Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 26th June 2023

26th June 2023

ASIA

Asia-Pac stocks were mostly subdued after Friday's losses on Wall St owing to the recent bout of weak global PMIs and amid a lack of fresh catalysts to spur markets with weekend newsflow dominated by the brief uprising of the Wagner Group in Russia. ASX 200 (-0.5%) was lacklustre with price action rangebound as weakness in the top-weighted financial sector offsets the modest gains in real estate and tech. Nikkei 225 (-0.3%) was choppy as participants digested the latest BoJ Summary of Opinions which mostly stuck to the dovish script whereby it stated it is appropriate to maintain current monetary easing and it is premature to shift policy, although a member suggested the BoJ must consider reviewing YCC at an early stage even as it maintains easy monetary policy. Hang Seng (-0.2%) and Shanghai Comp. (-0.7%) were somewhat varied with the Hong Kong benchmark kept rangebound, while the mainland underperformed on return from the Dragon Boat Festival where travel spending was below pre-COVID levels to add to the weak domestic demand and slower consumption narrative.

Tech Names - Smartphone shipments within China rose by 22.6% Y/Y to 25.2mln handsets in May, according to CAICT. (Newswires)

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: Euro Stoxx 50 -0.76% at 4,271, FTSE 100 -0.54% at 7,461, DAX 40 -0.99% at 15,829, CAC 40 -0.55% at 7,163, FTSE MIB -0.73% at 27,209, IBEX 35 -1.06% at 9,265, SMI +0.40% at 11,228.

SECTORS: Healthcare 0.58%, Consumer Stpl 0.55%, Telecoms 0.41%, Utilities -0.42%, Materials -0.57%, Financials -0.61%, Industrials -0.82%, Consumer Disc -0.85%, Energy -0.89%, IT -1.27%

FTSE 100

AstraZeneca (AZN LN) - First patient dosed in Phase 2 MATISSE trial of IPH5201 in early-stage lung cancer. (Newswires)

Shell (SHEL LN) - Indonesia's Energy Minister says Pertamina and Petronas will jointly take over Shell's (SHEL LN) stake in the Masela project. (Newswires)

Vodafone (VOD LN) – Co’s GBP 18bln merger with CK Hutchison’s (1 HK) Three is facing cross-party scrutiny over its links to China, with security implications of the merger among the concerns. (Times)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

The Restaurant Group (RTN LN) - Hedge fund Oasis Management (14% shareholder) said it was concerning the Co. appointed a CFO who has worked with the CEO as opposed to having experience in a CFO role. A spokesman for the Co. said the “board ran a thorough internal and external search process.” (Telegraph)

Senior (SNR LN) - Confirmed a data incident in April 2023 and will issue notices to affected individuals and relevant state and federal agencies. Added that personal and financial data may have been affected. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Lloyds (LLOY LN) downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at JP Morgan

M&G (MNG LN) downgraded to Hold from Buy at HSBC

DAX

Bayer (BAYN GY) - FDA approves the Co's Ultravist (Ioprmoide) injection for contrast-enhanced mammography. (Newswires)

Commerzbank (CBK GY) - Co. says it added provisions for the CHF loan portfolio at MBank of EUR 342mln Euros, Q2 operating result will be burdened by a corresponding amount booked as negative revenues in "other net income". CEO said we are convinced our earnings development will enable further distributions to our shareholders. (Newswires) Successfully completes first share buy-back programme worth EUR 122mln. (Newswires)

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

Sartorius (SRT GY) initiated with Buy at CitiGroup

Siemens Energy (ENR GY) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies

Merck (MRK GY) reiterated with Overweight at JPMorgan Chase

CAC

Airbus (AIR FP) - CEO says we cannot make planes fast enough for customers, adding that airlines continue to see strong demand and does not see a slowdown in ticket bookings. (Newswires)

Pernod Ricard (RI FP) - To enter into an agreement in principle on the potential sale of Clan Campbell Blended Scotch Whisky Brand to Stock Spirits Group. (Newswires)

Sanofi (SAN FP) - ALTUVIIIO late-breaking data at ISTH demonstrates highly effective bleed protection in children with severe hemophilia A with once-weekly dosing. (Sanofi)

TotalEnergies (TTE FP) - The Co. and Aramco award USD 11bln of EPC contracts for planned petrochemicals complex in Saudi Arabia. (Newswires)

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

Casino (CO FP) - Notes the remaining 11.7% of Assai's share capital was sold at a price of BRL 13.38/shr. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

PAN EUROPE

Iberdrola (IBE SM) - Co. is reportedly to partner with Credit Agricole (ACA FP) to bid in French Government offshore wind tenders, according to reports. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Endesa (ELE SM) upgraded to Equal Weight from Underweight at Morgan Stanley

SMI

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

SCANDINAVIA

SBB (SBBB SE) - Enters into exclusive discussions to sell remaining 51% of social infrastructure portfolio for public education. Repayment of intercompany loan of SEK 14.5bln from Educo to SBB. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

US

CLOSES: SPX -0.77% 4,348, NDX -1.00% at 14,891, DJIA -0.65% at 33,727, RUT -1.44% at 1,821.

SECTORS: Utilities -1.51%, Consumer Discretionary -1.1%, Technology -1.1%, Real Estate -1.09%, Energy -0.79%, Materials -0.78%, Industrials -0.75%, Consumer Staples -0.59%, Financials -0.42%, Health -0.32%, Communication Services -0.25%.

Tesla (TSLA) - Goldman Sachs downgrades Tesla to Neutral from Buy, with a price target of USD 248 (prev. 185). GS’ analysts believe Tesla's recent stock surge reflects its positive long-term outlook, with the with positive long-term view priced in, and GS notes challenges in the pricing environment; still GS emphasised Tesla's strong competitive position in EVs. Separately, Barron's said everything was going right for Tesla, and it was now time to sell the stock. The newspaper cited four factors: overvaluation after recent gains, concerns about Q2 sales due early July, recent analyst downgrades (Barclays and Morgan Stanley), as well as recent volatility in the stock, which presents scope for profit taking.

26 Jun 2023 - 06:47- Exclusive- Source: Newsquawk