.18bln (exp. 6.1bln). Announced buyback of up to NOK 65mln. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Assa Abloy (ASSAB SS) upgraded to Equal Weight from Underweight at Barclays

Nordea (NDAFI FH) downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight at Barclays

US

CLOSES: SPX -0.24% at 6,396, NDX -0.58% at 23,250, DJI +0.04% at 44,938, RUT -0.32% at 2,269

SECTORS: Consumer Discretionary -1.18%, Technology -0.77%, Communication Services -0.56%, Industrials -0.09%, Utilities +0.12%, Materials +0.19%, Real Estate +0.34%, Financials +0.51%, Health +0.60%, Consumer Staples +0.80%, Energy +0.86%.

Alibaba (BABA) - Alibaba said its smart car spinoff Banma plans a Hong Kong listing, CNBC reports. Alibaba owns around 45%, and will retain over 30% post-IPO. The unit was founded in 2015, and develops smart cockpit solutions, recently expanding its partnership with BMW (BMWYY) in China. Other backers include SAIC Motor, SDIC Investment and Yunfeng Capital.

Coty (COTY) - Shares fell 16% post-market after Coty forecast Q1 LFL sales -6% to -8% vs (+4.5% Y/Y), plans fragrance price hikes to offset tariffs, and expects H2 sales growth from product launches. It reported Q4 adj. loss 0.05 (exp. profit of 0.02), revenue down 8% to USD 1.25bln (exp. 1.20bln). CEO highlights strong multi-year growth in Prestige and Consumer Beauty, profit expansion, and leverage reduction. Sees H1 EPS 0.33-0.36, with growth in H2. Sees FY26 LFL sales -6%-8% in Q1, -3%-5% in Q2, returning to growth in H2.

UnitedHealth (UNH), Elevance Health (ELV) - UnitedHealth Group and Elevance Health will exit some individual health plans in Colorado, affecting 96,000 residents who will need new coverage next year, highlighting ongoing instability in the Affordable Care Act marketplaces, the state’s Division of Insurance said.

21 Aug 2025 - 06:48- CryptocurrencyResearch Sheet- Source: Newsquawk