Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 22nd January 2024

22nd January 2024

ASIA

APAC stocks were mixed following a catalyst-light weekend and as weakness in Chinese stocks clouded over the early momentum from last week's record levels on Wall Street. ASX 200 was led higher by consumer and real estate sectors which benefitted from slightly lower yields, while miners were pressured after weaker quarterly output by South32 and Lynas. Nikkei 225 rallied and broke above 36,500 ahead of tomorrow's BoJ announcement. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp underperformed amid notable weakness in tech and property which saw the Hang Seng Mainland Properties Index hit a record low, while sentiment remained pressured in the mainland amid ongoing economic concerns and the benchmark LPRs were kept unchanged, as expected.

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: DAX -0.07% at 16,555.13, FTSE 100 +0.03% at 7,461.43, CAC 40 -0.40% at 7,371.64, Euro Stoxx 50 -0.12% at 4,447.75, IBEX 35 -0.22% at 9,858.30, FTSE MIB -0.22% at 30,283.61, SMI -0.35% at 11,146.60.

SECTORS: IT 0.61%, Telecoms 0.51%, Utilities 0.27%, Financials -0.07%, Healthcare -0.19%, Consumer Stpl -0.28%, Energy -0.51%, Consumer Disc -0.51%, Industrials -0.71%, Materials -0.97%.

FTSE 100

Compass Group (CPG LN) - Co. is in advanced talks to purchase Kew Gardens caterer CH&Co, for a deal worth more than GBP 400mln, according to Sky News. The sources add that the deal could be announced this week. (Sky News)

BP (BP/ LN) - Awards a new global framework agreement to Worley (WOR AT) in which Worley will provide EPCM services under the agreement. (Newswires)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

ITV (ITV LN) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at UBS

Sage (SGE LN) downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight at Barclays

DAX

Volkswagen (VOW3 GY) - An environmental group has filed an injunction to halt work at the Northvolt battery project, in Quebec, via CTV News. (CTV News)

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

Telefonica Deutschland (O2D GY) – Telefonica (TEF SM) acquires 399.6mln shares in Telefonica Deutschland for EUR 1.4bln in cash. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Covestro (1COV GY) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Stifel

Fuchs Petrolub (FPE GY) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Stifel

ProSiebenSat.1 (PSM GY) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at UBS

CAC

Credit Agricole (ACA FP) - Co. acquires a 7% stake in Worldline (WLN FP), no terms disclosed. Expected to have less than 10bps impact on CET1 ratio. (Newswires)

TotalEnergies (TTE FP) - The Port Arthur, Texas refinery (200k BPD) water supply may return on Friday with electrical power being restored, according to Reuters. (Reuters)

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

JC Decaux (DEC FP) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at UBS

L’Air Liquide (AI FP) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Stifel

PAN EUROPE

Poste Italiane (PST IM) - The Italian Government is considering the sale of a 10-20% stake in the Co., as it aims to raise EUR 2.5bln, according to la Repubblica. (la Repubblica)

Stellantis (STLAM IM/STLAP FP), Ford (F) - Stellantis CEO warned of an industry "bloodbath" if automakers rapidly slashed electric vehicle prices. His commentary follows Ford's decision to reduce production of the F-150 Lightning due to weaker sales, despite anticipating continued global EV sales growth in 2024. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

ASML (ASML NA) upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Bernstein

UCB (UCB BB) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Citi

SMI

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

Belimo (BEAN SW) - FY23 (CHF): Revenue 858.8mln (exp. 898.3mln). (Newswires)

Sandoz (SDZ SW) - To acquire CIMERLI business from Coherus for USD 170mln in cash, strengthening position in the US market. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Givaudan (GIVN SW) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Stifel

SCANDINAVIA

Kindred (KIND SS) - La Francaise des Jeux (FDJ FP) confirms it has made a cash offer of SEK 130/shr for Kindred, to acquire the shares it does not already own. The implied value is SEK 28bln. The deal is expected to lead to more than a 10% accretion in dividend per share, starting from FY25 to be paid in 2026 for FDJ. (Newswires)

Nokia (NOKIA FH) - Nokia plans to exit 'TD Tech', its telecommunications JV with Huawei, due to US-China tensions, SCMP reports. The Finnish company will sell its majority stake to a group including state-owned entities.

BROKER MOVES

Genmab (GMAB DC) downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Citi

US

CLOSES: SPX +1.23% at 4,839, NDX +1.95% at 17,313, DJIA +1.05% at 37,863, RUT +1.08% at 1,944.

SECTORS: Technology +2.35%, Financials +1.64%, Communication Services +1.63%, Consumer Discretionary +1.02%, Real Estate +0.96%, Industrials +0.61%, Energy +0.37%, Materials +0.10%, Health +0.06%, Utilities -0.12%, Consumer Staples -0.33%.

Manchester United (MANU) - Co. has appointed Omar Berrada as CEO. Berrada is formerly chief football operations officer at City Football Group, and is known for his success at rivals Manchester City, and has been tasked with helping the club regain its status as a title-winning club, refocusing on football performance.

22 Jan 2024 - 06:50- Research Sheet- Source: Newsquawk