Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 23rd May 2023

23rd May 2023

ASIA

APAC stocks were indecisive as participants digested the latest from the debt limit negotiations with the meeting between US President Biden and House Speaker McCarthy said to be productive but still lacked any major breakthrough. ASX 200 was kept afloat but with the upside capped by weakness in the consumer sectors and after Australia’s Flash Manufacturing PMI remained in a contraction. Nikkei 225 initially climbed to its highest level since August 1990 and was on course to match its longest win streak in around four years, before eventually deteriorating in afternoon trade. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp. were subdued following Hong Kong’s failure to sustain the early tech-led momentum from China’s approval of 86 domestic online games in May, while the mainland was pressured after Chinese press reports noted expectations for the PBoC’s benchmark lending rates to remain unchanged for some time and after the US denied it was planning to lift sanctions on China's defence minister.

Samsung Electronics (005930 KS)/ SK Hynix (000660 KS) - Q2 DRAM shipments are expected to have increased 15%-20% following the Q1 decline of 10%, according to sources via Pulse News Korea; SK Hynix shipments are expected up 30%-50% in Q2. (Pulse News Korea)

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: Euro Stoxx 50 -0.22% at 4,385, FTSE 100 +0.18% at 7,770, DAX 40 -0.32% at 16,223, CAC 40 -0.18% at 7,478, FTSE MIB -0.76% at 27,310, IBEX 35 +0.58% at 9,305, SMI -0.19% at 11,548.

SECTORS: Consumer Disc 0.46%, Healthcare 0.31%, Financials 0.14%, IT 0.10%, Utilities 0.03%, Telecoms -0.01%, Industrials -0.22%, Materials -0.30%, Consumer Stpl -0.41%, Energy -0.58%

FTSE 100

Antofagasta (ANTO LN) - Co's Centinela Mine supervisor union is to extend contract negotiations to avoid a strike. (Newswires)

British American Tobacco (BATS LN) - GQG Partners, a top five shareholder, has said the management changes are a pretty “bullish development” and that the Co. should “buy back stock in a much more aggressive manner”. (FT)

HSBC (HSBA LN) - First Citizens BancShares (FCNCA) sues HSBC for poaching dozens of SVB staff, according to Bloomberg. (Newswires)

UK Supermarkets - UK Chancellor Hunt is to meet with food manufacturers on Tuesday and call on the industry to assist in easing pressure on household budgets. (FT). Separately, Kantar's latest grocery market report will be released around the European cash open today.

OTHER UK COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

DAX

Deutsche Telekom (DTE GY) - T-Mobile (TMUS) CEO sees Q2 postpaid phone net additions at flat or higher vs Q2 last year. (JPM conference) Deutsche Telekom, in April, achieved majority stake ownership in TMUS at 50.2%

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

Aareal Bank (ARL GY) - Atlantic BidCo’s voluntary public takeover offer for Aareal Bank will proceed to closing: the Bidder announced that all conditions of the offer have been fulfilled after the ECB approved the acquisition of a majority stake in the Bank. (Yahoo Finance) Atlantic BidCo had secured around 84 % of Aareal Bank shares at an offer price of EUR 33.00/shr last year.

BROKER MOVES

Qiagen (QIA GY) upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley

CAC

Casino (CO FP) - Casino's holding company Rallye has opened the process to get a grace period over its debt situation, according to Reuters. (Newswires)

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

PAN EUROPE

ASM International (ASM NA) - co. is to invest around KRW 130bln in an R&D and production facility expansion in South Korea. (Newswires)

Chip Names - Samsung Electronics (005930 KS) Q2 DRAM shipments are expected to have increased 15%-20% following the Q1 decline of 10%, according to sources via Pulse News Korea; SK Hynix (000660 KS) shipments are expected up 30%-50% in Q2. (Pulse News Korea)

BROKER MOVES

Repsol (REP SM) downgraded to Hold from Buy at HSBC

SMI

Nestle (NESN SW) - Co's Operations Head is to retire. Stephanie Pullings Hart has been named as the successor. (Newswires)

UBS (UBSG SW) - Co's China fund management project reportedly stalled after the Credit Suisse (CSGN SW) deal, according to Nikkei. (Nikkei)

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

Julius Baer (BAER SW) – end-April: (CHF): AUM 429bln, +1% YY; increase was driven by positive market performance and net money inflows, partially offset by a negative FX impact from CHF strength vs USD. Solid start to the year despite challenging market developments, strong relationship manager hiring pipeline, significant capital generation. (Newswires) Shares seen opening -3.1%.

Swiss Prime Site (SPSN SW) – Intends to issue CHF 250mln of convertible notes due 2030. To be used to refinance upcoming convertible debt maturities alongside real estate development projects. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

SCANDINAVIA

BROKER MOVES

Danske Bank (DANSKE DC) upgraded to Neutral from Underweight at JPMorgan Chase

Novo Nordisk (NOVOB DC) reiterated with Overweight at JPMorgan Chase

US

CLOSES: SPX +0.02% at 4,192, NDX +0.34% at 13,849, DJIA -0.42% at 33,286, RUT +1.22% at 1,795.

SECTORS: Communication Services +1.17%, Real Estate +0.67%, Financials +0.22%, Technology +0.13%, Health +0.04%, Utilities +0.03%, Industrials unch., Consumer Discretionary -0.37%, Energy -0.39%, Materials -0.55%, Consumer Staples -1.47%.

23 May 2023 - 06:44- Research Sheet- Source: Newsquawk