Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 22nd June 2023

22nd June 2023

ASIA

APAC stocks were mostly lower following the tech-led declines on Wall St and with risk appetite also constrained by key holiday closures with markets across the Greater China region shut for the Dragon Boat Festival. ASX 200 was pressured with weakness across all sectors and as tech conformed to the underperformance stateside. Nikkei 225 traded negatively but with the downside limited by recent currency weakness and after BoJ Board Member Noguchi echoed the central bank’s dovish tone in which he noted that the central bank’s new guidance is showing a strong commitment to patiently keeping easy policy and what's most important is to ensure momentum for wage growth becomes trend by maintaining easy policy. KOSPI was positive with the index underpinned by investment-related headlines including reports that European companies pledged investments in South Korea related to batteries, future cars and other cutting-edge industries.

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: Euro Stoxx 50 -0.47% at 4,322, FTSE 100 -0.13% at 7,559, DAX 40 -0.55% at 16,023, CAC 40 -0.46% at 7,260, FTSE MIB +0.12% at 27,609, IBEX 35 -0.04% at 9,436, SMI -0.33% at 11,179.

SECTORS: Energy 1.31%, Consumer Stpl -0.05%, Financials -0.30%, Healthcare -0.38%, Industrials -0.54%, Materials -0.77%, Consumer Disc -0.79%, Telecoms -0.82%, Utilities -0.84%, IT -1.57%

FTSE 100

Ocado (OCDO LN) – The Times attributed yesterday’s Ocado strength to bid speculation from more than one US entity. The article floats Amazon (AMZN) as a potential suitor and suggested the talk was that they were “pondering the merits of an GBP 8/shr move”. (Times)

FTSE 100 ex-dividends - 3i Group (III LN), Airtel Africa (AAF LN), Experian (EXPN LN), and United Utilities Group (UU/ LN) will trade without entitlement. (dividenddata)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

Deliveroo (ROO LN) initiated with Buy at Goldman Sachs

Shell (SHEL LN) upgraded to Equal Weight from Underweight at Morgan Stanley

DAX

Daimler Truck (DTG GY) - AGM comments: On track to achieve FY25 profitability ambitions. Daimler Truck is sold out for FY23 and order backlog remains very high and expected to remain strong after FY23. By 2039 will be able to offer exclusively zero-emission vehicles in EU, US and Japan. (Newswires)

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

Delivery Hero (DHER GY) initiated with Buy at Goldman Sachs - Shares seen +2.4%

SAP (SAP GY) upgraded to Hold from Underperform at Jefferies

Sartorius (SRT3 GY) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Berenberg

CAC

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

SES AG (SESG FP) - The Co. and Intelsat have ended merger talks; confirming earlier source reports. (Newswires)

Renault (RNO FP) - Co. is said to plan to build an EV plant in South Korea, according to South Korean Press (Newswires)

Valneva (VLA FP) - Supervisory board recommends transition from a two-tier governance model to a Board of Directors, with CEO Lingelbach included as an executive member. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

PAN EUROPE

Aegon (AGN NA) - Aegon to accelerate its strategy to create leading business in investment, protection and retirement solutions, expected capital generation of EUR 1.2bln, FCF EUR 800mln and Dividend per Share to EUR 0.40 by 2025. (Newswires)

Telecom Italia (TIT IM) – Co. is said to be resuming efforts to offload a minority stake in its enterprise unit, which could be valued at over EUR 6bln, according to Bloomberg sources. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

SMI

Logitech (LOGN SW) - Board approves new USD 1bln buyback programme. (Newswires)

Swiss Banks - SNB Financial Stability Report: In the SNB’s view, going forward, banks should be required to prepare a minimum amount of assets that can be pledged at central banks., the release also noted the AT1 features designed for early loss absorption in a going concern were not effective. (SNB) Note, this comes ahead of the SNB rate decision at 08:30BST.

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

SCANDINAVIA

Volvo AB (VOLVA SS) - Co's Nova Bus is to cease production in the US and focus on Canada; will gradually affect full time positions at Nova Bus by 2025; restructuring provision of SEK 1.3bln to negatively impact Q2 Op. Income, but not affect sales. (Newswires)

Skanska (SKAB SS) - Acquires land on Kungsholmen in Stockholm, Sweden, for SEK 250mln. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Boliden (BOL SS) upgraded to Equal Weight from Underperform at Morgan Stanley

Equinor (EQNR NO) downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley

US

CLOSES: SPX -0.52% at 4,365, NDX -1.35% at 14,867, DJIA -0.30% at 33,951, RUT -0.20% at 1,863.

SECTORS: Technology -1.41%, Communication Services -1.36%, Consumer Discretionary -1.17%, Real Estate -0.44%, Financials -0.19%, Health +0.06%, Materials +0.35%, Consumer Staples +0.39%, Industrials +0.57%, Utilities +0.84%, Energy +0.92%.

Amazon (AMZN) - Co. said FTC Prime claims are false on the facts and the law, according to a statement. (Newswires)

22 Jun 2023 - 06:47- Research Sheet- Source: Newsquawk