Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 22nd August 2024

22nd August 2024

ASIA

APAC stocks traded with a mild positive bias after the gains on Wall St where a downward payrolls revision and the FOMC Minutes further supported the consensus for a September Fed rate cut. ASX 200 edged higher but with gains capped as participants digested a slew of earnings, while data showed an improvement across Australia's flash PMIs although manufacturing remained in contraction. Nikkei 225 marginally outperformed its peers and returned to above the key 38,000 level. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp. were somewhat varied with notable strength in Hong Kong tech stocks after a solid earnings report from Xiaomi, although pharmaceutical stocks and WuXi biologics were at the other end of the spectrum after the latter reported a 24% drop in H1 net, while the mainland remained lacklustre amid growth concerns, trade frictions and a net liquidity drain.

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: DAX: +0.51% at 18,452, FTSE 100: +0.12% at 8,283, CAC 40: +0.52% at 7,525, Euro Stoxx 50: +0.33% at 4,885, AEX: +0.51% at 908, IBEX 35: +0.24% at 11,115, FTSE MIB: +0.72% at 33,312, SMI: -0.12% at 12,252, PSI: -0.06% at 6,674

SECTORS: IT 0.81%, Consumer Disc 0.80%, Materials 0.78%, Consumer Stpl 0.67%, Industrials 0.28%, Financials 0.22%, Telecoms -0.05%, Utilities -0.09%, Energy -0.13%, Healthcare -0.18%

FTSE 100

Anglo American (AAL LN) - Nippon Steel (5401 JT) executive said will consider taking a stake in other coal mines owned by Whitehaven Coal if they come up for sales, while says no comment when asked if Co. would make a bid for Anglo American's Australian coking coal mines. Whitehaven Coal agreed to sell 20% of its Blackwater coking coal mine to Nippon Steel, and 10% to JFE Steel for a total of USD 1.08bln. The deals are expected to close in Q1 2025, and will form an unincorporated joint venture which Whitehaven will manage. The sales follow Whitehaven’s USD 4.1bln acquisition of the Blackwater and Daunia mines from BHP Group and Mitsubishi Corp last October. (Newswires)

Ex-Dividends - Land Securities (LAND LN), ConvaTec (CTEC LN), Schroders (SDR LN), Mondi (MNDI LN), Legal & General (LGEN LN) will trade without entitlement to its latest dividend payout. (Newswires)

Pharma. Names - The Telegraph writes that the first drug found to slow down Alzheimer's is to be granted approval for use in the UK. Lecanemab has been found to slow cognitive decline by 27%. (The Telegraph) The drug is made by Eisai (4523 JT) in partnership with Biogen (BIIB)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

DAX

Deutsche Bank (DBK GY) - Reached settlements with a larger share of the plaintiffs in postbank takeover litigation matter; anticipates settlements will lead to a positive impact of approx EUR 430mln on its Q3 EBT. Will review distribution plans and discuss these with regulators. (Newswires) Shares +2.9% in pre-market trade.

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

CAC

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

PAN EUROPE

Aegon (AGN NA) - H1 (EUR): Op. Result 750mln, -8% Y/Y, FCF 373mln (Co. consensus 382mln), Interim Dividend 0.16 (Co. consensus 1.17), Net Loss 65mln, -67% Y/Y. (Newswires)

Grifols (GRF SM) - Brookfield is in talks with banks for funding the Grifols' takeover bid, according to Reuters citing sources; Brookfield is in talks with banks including UBS and Bank of America for bid funding. (Reuters)

BROKER MOVES

SMI

Swiss Re (SREN SW) - H1 (USD): Net Profit 2.09bln (exp. 2.02bln, prev. 1.45bln Y/Y). Maintained FY24 outlook. (Newswires)

Swiss Prime Site (SPSN SW) - H1 (CHF): Rental income 232mln, +6% Y/Y, Op. Result 205mln, +3.5% Y/Y. Improves FY24 outlook, expects vacancy rate around 3.8% for FY. (Newswires)

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

Siegfried (SFZN SW) - H1 (CHF): Core EBITDA 132.1mln (prev. 125.7mln Y/Y), Net Profit 71.7mln (prev. 58.8mln Y/Y). FY24 outlook confirmed. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

SCANDINAVIA

Bavarian Nordic (BAVA DC) - Received 440k dose contract to supply Smallpox and Mpox vaccines for an undisclosed European country. All vaccines will be delivered in 2024. Total value of secured contracts in public prepared business close to DKK 3bln. (Newswires)

GN Store Nord (GN DC) - Q2 (DKK): Revenue 4.4bln (exp. 4.5bln). Hearing division continued to gain significant market share leading to 10% organic rev. growth. Maintained FY24 outlook. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

US

CLOSES: SPX +0.42% at 5,621, NDX +0.53% at 19,825, DJIA +0.13% at 40,890, RUT +1.32% at 2,171

SECTORS: Financials -0.14%, Energy -0.01%, Communication Services +0.17%, Health +0.22%, Real Estate +0.33%, Technology +0.46%, Industrials +0.62%, Consumer Staples +0.62%, Utilities +0.74%, Materials +1.15%, Consumer Discretionary +1.18%.

Amazon (AMZN) - Amazon's AWS plans to invest more than USD 6.2bln and support an average of more than 3.5k full-time equivalent jobs annually in Malaysia through 2038. Separately, Amazon introduced a USD 99.99 annual grocery delivery plan as an add-on for Prime members, offering unlimited deliveries from Whole Foods, Amazon Fresh, and other retailers, Axios reports. (Axios)

Apple (AAPL) - Longtime app store head to step down in reorganisation due to global regulatory scrutiny, Bloomberg reports. (Bloomberg)

Microsoft (MSFT) - Sees Q1 intelligent cloud revenue between USD 23.8-24.1bln, productivity and business processes revenue of USD 27.75-28.05bln, and more personal computing revenue USD 12.25-12.65bln. Sees Q1 Azure and other cloud services to be sequentially down 1-2points. (Newswires)

Paramount Global (PARA) - Edgar Bronfman Jr. increased his bid for National Amusements, and a minority stake in Paramount, to USD 6bln, offering nonvoting Paramount shareholders a premium to sell their shares, according to the WSJ. Paramount has extended its deadline to consider Bronfman Jr.'s bid, potentially disrupting its USD 8bln deal with Skydance Media, NYT said. Bronfman and his backers now have until early September to persuade Paramount's board that their offer is superior. Skydance can still improve its bid, prolonging the process. (NYT)

22 Aug 2024 - 06:53- Research Sheet- Source: Newsquawk