Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 24th September 2025

ASIA

APAC stocks eventually traded mixed following a subdued open as the sentiment from Wall Street initially reverberated, but later improved after Chinese cash trade got underway, whilst Hong Kong remained open despite the Super Typhoon. ASX 200 declined as gold miners weighed following consecutive sessions of outperformance, while Tech mirrored Wall Street sectoral weakness. Nikkei 225 returned from holiday to trade softer in line with the regional tone, though losses were somewhat cushioned by the NVIDIA/OpenAI rally it missed yesterday and a weaker JPY intraday. KOSPI was pressured amid the broader global tech pullback and deteriorating South Korean consumer sentiment. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp were choppy and eventually traded in the green, with the former also boosted by Alibaba, whose shares surged after releasing its largest LLM whilst announcing plans to ramp up spending on AI infrastructure to better compete with US rivals.

Alibaba (BABA/ 9988 HK) - Co. officially releases Qwen3-MAX, a 1tln-parameter large language model. CEO announced plans to ramp up spending on AI infrastructure to better compete with US rivals. Shares +6.7% in Asia trade

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: Euro Stoxx 50 +0.64% at 5,477, Dax 40 +0.40% at 23,631, FTSE 100 +0.01% at 9,228, CAC 40 +0.54% at 7,872, FTSE MIB +0.20% at 42,508, IBEX 35 +0.50% at 15,171, PSI +1.20% at 7,812, SMI -0.14% at 12,106, AEX +0.43% at 935

SECTORS: Consumer Disc 1.48%, Energy 1.46%, IT 1.03%, Materials 0.31%, Financials 0.28%, Industrials 0.25%, Utilities 0.22%, Consumer Stpl -0.03%, Telecoms -0.36%, Healthcare -1.25%

FTSE 100

Glencore (GLEN LN) - An exec said that the Antamina mine, partly controlled by Glencore and BHP (BHP AT), should see a 67% increase in Zinc production in 2025. (Newswires)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

DAX

Lufthansa (LHA GY) - CEO warned of further closures of flight connections from German airports if the Government does not provide relief on pricing. (Funke)

Grid Operators - German grid operator Tennet plans to raise up to EUR 10bln via private placement; announcement could come as early as Wednesday, according to FT sources. (FT)

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

Bechtle (BC8 GY) - Bechtle Direct secured a contract for computer equipment and supplies. (Newswires)

Nordex (NDX1 GY) - Co. secures first Spanish order for N175/6.X turbines. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

CAC

Sanofi (SAN FP) - Sanofi commits to an additional USD 625mln to Sanofi ventures to accelerate investment in biotech and digital health innovation; ventures' AuM exceeded USD 1.4bln. Elsewhere, UK watchdog NICE recommends SARCLISA. (Newswires)

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

PAN EUROPE

Defence Stocks - US President Trump says NATO countries should shoot down Russian aircraft if they enter NATO airspace. G7 Foreign Ministers' Joint Statement: G7 expresses concern over Russia's latest airspace violations in Estonia, Poland, and Romania; G7 discussed imposing additional economic costs on Russia. Elsewhere, German defence minister says there are no talks between Germany and UK or Sweden about alternatives to the Franco-German fighter jet FCAS. (Newswires)

Saipem (SPM IM), Subsea 7 (SUBC NO) - Exxon (XOM), TechnipFMC (FTI), and Petrobras (PBR) have asked Brazil’s antitrust authority to review and oppose the merger of Italy’s Saipem and Norway’s Subsea 7, citing potential harm to competition in oilfield services. They highlighted the subsea umbilicals, risers, flowlines market and pipe laying vessels as areas likely to see price increases.

BROKER MOVES

SMI

Novartis (NOVN SW) / AbbVie (ABBV) - A US federal judge refused to block Maine from enforcing a new state law requiring drugmakers to offer discounts on drugs provided by third-party pharmacies. (Newswires)

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

Swiss Re (SREN SW) downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan

SCANDINAVIA

Metso (METSO FH) - Announces updated strategy 2026-2030 new financial targets; targets annual growth of 7%. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

US

CLOSES: SPX -0.55% at 6,657, NDX -0.73% at 24,580, DJI -0.19% at 46,293, RUT -0.24% at 2,458.

SECTORS: Consumer Discretionary -1.44%, Technology -1.14%, Communication Services -0.52%, Financials -0.44%, Materials -0.27%, Industrials +0.01%, Health +0.24%, Consumer Staples +0.36%, Utilities +0.54%, Real Estate +0.81%, Energy +1.71%.

CLOSES: SPX -0.55% at 6,657, NDX -0.73% at 24,580, DJI -0.19% at 46,293, RUT -0.24% at 2,458.

SECTORS: Consumer Discretionary -1.44%, Technology -1.14%, Communication Services -0.52%, Financials -0.44%, Materials -0.27%, Industrials +0.01%, Health +0.24%, Consumer Staples +0.36%, Utilities +0.54%, Real Estate +0.81%, Energy +1.71%.

NVIDIA (NVDA) - Director Mark Stevens sold over 350k shares on September 19th, at an average price of USD 176.3923/shr (vs 178.43 closing price on Tuesday), for a total USD 61.7mln. Director Persis Drell sold 40K shares on September 19th for a total USD 7.1mln. (Newswires)

OpenAI, Oracle (ORCL), and Softbank (9984 JT) - Co's announce five new US data centre; expects new data centre site to create over 25,000 direct jobs and tens of thousands more across the US. The firm continues assessing further potential locations for expansion. (Newswires)

Micron (MU) - Micron shares rose over 1% in extended trading after Q4 results topped expectations and guidance was above expectations, with management highlighting AI-driven memory demand and firmer pricing. The beat-and-raise performance met high market expectations, sustaining optimism after the stock’s 41% surge over the past month, reports note. It reported Q4 adj. EPS of 3.03 (exp. 2.86), Q4 revenue USD 11.32bln (exp. 11.21bln), Q4 adj. net income 3.469bln (exp. 3.158bln). Sees Q1 adj. EPS of 3.75 (exp. 3.07), and sees Q1 revenue of USD 12.5bln (exp. 11.87bln). Sees FY26 capex above FY25 levels, citing accelerating AI-driven demand, tight DRAM supply and healthy inventories. It said that DRAM supply tightness will extend into FY26, supported by strong AI and data centre demand alongside limited supply growth, helping sustain pricing strength and margins. Exec pointed to disciplined industry supply and robust server momentum as key drivers keeping DRAM and NAND markets tight. Supply growth for non-HBM DRAM and NAND will lag demand, with further DRAM tightness seen in 2026. (Newswires)

Disney (DIS) - Co. is raising the price of Disney Plus subscriptions from October 21st, The Verge reports. (The Verge)

Eli Lilly (LLY) - Co. plans to build a new USD 6.5bln facility to manufacture active pharmaceutical ingredients in Texas. (Newswires)

US Aluminium Tariffs - Alcoa (AA) CEO warned that US aluminium import tariffs will reduce demand for American metal, despite claims they would boost the domestic industry, Bloomberg reports. He said prices have risen sharply due to the 50% tariff, and without adjustments, US customers and shareholders will ultimately bear the higher costs.

24 Sep 2025 - 06:50- Research Sheet- Source: Newsquawk