Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 21st March 2022

The Daily European Equity Opening News is uploaded at 0700GMT/0300EDT recapping all of the overnight equity news.

From 0700GMT/0300EDT all equity news will be covered in real-time over the audio and headline feed and the full audio rundown will be at 0715GMT/0315EDT.

There will be an additional audio rundown at 0750GMT/0350EDT recapping any company news which has hit the wires since 0715GMT/0215EDT ahead of the European equity open

European equity coverage will only cover companies in the STOXX 600 or companies of systemic importance to particular sectors.

ASIA

APAC stocks were choppy with sentiment clouded amid the uncertain geopolitical climate and higher oil prices. ASX 200 was indecisive as outperformance in tech was offset by losses in financials and with PM Morrison’s Liberal Party defeated in South Australia's state election, raising concerns for the government ahead of the federal election in two months. Nikkei 225 was closed for the Vernal Equinox holiday. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp. swung between gains and losses with an early surge in Hong Kong tech stocks ahead of a widely speculated relaxation to COVID restrictions after the city’s daily cases fell to a three-week low and with China’s tech hub of Shenzhen resuming normal work output. However, the gains were wiped out with the mainland hampered as Shanghai tussles with a COVID-19 outbreak, while the PBoC also kept its Loan Prime Rates unchanged, as expected.

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: Euro Stoxx 50 +0.44% at 3,902; FTSE 100 +0.26% at 7,405; DAX +0.17% at 14,413; CAC 40 +0.12% at 6,620; IBEX 35 +0.07% at 8,418; FTSE MIB +0.41% at 24,222; SMI +1.02% at 12,185.

SECTORS: Technology 2.87%, Consumer Services 1.69%, Consumer Goods 1.34%, Healthcare 0.98%, Financial Services 0.69%, Industrials 0.66%, Utilities 0.29%, Basic Materials 0.15%, Telecoms 0.02%, Energy -0.77%

FTSE 100

Antofagasta (ANTO LN) - Co. is reportedly mulling exiting its Pakistani copper and mining project, with some USD 900mln seen for its 50% stake. (Times)

Lloyds (LLOY LN) - Centre Point's former owner Naghshineh has launched a GBP 1.5bln legal case against Lloyds, claiming Libor manipulation lead to the partial collapse of his property empire. (Times)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

Pendragon (PDG LN) - Sky News sources suggest Hedin Group tabled a secret GBP 0.28/shr offer for Pendragon several weeks ago (vs Friday's 0.217/shr close). "The approach was not disclosed to Pendragon's investors, and is said to have been rejected by the company's board." (Sky News)

BROKER MOVES

BAE Systems (BA/ LN) upgraded to Neutral from Underperform at Exane BNP

Balfour Beatty (BBY LN) downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley

DAX

Salzgitter (SZG GY) - Final FY21 (EUR): Revenue 9.77bln (exp. 9.67bln). Pretax 705.7mln (prelim. 706.7mln). Co. affirms FY22 Pretax profit but sees Revenue just below EUR 11bln (prev. EUR 11bln). (Newswires)

Volkswagen (VOW3 GY) - Co's Chinese unit is reportedly planning to line up JVs for battery raw materials, according to reports. (Newswires) Separately, Volkswagen is recalling more than 246k SUVs in the US and Canada because faulty wiring harnesses can make them brake unexpectedly. (ABC)

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

Knorr-Bremse (KBX GY) upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan Chase

CAC

Engie (ENGI FP) - Co. is looking to extend its two reactors operations for another 10 years vs initial plans to phase out all of its reactions by 2025. (Newswires)

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

Alstom (ALO FP) reiterated with Overweight at JPMorgan Chase

PAN EUROPE

Chip names – ASML (ASML NA) CEO Wennink says in 2021 and 2022 there will be shortages of lithography machines, albeit, looking to ship more machines in each of those years against the prior YY. However, this will not be enough, saying capacity needs to increase by over 50%, which will take time. Intel (INTC) CEO Gelsinger says he has sent manufacturing experts to ASML to assist in increasing production. (FT)

Energy/Oil Names – UK North Sea Regulators Samuel says they are preparing licences, including existing discoveries, which are essentially ready to go, if Cos are willing to exploit them. (FT) Licensing rounds have not occurred since 2020, amid a gov’t climate-related review

Eni (ENI IM) - Eni and Sonatrach announced an oil and gas discovery associated with the Zemlet el Arbi concession, in the North Berkine basin in the Algerian desert. (Corriere)

Nuclear Names - UK PM Johnson is, on Monday, to outline what has been described as a “gung ho” approach to increasing nuclear power; government insiders expect the strategy to outline a 2050 nuclear target equating to a huge increase on existing plans. (FT)

UniCredit (UCG IM) - Co. is reportedly facing difficulties with the long-planned sale of its 10% stake in ABH Holding (the owner of a Russian bank Alfa-Bank) amid the war, according to Bloomberg sources. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Banco Santander (SAN SM) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Jefferies

Caixabank (CABK SM) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies

Eni (ENI IM) reiterated with Overweight at JPMorgan Chase

SMI

Julius Baer (BAER SW) - Final FY21 (CHF): Operating income 3.857bln (prev. 3.583bln). Adj. pretax margin 28.2% (prev. 27.2%). Adj. profit before tax 1.328bln (prev. 1.114bln). Co. notes the collateral value of Russian assets was unwound to zero in February. (Julius Baer)

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

Lindt & Sprungli (LISN SW) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Stifel

SCANDINAVIA

BROKER MOVES

H&M (HMB SS) downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan Chase

TopDanmark (TOP DC) downgraded to Sell from Hold at SEB

US

CLOSES: SPX +1.17% at 4,463, NDX +2.14% at 14,420, DJIA +0.78% at 34,750, RUT +1.02% at 2,086

SECTORS: Technology +2.19%, Consumer Discretionary +2.18%, Communication +1.44%, Health Care +0.66%, Materials +0.6%, Industrials +0.39%, Financials +0.3%, Consumer Staples +0.25%, Real Estate +0.21%, Energy +0.09%, Utilities -0.9%.

RUSSIA-EXPOSED EUROPEAN STOCKS

EUROPEAN COMPANIES WITH STAKES IN RUSSIAN FIRMS

Source: Goldman Sachs/GoogleOrder: Descending market cap

• 
  Shell (SHEL LN) - (Energy) Has a stake of around 28% stake in Gazprom-operated Sakhalin-2 LNG project. [Announced the exit of Gazprom entities (Mar 1)]
  


• 
  TotalEnergies (TTE FP) - (Energy) Exposed via its partnerships with Russian nat gas producers Novatek and Yamal LNG. [Holds presence in Russia but announced no further investments (Mar 1)]
  


• 
  Prosus (PRX AV) - (Tech) Co. owns Avito, a Russian classified advertisements website.


• 
  BP (BP/ LN) - (Energy) Exposed via its 20% stake in Rosneft. [Announced sale of stake with potential hit of USD 25bln (Feb 27)]
  


• 
  Equinor (EQNR NO) - (Energy) Owns minority stakes in three oilfields in Russia.


• 
  Glencore (GLEN LN) - (Basic Resources) Owns a 0.6% stake in Rosneft and 10.5% in Anglo-Russian green energy and metals company EN+.


• 
  OMV (OMV AV) - (Energy) Exposed via the Yuzhno-Russkoye oil and gas field. [No longer pursuing investments in Russia (Mar 7)]


• 
  Tenaris (TEN IM) - (Energy) Exposed via a pipeline deal it owns 49% interest in.


• 
  Renault (RNO FP) - (Auto & Parts) 6% of Renault's revenue and 15% of EBIT comes from its ownership of AvtoVAZ - Russian automobile manufacturing company.


• 
  Alstom (ALO FP) - (Industrial) Has a 20% stake in Russia's largest rail manufacturer - Transmasholdings.

EUROPEAN COMPANIES WITH RUSSIAN SALES EXPOSURE ABOVE 20%

• 
  VEON (VEON AV) (Telecom) 48%


• 
  Polymetal (POLY LN) (Basic Materials) 42%


• 
  EVRAZ (EVR LN) (Basic Materials) 38%


• 
  Uniper (UN01 GY) (Utilities) 25%


• 
  Fortum (FORTUM FH) (Utilities) 25%


• 
  NOKIAN (TYRES FH) (Autos) 21%

21 Mar 2022 - 06:52- MetalsResearch Sheet- Source: Newsquawk