Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 23rd March 2026

ASIA

APAC stocks were pressured after the US and Iran exchanged threats over the weekend, with US President Trump announcing a 48-hour ultimatum for Iran to fully open the Strait of Hormuz or the US will obliterate Iranian power plants, while Iran responded with its own threats, including completely shutting the Strait of Hormuz until damaged plants are rebuilt and warned that all power plants in regional countries that host US bases will become legitimate targets. ASX 200 retreated amid continued underperformance in miners, materials and resources, while defensives were at the other end of the spectrum amid the broad risk-off mood. Nikkei 225 slumped firmly beneath the 52,000 level and suffered intraday losses of more than 2,000 points on return from a 3-day weekend amid energy-related headwinds, while Japanese Foreign Minister Motegi denied that Japan was considering unilateral negotiations with Iran to secure passage for vessels through the Strait of Hormuz. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp conformed to the broad downbeat mood as participants reflected on a slew of earnings, while rehashed rhetoric from PBoC Governor Pan that they will continue to implement appropriately loose monetary policy, provided little solace.

China Autos - Chinese carmakers are setting new innovation benchmarks through faster software iteration, Bloomberg reports, citing a Leapmotor C10 in Germany, whose driver-assistance issue was reported to engineers in Hangzhou and fixed with an over-the-air update before the driver finished a meeting, compared with weeks at European carmakers. (Bloomberg)

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: Euro Stoxx 50 -2.14% at 5,493, Dax 40 -2.23% at 22,343, FTSE 100 -1.57% at 9,906, CAC 40 -1.82% at 7,666, FTSE MIB -1.94% at 42,854, IBEX 35 -1.28% at 16,689, PSI -2.13% at 8,756, SMI -1.22% at 12,326, AEX -1.64% at 962.

SECTORS: Materials -0.70%, Consumer Stpl -0.87%, Consumer Disc -0.89%, Healthcare -1.20%, Telecoms -1.65%, Financials -1.77%, Energy -2.03%, Industrials -2.20%, Utilities -2.64%, IT -2.98%

FTSE 100

IAG (IAG LN) - Co. is reportedly abandoning its pursuit of Tap Air, according to Bloomberg citing sources. (Bloomberg)

UK - UK PM Starmer is to hold an emergency meeting of senior officials to discuss the cost of living this week, with Starmer to convene senior cabinet members and the BoE Governor. (Newswires)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

Croda (CRDA LN) upgraded to Buy from Sell at Goldman Sachs

DAX

Bayer (BAYN GY) - First approval for Bayer’s low-dose MRI contrast agent in Japan. Approval granted for all indications and all age groups including children and newborns. Further submissions to health authorities worldwide ongoing to secure marketing authorization in additional markets. (Bayer)

German politics - German Chancellor Merz’s CDU was projected to have won 30.8% of the vote vs. Social Democrats with 26% in Rhineland-Palatinate, to remove the Social Democrats from power in the state after 35 years. (Newswires)

Siemens (SIE GY) – Co. boosts industrial AI operating system, unveils new technologies and partnership in Beijing. (Siemens)

Volkswagen (VOW3 GY) - Volkswagen CEO Blume said restructuring will continue despite a rising order backlog, according to Bild. He said VW is applying clear manufacturing cost targets across plants in Germany, Europe and China to avoid costly overcapacity. (Bild)

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

Delivery Hero (DHER GY) - Delivery Hero entered into a share purchase agreement for the sale of its foodpanda business in Taiwan to Grab Holdings. Purchase price amounts to USD 600mln on a cash and debt free basis, subject to certain adjustments. The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the Transaction to repay debt to enhance its capital structure and for general corporate purposes. (Delivery Hero)

Nordex (NDX1 GY) - Receives new order from Serbia for 70 MW. (Nordex)

Salzgitter (SZG GY) – FY 2025 (EUR): Pretax Profit -27.7mln (prev. 296.2mln Y/Y), Revenue 9bln (prelim. 9bln Y/Y). FY Outlook: Sales 9.5bln (exp. 9.86bln), EBITDA 500-600mln (exp. 711.8mln). "We anticipate positive stimulus for our industry from the EU’s trade defense measures. All in all, we expect an only moderate improvement in the economic environment". (Salzgitter)

BROKER MOVES

CAC

French politics - France's far-right RN sees mixed results in local elections winning in smaller cities, but losing in big targets such as Marseille and Toulon, while RN ally Ciotti was elected Mayor of Nice, according to FT. (FT)

STMicroelectronics (STMPA FP) - China-manufactured STM32 microcontrollers begin volume production. First deliveries of fully made-in-China STM32 microcontrollers to China-based customers are ongoing. (STMicroelectronics)

TotalEnergies (TTE FP) / Holcim (HOLN SW) – Cos inaugurate Europe's largest floating solar power plant dedicated to self-consumption. (TotalEnergies)

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

Teleperformance (TEP FP) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Citi

PAN EUROPE

ASML (ASML NA) / Lithography - Elon Musk announced a USD 20bln “TeraFab” semiconductor facility in Austin, Texas, jointly developed by Tesla and SpaceX, aimed at vertically integrating chip production—including logic, memory, packaging, testing, and mask-making—within a single site to accelerate development cycles and meet surging internal demand across AI, robotics, and space computing. The fab is intended to produce both edge inference chips for Tesla’s vehicles and humanoid robots, and high-power, space-hardened chips for satellites, with Musk projecting eventual output far beyond current global AI compute capacity (targeting up to a terawatt annually, largely in space). (X)

BMPS (BMPS IM) - Monte Paschi’s board will on Monday discuss whether Luigi Lovaglio can remain CEO after he agreed to stand for another term on a rival minority shareholder slate, Bloomberg reports. His inclusion on the competing list is seen as incompatible with the bank’s interests and its push for a management change. (Bloomberg)

Geopols - US President Trump gave Iran a 48hr deadline to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face US strikes on Iranian power plants. The threat was delivered in a late Saturday Truth Social post. Iran has already rejected the ultimatum and said it would respond in kind, stating that it would target critical infrastructure if Trump carries out his threats to strike Iranian power plants. Separately, Australia and the UAE joined a joint statement signed by 22 countries calling on Iran to stop attempts to block commercial traffic in the Strait of Hormuz; the group said they stand ready to contribute to appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage through the strait.

Luxury Stocks - Luxury groups including LVMH (MC FP), Kering (KER FP) and Richemont (CFR SW) expanded store openings in Europe last year despite a wider sector slowdown, according to Cushman & Wakefield data cited by Bloomberg, which showed a 13% rise in new outlets on leading European luxury retail streets, with brands owned by the three companies accounting for nearly a third of those stores. (Bloomberg)

Poste Italiane (PST IM) / Telecom Italia (TIT IM) – Poste Italiane has launched a EUR 10.8bln bid for Telecom Italia. The aim of the transaction is to create a single Group by integrating two of Italy’s largest and most important industrial companies. The consideration to be paid by Poste Italiane to TIM’s shareholders who will accept the Offer will be represented by a cash component equal to EUR 0.167 for each TIM share tendered to the Offer. Poste Italiane has identified a total potential for pre-tax synergies of approximately EUR 0.7bln per annum at full scale, of which EUR 0.5bln relates to cost synergies and including the efficiencies achievable on TIM’s current level of financing cost and thanks to the optimisation of TIM’s capital structure. Revenue synergies have been estimated at over EUR 0.2bln. Cost synergies are expected to be realized within the second year following the completion of the Offer, while revenue synergies are expected within a 3-year horizon. (Poste Italiane)

BROKER MOVES

SMI

Novartis (NOVN SW) – Co. presents new data on early symptom relief and long-term control in complex skin diseases at AAD 2026. New Rhapsido REMIX-1 & -2 pooled analysis on symptom control as early as week 1 in chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) to be presented. Elsewhere, J-SAMIT trial of ENTRESTO met its primary endpoint. Separately, Novartis agrees to acquire a pan-mutant-selective PI3Kα inhibitor, strengthening its breast cancer pipeline. (Novartis)

UBS (USBG SW) – CEO says he will remain the UBS CEO until at least 2027, adding that succession plans are not the topic for the moment. (UBS)

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

Galderma (GALD SW) – Co. receives U.S. FDA approval for Restylane Contour for the correction of Temple Hollowing. (Galderma)

Sonova (SOON SW) – Co. presents renewed strategy to expand market leadership with ambition to reach CHF 6bln in revenue by FY 2030/31. Sonova also confirms its previously communicated FY 2025/26 outlook with growth expected at the lower end of the guidance range. To divest consumer hearing unit. (Sonova)

BROKER MOVES

Belimo (BEAN SW) upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Kempen

Sandoz (SDZ SW) downgraded to Sector Perform from Outperform at RBC

SCANDINAVIA

BROKER MOVES

FLSmidth (FLS DC) upgraded to Hold from Sell at Danske Bank

ISS (ISS DC) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Nordea

US

CLOSES: SPX -1.51% at 6,506, NDX -1.88% at 23,898, DJI -0.96% at 45,578, RUT -2.25% at 2,438

SECTORS: Utilities -4.11%, Real Estate -3.16%, Technology -2.20%, Consumer Discretionary -1.86%, Materials -1.53%, Communication Services -1.51%, Industrials -1.50%, Health -0.88%, Consumer Staples -0.87%, Energy +0.03%, Financials +0.20%.

Tesla (TSLA) - A US federal jury found Elon Musk liable for defrauding Twitter shareholders over two 2022 statements about bots during his USD 44bln takeover bid. Damages have not been calculated, with the shareholders’ lawyer estimating about USD 2.5bln. Musk’s lawyers said he plans to appeal and called the verdict a bump in the road. Separately, Bloomberg reports that Musk said Tesla's Terafab chip project will start in Austin, and be run jointly by Tesla and SpaceX; the initial site will be an advanced technology fab with equipment to make and test chips for robotics, AI and space data centres, with a smaller-scale facility preceding a larger one. (Bloomberg)

23 Mar 2026 - 06:59- Research Sheet- Source: Newsquawk