Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 22nd January 2025

ASIA

APAC stocks traded mixed as most major indices took impetus from the gains on Wall St after President Trump's first full day back in office although Chinese markets lagged after Trump suggested 10% tariffs on China for sending fentanyl to Mexico and Canada which ends up in the US. ASX 200 notched mild gains amid strength in tech, industrials and financials but with gains capped by losses in miners. Nikkei 225 outperformed and surged above the 39,000 level with SoftBank among the biggest gainers after President Trump announced an AI project with OpenAI, SoftBank and Oracle to form a JV which will invest at least USD 500bln in AI infrastructure. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp were pressured after US President Trump warned of 10% tariffs on China from February 1st for sending fentanyl which overshadowed the PBoC's substantial CNY 1.16tln reverse repo operation.

Chinese stocks - US President Trump says we are talking about a 10% tariff on China, for them sending fentanyl. (Newswires)

LG Display (034220 KS) - Q4 (KRW) net loss 839bln (exp. loss 383bln), oper. profit 83bln (exp. loss 354bln), rev. 7.8tln (exp. 5.8tln). (Newswires) Shares +2.4% in South Korean trade

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: DAX: +0.24% at 21,042, FTSE 100: +0.33% at 8,548, CAC 40: +0.48% at 7,771, Euro Stoxx 50: -0.02% at 5,164, AEX: -0.31% at 915, IBEX 35: -0.14% at 11,927, FTSE MIB: -0.23% at 36,059, SMI: +0.57% at 12,106, PSI: -0.23% at 6,569.

SECTORS: Healthcare 1.53%, Industrials 0.70%, Consumer Disc 0.66%, Utilities 0.26%, Financials 0.23%, Consumer Stpl 0.06%, Telecoms 0.04%, Materials -0.44%, IT -0.55%, Energy -0.92%

FTSE 100

Rio Tinto (RIO LN) - Rio Tinto anticipates US approval of its Arizona copper mine under President Trump’s administration, FT reports. The Resolution mine, co-owned with BHP Group (BHP AT), could meet 25% of US copper demand but faces opposition from the Apache tribe over sacred land concerns. (FT)

UK CMA - UK ministers reportedly force out chair of UK’s competition regulator CMA Chair Bokkerink, according to FT, as the government seeks to dial back regulation as part of Labour's growth agenda. UK CMA says Doug Gurr appointed as interim chair of Competition and Markets Authority. (Newswires)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

Drax (DRX LN) - Co. lobbied Canadian officials to intervene as the Co. attempted to alter EU rules which would have prevented the burning of wood biomass from British Columbia forests, via FT citing sources. (FT)

BROKER MOVES

DAX

Adidas (ADS GY) - Prelim Q4 revenue EUR 5.97bln (exp. 5.3bln), +19%, Gross margin 49.8% (exp. 48.5%). Operating profit 57mln (prev. loss 377mln Y/Y). FY24: Revenue 23.68bln (prev. 21.42bln Y/Y), +11%. FY operating profit EUR 1.34bln. Full results and 2025 guidance to be provided on March 5, 2025. (Newswires) ADS GY +4% in pre-market trade; Peers in US trade rose following the results; UAA +4.2%, NKE +3.3%

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

Evotec (EVT GY) - Received USD 4.5mln grant from Korean Government to develop antibodies targeting TRNA synthetases. (Newswires) Shares +3.9% in pre-market trade

Hugo Boss (BOSS GY) - Co. says Frasers (FRAS LN) holds 29.9% of total voting rights, as of Jan 20th. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Hannover Re (HNR1 GY) upgraded to Equal Weight from Underperform at HSBC

Munich Re (MUV2 GY) upgraded to Buy from Hold at HSBC

CAC

Sanofi (SAN FP) - Sarclisa approved in the EU as the first anti-CD38 therapy in combination with standard-of-care VRd to treat transplant-ineligible newly diagnosed multiple myeloma. Represents third indication in the EU, including two for the treatment of adult patients with R/R MM, and one in NDMM. (Sanofi)

Total Energies (TTE FP) - Delays troubled USD 20bln LNG project in Mozambique, according to FT. Elsewhere, Port Arthur, Texas refinery (185k BPD) says unit 860 and 836 experienced temporary upsets due to instrumentation malfunctions amid winter storm Enzo but issue was addressed and units were brought back to normal operation. (FT / Newswires)

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

Alstom (ALO FP) - Q3 (EUR): Sales 4.67bln (exp. 4.48bln), Orders 4.26bln (exp. 4.15bln). Mid- and long-term ambitions confirmed. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Alstom (ALO FP) reiterated with Buy at Jefferies

STMicroelectronics (STM FP) downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight at Barclays

PAN EUROPE

Airliners - United Airlines (UAL), American Airlines (AAL), Lufthansa (LHA GY), and Air France-KLM (AF FP) in talks to buy a stake in Brazil's Gol, via local press. (Newswires)

European stocks - US President Trump says European Union treats the US badly and the EU will be in for tariffs. (Newswires)

Sabadell (SAB SM) - To convene shortly an extraordinary board meeting to move headquarters back to Catalonia, according to Reuters citing sources. Could hold board meeting as soon as Wednesday. (Reuters)

UniCredit (UCG IM) - CEO Orcel, when asked whether Credit Agricole (ACA FP) would tender its 15% Banco BPM (BAMI IM) stake, says was optimistic about eventually finding a solution with Credit Ag. (Bloomberg)

BROKER MOVES

SMI

Barry Callebaut (BARN SW) - Q1 (CHF): Revenue 3.45bln (exp. 2.89bln). Cuts FY25 Sales volumes low single digit decrease (prev. "flat"). (Newswires)

Roche (ROG SW) - Roche receives FDA clearance with CLIA waiver for cobas liat molecular tests to diagnose sexually transmitted infections at the point of care. FDA CLIA-waived tests broaden access to accurate, easy-to-use diagnostics for all patients in decentralized settings like urgent care centers, retail clinics, and community health venues. These tests will be exclusively available in the U.S. market in the coming months, with commercialisation under CE mark expected to follow shortly. (Roche)

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

Geberit (GEBN SW) initiated with Underweight at JPMorgan

SCANDINAVIA

Novo Nordisk (NOVOB DC) - Moody's upgrades co's rating to Aa3 and changes its outlook to stable. (Newswires)

Nokia (NOKIA FH) - Patrik Hammaren appointed as President of Nokia Technologies, effective Jan 22 2025. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Coloplast (COLOB DC) upgraded to Buy from Hold at HSBC

US

CLOSES: SPX +0.88% at 6,049, NDX +0.58% at 21,567, DJIA +1.24% at 44,026, RUT +1.85% at 2,318.

SECTORS: Energy -0.64%, Technology +0.38%, Consumer Staples +0.48%, Financials +0.84%, Communication Services +0.92%, Consumer Discretionary +1.01%, Materials +1.26%, Utilities +1.55%, Health +1.65%, Real Estate +1.83%, Industrials +2.03%.

Apple (AAPL) - Is close to a deal to lift Indonesia iPhone ban, according to a minister cited by Bloomberg. (Bloomberg)

AI - President Trump is set to announce billions of dollars in private sector investment to build AI infrastructure in the United States, according to CBS News; OpenAI, Softbank (SFTBY) and Oracle (ORCL) are planning a JV called Stargate. US President Trump announces AI project with OpenAI, SoftBank (9984 JT) and Oracle (ORCL) to form JV Stargate, while Trump noted USD 500bln at least in AI infrastructure and will create 100k jobs. (Newswires)

Netflix (NFLX) - Shares surged by over 14% afterhours following top- and bottom-line beats in Q4, along with subscriber growth above expectations, and a buyback announcement, despite its Q1 guide being soft. It reported Q4 EPS of 4.27 (exp. 4.20), Q4 revenue of USD 10.25bln (exp. 10.11bln); Q4 streaming paid net additions were 18.91mln (exp. 9.6mln). It approved an incremental USD 15bln repurchase programme. Netflix said it will raise the price of its standard plan with adds to USD 7.99, the standard plan's price will be raised to USD 17.99, and the premium plan to USD 24.99. Exec said advertising sales doubled since last year, and it expects advertising sales to double again this year. On the sports streaming, it said getting full-season "big league" sports was "extremely challenging," and added that live sports was part of its live events strategy, but not the only part of it. Sees Q1 EPS at 5.58 (exp. 5.98), sees Q1 revenue at USD 10.42bln (exp. 10.49bln). For the FY, sees sales between USD 43.5-44.5bln (exp. 43.64bln). (Newswires)

22 Jan 2025 - 06:41- Research Sheet- Source: Newsquawk