Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 26th March 2025

26th March 2025

ASIA

APAC stocks traded with a mostly positive bias after the somewhat mixed performance stateside where the focus centred on tariffs, data and geopolitics including reports that Ukraine and Russia agreed with the US on a maritime ceasefire. ASX 200 was led higher by gains in the mining, resources and financial sectors in the aftermath of the recent budget announcement, while participants also digested softer-than-expected monthly inflation from Australia. Nikkei 225 reclaimed the 38,000 level with upside supported by a weaker currency and after slightly softer Services PPI data. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp eked slight gains but with upside capped amid ongoing tariff uncertainty with a Chinese delegation to meet with the US Commerce Secretary and the USTR today to negotiate over tariffs in which they will also discuss fentanyl and trade barriers among other issues, while a PBoC adviser warned at the Boao Forum that changes in the global environment will be challenging for China and China must boost domestic demand, especially consumption.

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: DAX: +1.10% at 23,105, FTSE 100: +0.30% at 8,664, CAC 40: +1.08% at 8,109, Euro Stoxx 50: +1.10% at 5,475, AEX: +0.58% at 921, IBEX 35: +1.36% at 13,504, FTSE MIB: +1.06% at 39,385, SMI: -0.05% at 13,010, PSI: +0.86% at 6,832

SECTORS: Energy 1.57%, Financials 1.49%, Industrials 0.77%, Materials 0.69%, IT 0.67%, Telecoms 0.56%, Utilities 0.55%, Consumer Disc 0.31%, Healthcare -0.12%, Consumer Stpl -0.25%

FTSE 100

Anglo American (AAL LN) - Co. said to start talks with banks on possible De Beers IPO, according to Bloomberg. (Bloomberg)

Shell (SHEL LN)/ BP (BP/ LN) - Shell's CEO said the company is open to acquisitions, but cautioned that pursuing large deals could be distracting. While not ruling out a merger with BP, he emphasised that any transaction would require a high threshold, likely focusing on smaller-scale acquisitions in upstream production, according to Bloomberg. (Bloomberg)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

Deliveroo (ROO LN) resumed with Neutral at Goldman Sachs

Informa (INF LN) resumed with Buy at Goldman Sachs

Hammerson (HMSO LN) upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Goldman Sachs

ITV (ITV LN) resumed with Neutral at Goldman Sachs

Ocado (OCDO LN) upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan Chase

Pearson (PSN LN) resumed with Buy at Goldman Sachs

Rightmove (RMV LN) resumed with Buy at Goldman Sachs

WPP (WPP LN) resumed with Neutral at Goldman Sachs

DAX

BMW (BMW GY) - Alibaba (9988 HK) and BMW will jointly develop AI for cars in China, Bloomberg reports. BMW will integrate Alibaba-backed Banma’s AI cockpit technology into upcoming China-specific models. The collaboration leverages Alibaba’s Qwen AI model, as the tech giant seeks to expand its AI applications and customer reach. (Newswires)

Thyssenkrupp (TKA GY) - China's commerce minister met with the ThyssenKrupp chairman and said that China welcomes ThyssenKrupp to increase cooperation with China in steel, machinery, auto parts and low carbon fields. (Newswires)

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

ProSiebenSat.1 (PSM GY) - MFE (MFEA IM) is to reportedly review a potential bid for Germany's ProSieben on Wednesday, according to Reuters sources. (Newswires) ProSiebenSat.1 seen opening +2.7%

BROKER MOVES

Delivery Hero (DHER GY) resumed with Buy at Goldman Sachs

CAC

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

JCDecaux (DEC FP) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman Sachs

Orange (ORA FP) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Citi

Publicis (PUB FP) resumed with Buy at Goldman Sachs

PAN EUROPE

Copper Stocks - Copper futures overnight extended on yesterday's advances and briefly surged following reports that US President Trump may implement copper tariffs within weeks which saw prices rise by as much as 3% intraday before paring the majority of the gains.

Defence Stocks - It was reported that Ukrainian drones had been shot down over the Black Sea, hours after a partial ceasefire was agreed, according to Russia's defence ministry cited by Sky News. (Sky News)

Iberdrola (IBE SM) - Co. is to carry out a buy-back programme, terms to be set on April 29th. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

ArcelorMittal (MT NA) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies

SMI

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

SCANDINAVIA

Ericsson (ERICB SS) - SoftBank Corp (9434 JT) and Ericsson forge a strategic partnership to drive innovation in AI, Cloud XR and 6G technologies towards 2030. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

US

CLOSES: SPX +0.16% at 5,777, NDX +0.53% at 20,288, DJI +0.01% at 42,588, RUT -0.66% at 2,095.

SECTORS: Communication Services +1.43%, Consumer Discretionary +0.98%, Financials +0.49%, Energy +0.47%, Technology +0.29%, Industrials +0.10%, Materials +0.03%, Consumer Staples -0.96%, Real Estate -1.22%, Health -1.29%, Utilities -1.61%

AT&T (T) - Co. reportedly in exclusive talks to buy Lumen’s (LUMN) consumer fibre unit and is valued in excess of USD 5.5bln, according to Bloomberg. (Newswires)

Gamestop (GME) - Shares surged by 8.3% after hours after its board approved investing corporate cash into Bitcoin (BTC), following MicroStrategy’s (MSTR) approach. Gamestop, which holds USD 4.8bln in cash, set no Bitcoin purchase limit and warned of crypto volatility risks. GameStop also reported Q4 adj. EPS of 0.30 (exp. 0.08), adj. EBITDA of USD 96.5mln (exp. 32.07mln), and revenue of USD 1.28bln (exp. 1.48bln). (Newswires)

NVIDIA (NVDA) - An FT report states that Beijing's energy efficiency rules could severely impact Nvidia’s China sales, as the H20 chip fails to meet new environmental standards. The restrictions threaten NVIDIA's USD 17bln/yr business unless adjustments are made to comply, which could reduce chip efficiency. The curbs reflect growing US-China trade tensions and Beijing's push for domestic tech reliance. (FT)

26 Mar 2025 - 06:55- Exclusive- Source: Newsquawk