Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 24th June 2024

24th June 2024

ASIA

APAC stocks were predominantly subdued heading closer to month-end and US PCE data later in the week, with sentiment not helped by Friday's mixed performance stateside and the lack of major macro catalysts. ASX 200 was led lower by the resources and mining-related sectors amid softer underlying commodity prices. Nikkei 225 initially swung between gains and losses as participants digested currency weakness and renewed jawboning but eventually bucked the overall trend owing to exporter strength. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp. declined whereby the former retreated beneath the 18,000 level amid tech and property-related pressure, while the mainland index continued its descent after it recently breached the 3,000 level to the downside to print its weakest level since late February.

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: DAX: -0.38% at 18,185, CAC 40: -0.56% at 7,628, FTSE 100: -0.42% at 8,237, IBEX 35: -1.15% at 11,032, FTSE MIB: -1.09% at 33,308, SMI: -0.84% at 12,026, Euro Stoxx 50: -1.04% at 4,896.

SECTORS: Healthcare -0.14%, Utilities -0.14%, Energy -0.26%, Consumer Disc -0.30%, Telecoms -0.44%, Consumer Stpl -0.50%, Industrials -1.05%, Financials -1.15%, Materials -1.29%, IT -1.50%

FTSE 100

Prudential (PRU LN) - Co. is planning a USD 2bln share buyback programme which will be completed no later than mid-2026. (Newswires)

Tesco (TSCO LN) - Fitch affirmed Tesco at BBB-; outlook stable. (Newswires)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

Travel - Manchester Airport in the UK was affected by a major power cut on Sunday morning which caused widespread disruption and the cancellation of a quarter of total flights from the airport. It was later reported that the airport was resuming operations and it is working on rescheduling flights in the coming days, while flights scheduled on Monday should be unaffected.

Delivery Names – Private equity names are reportedly looking at Evri (formally Hermes), Apollo and Platinum Equity are among those who have placed initial offers at a value of around EUR 2bln, via Sky News citing sources. (Sky News)

BROKER MOVES

Flutter (FLTR LN) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Peel Hunt

DAX

BMW (BMW GY) - Co. further expands US commitment with an investment of USD 200mln; BEV production starts in 2026. (Newswires)

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

Hochtief (HOT GY) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Jefferies

CAC

Airbus (AIR FP) - UK's Unite said Spirit AeroSystems (SPR) in Northern Ireland must be transferred intact to Airbus following Boeing (BA) acquisition; Unite has raised serious concerns about Boeing's acquisition of SPR. FT, on Friday, reported that Airbus is nearing a deal with Spirit to take over components of work on key aircraft programmes, according to sources; could be announced as soon as this week. (Newswires/FT)

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

Casino (CO FP) - Agreement with Rocca and Auchan Retail France for the sale of Codim 2. Signed a unilateral purchase agreement for the sale of Codim 2. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

PAN EUROPE

argenx (ARGX BB) - Announced FDA approval of Vygart Hytrulo for chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy. (Newswires)

Autos - China’s Commerce Minister and EU Trade Commissioner agreed to launch consultations on EV tariffs, according to China’s MOFCOM. It was also reported that China’s state planner hopes that Germany will demonstrate leadership within the EU and do the correct thing, while China will take all measures to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies, as well as noted that the average price of China’s main EV models overseas is higher than domestic prices. (Newswires)

Enel (ENEL IM) - Moody's ratings affirmed Enel Americas' BAA2 Rating; outlook stable. (Newswires)

Orlen (PKN PW) - Co. is looking to sell its media subsidiary as its new CEO aims to show investors that the Co. is now politically independent, according to the FT. (FT)

UniCredit (UCG IM) - Announced the launch of the third tranche of the share buyback programme 2023. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

SMI

Roche (ROG SW) - Launched new analytical units for Cobas pro integrated solutions delivering greater efficiency and capacity to laboratories. The new cobas c 703 analytical unit offers industry-leading high throughput clinical chemistry testing1 with up to 2,000 tests per hour and 70 reagent positions, doubling the existing clinical chemistry throughput on cobas pro integrated solutions. (Roche)

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

Alcon (ALC SW) - Unity VCS received USD FDA 510(k) clearance. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

SCANDINAVIA

Novo Nordisk (NOVOB DC) - Novo Nordisk reported positive results from the phase 3 FRONTIER2 trial of Mim8 for haemophilia A at the ISTH Annual Congress. Mim8 demonstrated up to 98.7% reduction in annualised bleeding rate with once-weekly and once-monthly dosing. Novo plans to seek regulatory approval for Mim8 by late 2024, with ongoing data disclosures planned through 2025. (Newswires)

Oersted (ORSTED DC) - Sunrise Wind received final approval from US Department of Interior. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

US

CLOSES: SPX -0.16% at 5,465, NDX -0.26% at 19,700, DJI +0.04% at 39,150, RUT +0.23% at 2,022.

SECTORS: Consumer Discretionary +1.02%, Communication Services +0.66%, Health +0.3%, Real Estate +0.27%, Materials +0.08%, Consumer Staples +0.02%, Industrials -0.14%, Financials -0.31%, Utilities -0.54%, Energy -0.68%, Technology -0.84%.

Apple (AAPL) - Will not roll out AI features in the EU this year because of DMA, according to Bloomberg. (Bloomberg)

China's ByteDance and Broadcom (AVGO) - Are working on developing an advanced AI processor which would use 5nm technology and manufacturing would be outsourced to TSMC (2330 TT), while it would be compliant with US export restrictions, according to Reuters sources. (Reuters)

24 Jun 2024 - 06:51- EquitiesResearch Sheet- Source: Newsquawk