Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 27th October 2025

ASIA

APAC stocks were mostly higher amid trade-related optimism after the US and China reached a framework for Trump-Xi talks this week, with the US tariff increase on China averted, while China was said to have agreed to delay a new rare earth exports licensing regime for a year. ASX 200 gained as strength in tech, financials and industrials led the upside seen in most sectors, while defensives lagged. Nikkei 225 rallied to above the 50k level for the first time ahead of US President Trump's visit to Japan, where the sides are expected to ink a tech-cooperation MOU covering areas, including bio, quantum, nuclear fusion energy and space. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp benefitted amid hopes of improving US-China ties, with the sides said to reach a consensus ahead of the Trump-Xi meeting on Thursday, while Industrial Profits data from China showed the fastest growth in two years.

US-China - US and China reached a framework for Trump-Xi talks, with the tariff increase on China averted and China agreed to delay a new rare earths export licensing regime for a year.

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: Euro Stoxx 50 +0.09% at 5,674, Dax 40 +0.15% at 24,244, FTSE 100 +0.70% at 9,646, CAC 40 +0.00% at 8,226, FTSE MIB +0.25% at 42,487, IBEX 35 +0.44% at 15,862, PSI +0.19% at 8,370, SMI +0.04% at 12,562, AEX +0.52% at 979.

SECTORS: Industrials 0.74%, Financials 0.47%, Materials 0.36%, Consumer Disc 0.23%, Utilities 0.04%, Healthcare 0.00%, Energy -0.04%, Consumer Stpl -0.32%, IT -0.44%, Telecoms -0.48%

FTSE 100

BAE Systems (BA/ LN) - Co. faces a potential GBP 187mln legal claim, after the Co. allegedly withdrew support for older aircrafts, via The Times. (The Times)

Barclays (BARC LN) - Co. to re-enter Saudi Arabia after leaving business in the country in 2014. (Bloomberg)

HSBC (HSBA LN) - Co. to set aside USD 1.1bln for a lawsuit brought by investors following Madoff’s Ponzi scheme after a Luxembourg court denied the co.’s appeal. Co. will recognise the provision in its Q3 results and expected to hit a 15bp hit on its CET1 ratio. (Newswires)

Legal & General (LGEN LN) - Co. has struck a GBP 4.6bln deal to take over pension liabilities from Ford (F), according to FT. (FT)

Rio Tinto (RIO LN) - Corruption probe reported at Rio Tinto's Mongolian copper mine, according to WSJ. (WSJ)

UK Growth - UK Chancellor Reeves is to hold Gulf trade talks in push for pro-growth policies with Reeves to conduct trade talks in Riyadh on Monday, according to FT. (FT)

UK IPO - UK reportedly considering shorter IPO times to boost UK listings, according to Bloomberg. (Bloomberg)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

ITV (ITV LN) - Daily Mail reports that ITV ad sales have been “savaged” as companies scale back marketing awaiting the UK Budget. (Daily Mail)

BROKER MOVES

AstraZeneca (AZN LN) upgraded from Buy from Hold at Jefferies

Centrica (CNA LN) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Citi

GSK (GSK LN) assumes coverage with a Buy at Jefferies

DAX

Bayer (BAYN GY) - Lynkuet approved in the US for treatment of moderate to severe Vasomotor symptoms due to menopause. In OASIS 1 and OASIS 2, Lynkuet met the co-primary endpoints of reduction in number and severity of moderate to severe hot flashes day and night at weeks 4 and 12 from baseline. (Bayer)

Porsche (P911 GY) - Q3 2025 (EUR): Sales 8.7bln (exp. 9bln), Operating loss 967mln (exp. 611mln); 9mnth op. margin 0.2% (prev. 14.1% Y/Y); confirms 2025 outlook for sales, op. margin, and automotive net cash flow margin US import tariffs so far cost mid three-digit mln EUR sum. Confirms strategic realignment will cost c. EUR 3.1bln in 2025. CFO Commentary: Expect 2025 to be trough and noticeable improvement from 2025. Need to discuss 'large scale solutions' with employee representatives and have to assume market conditions won't improve in foreseeable future. CFO says tariff-related costs had EUR 500-mln burden so far this year; Nexperia developments continue for time being to have no impact on Porsche. Board intends to propose dividend for FY25 significantly lower than last year. On China, streamlining dealer network, where long-term profitability is no longer available, will reduce footprint. For 2026, no major one-off effects expected. Do not expect double-digit return on sales in 2026, will target this in years after. Plan additional price increase to mitigate US tariffs. Burden from US tariffs this year seen at around EUR 0.7bln. Do not expect China to recover and assumption is that unit sales will be lower in 2026 than expected for 2025.

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

Evotec (EVT GY) - Co. announces progress in preclinical neuroscience partnership with Bristol Myers Squibb (BMY). Evotec receives USD 25mln payment to support continued progression of joint programs. (Evotec)

Gerresheimer (GXI GY) - Following findings from the external investigation concerning recognition of revenue and profits, it is likely to assume the requirements for revenue recognition were not met for a contract with a volume of around EUR 3mln. Co. to continue to cooperate with BaFin. (EQS News)

BROKER MOVES

CAC

French stocks - Moody’s maintained France’s rating at Aa3, but revised the outlook to negative from stable.

TotalEnergies (TTE FP) - Mozambique LNG consortium took decision to lift force majeure, needs approval by Mozambique’s Council of Ministers before fully relaunching the project, which was closed for four years following a terrorist attack. (Newswires)

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

Schneider Electric (SU FP) upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.

Sanofi (SAN FP) assumes coverage with a Buy at Jefferies.

PAN EUROPE

Ferrari (RACE IM) - Co. planning a new digital token that will be able to be used in an auction for a Ferrari 499P, the car that won 3 straight Le Mans titles. (Newswires)

Stellantis (STLAM IM/ STLAP FP) - NHTSA opened a probe into 232,209 Jeep Gladiator and Wrangler vehicles sold in the US over concerts of the IPC could result in loss of vehicle information. (NHTSA)

UCB (UCB BB) - Announced new three-year data from Phase 3 trials. The primary endpoint in both studies was the proportion of patients reaching 50% or greater improvement in American College of Rheumatology criteria at Week 16. (UCB)

UniCredit (UCG IM) - EU Commissioner for Financial Services highlighted challenges to the creation of larger European banks when asked about Germany pushing back on Co.’s attempt to take over Commerzbank (CBK GY). (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

SMI

Clariant (CLN SW) - Co. to reduce Board size to 8 members from 11, 5 members will not stand for re-election in 2026 and will propose 2 new independent board members. (Newswires)

Novartis (NOVN SW) - Co. agrees to acquire Avidity Biosciences (RNA), in a deal worth USD 12bln (USD 72/shr). Expect the merger to close in the first half of 2026. Expected to unlock multi-billion-dollar opportunities with planned product launches before 2030. Raises expected 2024-2029 sales CAGR for Novartis from +5% to +6%, and bolsters mid-single digit long-term growth. In other news, Co. showcases significant immunology advancements in ACR congress with new data in complex autoimmune diseases. (Novartis)

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

Holcim (HOLN SW) resumed with Buy at Bank of America

Novartis (NOVN SW) assumes coverage with a hold at Jefferies

Roche (ROG SW) downgraded to underperform from hold at Jefferies

Sika (SIKA SW) resumed with Underperform at Bank of America

SCANDINAVIA

BROKER MOVES

Hexagon (HEXAB SS) downgraded to Buy from Buy at SEB

FLSmidth (FLS DC) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Danske Bank

Norsk Hydro (NHY NO) upgraded to Hold from Sell at Danske Bank

Novo Nordisk (NOVOB DC) assumes coverage with an Underperform at Jefferies.

US

CLOSES: SPX +0.79% at 6,792, NDX +1.04% at 25,358, DJI +1.01% at 47,207, RUT +1.24% at 2,513

SECTORS: Technology +1.58%, Communication Services +1.27%, Utilities +1.18%, Financials +1.09%, Real Estate +0.37%, Industrials +0.06%, Health -0.02%, Consumer Discretionary -0.12%, Consumer Staples -0.39%, Materials -0.61%, Energy -1.01%

27 Oct 2025 - 06:52- Fixed IncomeResearch Sheet- Source: Newsquawk