Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 26th September 2025

TRADE/TARIFFS

FRESH TARIFFS

US President Trump said that as of October 1st, 2025, a 25% tariff will be imposed on all “Heavy Trucks” made in other parts of the world, according to Truth Social. Of note for PACCAR (PCAR), Daimler Truck (DTG GY), Volvo Group (VOLVB SS), Traton (8TRA GY), Miller Industries (MLR), Toyota/Hino (TM US, 7205 JT), Isuzu Motors (7202 JT), Tata Motors (TTM, TATAMOTORS IS), CNH Industrial (CNHI), Scania (part of Traton).

US President Trump said that as of October 1st, 2025, the US will impose a 50% tariff on all kitchen cabinets, bathroom vanities, and associated products, and a 30% tariff on upholstered furniture, according to Truth Social. Of note for Home Depot (HD), Lowe’s (LOW), Williams-Sonoma (WSM), Wayfair (W), RH (RH), IKEA (privately held, but large importer), La-Z-Boy (LZB), Ethan Allen (ETD), Tempur Sealy (TPX), Bassett Furniture (BSET), Hooker Furnishings (HOFT), Haverty Furniture (HVT).

US President Trump said that as of October 1st, 2025, the US will impose a 100% tariff on any branded or patented pharmaceutical product unless the company is building its pharmaceutical manufacturing plant in America, according to Truth Social. Of note for Pfizer (PFE), Merck & Co (MRK), Bristol Myers Squibb (BMY), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Eli Lilly (LLY), AbbVie (ABBV), Amgen (AMGN), Gilead (GILD), Novartis (NOVN SW), Roche (ROG SW), Sanofi (SAN FP), AstraZeneca (AZN LN), GlaxoSmithKline (GSK LN), Bayer (BAYN GY), Novo Nordisk (NOVOB DC).

The Trump administration is reportedly weighing a new plan to dramatically reduce the US' reliance on semiconductors made overseas, according to WSJ sources. Companies that do not maintain a 1:1 ratio over time would have to pay a tariff, sources said. Of note for TSMC (2330 TT), Samsung Electronics (005930 KS), SK Hynix (000660 KS), Intel (INTC), Micron (MU), GlobalFoundries (GFS), AMD (AMD), NVIDIA (NVDA), Broadcom (AVGO), Qualcomm (QCOM), ASML (ASML NA), Infineon (IFX GY), STMicroelectronics (STM FP), NXP Semiconductors (NXPI).

Steel - EU plans to impose tariffs of 25-50% on Chinese steel and related products, via Reuters, citing Handelsblatt. (Handelsblatt)

ASIA

APAC stocks traded mostly lower after being subdued for a bulk of the session following a similar performance stateside after hot US data, with traders now looking ahead to the Fed's preferred gauge of inflation. Sentiment in the region was hampered by US President Trump announcing tariffs of 100% on pharmaceuticals, 50% on kitchen cabinets, bathroom vanities and associated products, 30% on upholstered furniture, and 25% on all heavy trucks made outside the US. ASX 200 eventually eked out mild gains, but the healthcare sector was the biggest laggard after Trump’s 100% tariff announcement on pharmaceuticals. Tech also weakened, though losses were cushioned by outperformance in metals and mining. Nikkei 225 was modestly softer but held above the 45,500 level after briefly dipping below, with pharma stocks weighing following Trump’s tariff announcement, and with little follow-through from softer-than-expected but prior-matching Tokyo CPI data. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp largely conformed to regional losses, with little follow-through from Trump signing the executive order on TikTok, in which he also noted he had good talks with Chinese President Xi, although the Mainland later oscillated on either side of the unchanged mark. KOSPI was the regional laggard, heavily pressured by the tech sector and pharma, whilst reports also suggested South Korea fired warning shots at a North Korean commercial vessel for crossing the maritime border, according to Yonhap. Nifty 50 was also subdued with the nation's pharma stocks pressured after President Trump's tariff announcement.

Hitachi (6501 JT) - Co. announces partnership with NVIDIA (NVDA) to establish an AI factory aimed at accelerating physical AI innovation. (Newswires)

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: Euro Stoxx 50 -0.30% at 5,448, Dax 40 -0.61% at 23,521, FTSE 100 -0.39% at 9,214, CAC 40 -0.41% at 7,795, FTSE MIB -0.43% at 42,242, IBEX 35 -0.27% at 15,154, PSI +0.00% at 7,915, SMI -0.74% at 11,890, AEX -0.11% at 934.

SECTORS: Energy 0.41%, Utilities 0.26%, Telecoms 0.10%, Consumer Stpl -0.17%, Materials -0.23%, IT -0.37%, Consumer Disc -0.45%, Financials -0.54%, Industrials -0.69%, Healthcare -1.88%

FTSE 100

Babcock (BAB LN) - Co. confirms shareholders passed all resolutions at AGM; to make FY26 bonus and PSP awards in line with policy as committee applied it in FY25. (Newswires)

BAE Systems (BA/ LN) - BAE Systems won a USD 396.08mln US Army contract modification to definitise production of Bradley-based A4 vehicles. (Newswires)

Glencore (GLEN LN) - Perpetua Resources (PPTA CT) said it is holding talks with Glencore and others regarding a partnership to refine antimony in the US. (Newswires)

Shell (SHEL LN) / TotalEnergies (TTE FP) / Eni (ENI IM) - Nigeria's oil regulator has approved a USD 510mln deal by TotalEnergies to sell its entire 12.5% stake in oil mining lease 118; will sell to Shell and Eni's Agip. (Newswires)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

IHG (IHG LN) upgraded to Overweight from Underweight at JPMorgan

DAX

SAP (SAP GY) - SAP awarded a USD 1bln firm-fixed-price contract by the US Army for an end-user license agreement covering the SAP Rise portfolio. Work locations and funding will be set per order, with completion expected by September 14, 2035. (Newswires)

Volkswagen (VOW3 GY) - Co. cuts output and pauses production at German EV plants, Bloomberg reports. More specifically, the plant in Zwickau will halt production for one week starting on October 6th, due to low demand for Audi Q4 e-tron, which has been hit by US tariffs. Sources also suggested that the Emden Plant had already begun cutting back on employee hours and expects to shut down factory lines for some days. (Bloomberg)

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

CAC

EssilorLuxottica (EL FP) - FDA grants market authorisation for Essilor Stellest lens. (Newswires)

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

PAN EUROPE

Aedifica (AED SM) - Co. invests EUR 21mln in the development of 3 nursing homes in Finland. (Newswires)

Defence Names - Europeans privately tell Russia that they are ready to shoot down jets, Bloomberg reports; European officials see Russia's Estonia incursion as deliberate. French President Macron says France stands ready to support Denmark in assessing the situation and contributing to the security of Danish airspace, via X. (Bloomberg / X)

Fertlisers - US Agricultural Secretary Rollins says DoJ antitrust division will look at high fertilizer and seed costs; USDA is developing a plan to revitalise beef industry but will not offer payments to producers. (Newswires)

Italian Banks - The Italian Economy Minister said, "I hope banks to improve credit terms for firms as they take advantage of Fitch rating upgrade on Italy". (Newswires)

Prosus (PRX NA) - Prosus's OLX Group agrees to acquire La Centrale for EUR 1.1bln; exp. to close by year-end. (Newswires)

Saipem (SPM IM) - Co. received authorisation to proceed with the execution of Hammerhead offshore project by Exxon. (Newswires)

UniCredit (UCG IM) - The Italian bank is looking at options which include hiring more Germans to the Board, in a move to try to entice a takeover of Commerzbank (CBK GY), via the FT. (FT)

BROKER MOVES

Aena (AENA SM) downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at JPMorgan

BMPS (BMPS IM) initiated with Add at AlphaValue

SMI

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

Siegfried (SZFN SW) - Chairman Andreas Casutt is to step down; Beat Walti proposed as new Chairman. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Flughafen Zuerich (FHZN SW) initiated with Overweight at JPMorgan. (Newswires)

SCANDINAVIA

BROKER MOVES

US

CLOSES: SPX -0.50% at 6,605, NDX -0.43% at 24,397, DJI -0.38% at 45,947, RUT -0.98% at 2,411

SECTORS: Health -1.67%, Consumer Discretionary -1.47%, Materials -1.21%, Utilities -0.96%, Industrials -0.66%, Communication Services -0.64%, Consumer Staples -0.59%, Financials -0.27%, Real Estate -0.27%, Technology +0.03%, Energy +0.87%.

Amazon (AMZN) / Apple (AAPL) - The pair are among Cos. probed by bipartisan senators, according to Bloomberg. (Bloomberg)

AI - US judge approves USD 1.5bln settlement between Anthropic and authors over copyright infringement, according to a press release

Meta (META) reportedly in talks with Alphabet's Google (GOOGL) to integrate Gemini for enhanced ad-targeting capabilities, according to The Information. Elsewhere, the Co. is reportedly set to face a charge sheet from the EU for failing to adequately police illegal content, risking fines for violating the bloc’s content moderation rulebook, according to Bloomberg.

Verizon (VZ) - Co. to become first carrier offering new AI-powered Meta (META) Ray-Ban smart glasses.

Intel (INTC) - Co. has approached TSMC (TSM) about investments or manufacturing partnerships, WSJ reports

Oracle (ORCL), Silver Lake, MGX - Co.'s to be main investors in TikTok US with combined 45% ownership, according to CNBC's Faber citing sources. (CNBC)

26 Sep 2025 - 06:53- MetalsResearch Sheet- Source: Newsquawk