Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 27th September 2024

ASIA

APAC stocks followed suit to the gains on Wall St where sentiment was underpinned and the S&P 500 extended on record highs owing to China's policy support and strong US data, while Chinese stimulus remained the main driving force overnight. ASX 200 was rangebound with strength in mining, materials and resources was counterbalanced by losses in defensives, while consumer stocks were also pressured with Star Entertainment shares down by more than 40% after its recent substantial FY loss. Nikkei 225 rallied at the open and climbed above the 39,000 level owing to a weaker currency. The index then pared the majority of its early gains as the JPY nursed some of its losses and with participants awaiting the LDP leadership vote, but then caught a second wind in late trade as dovish LPD candidate Takaichi is said to face Ishiba in Japan's LDP runoff. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp rallied again owing to China's stimulus drive with China to issue USD 284bln of sovereign debt as part of fresh fiscal stimulus, while the securities regulator also issued guidance to promote long-term capital entering the market. Furthermore, the PBoC announced its 50bps RRR cut took effect today and set the 7-day reverse repo rate at 1.50% vs prev. 1.70%, as previously guided earlier this week.

Toyota (7203 JT) - August global parent-only production fell 11.2% Y/Y to 709.6k units, global parent-only sales fell 3.1% Y/Y to 826.9k units. (Newswires)

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: DAX: +1.59% at 19,220, FTSE 100: +0.20% at 8,285, CAC 40: +2.33% at 7,742, Euro Stoxx 50: +2.30% at 5,030, AEX: +0.62% at 912, IBEX 35: +1.36% at 11,953, FTSE MIB: +1.68% at 34,409, SMI: +0.41% at 12,198, PSI: -0.33% at 6,771.

SECTORS: Consumer Disc 4.63%, IT 2.50%, Materials 2.02%, Financials 1.66%, Industrials 1.29%, Consumer Stpl 1.07%, Utilities 0.28%, Telecoms -0.08%, Healthcare -0.17%, Energy -3.31%

FTSE 100

OTHER UK COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

DAX

Commerzbank (CBK GY) - Co. and UniCredit (UCG IM) will hold the first round of talks on Friday 27th September. (Newswires)

QIAGEN (QIA GY) - Received European IVDR certification for QIAstat-Dx syndromic testing instruments and assays. (Newswires)

Mercedes Benz (MBG GY) - China's State Planner hopes the Co. will play an active role in providing a good environment for China-EU auto sector cooperation. (Newswires)

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

CAC

LVMH (MC FP) - Moncler's (MONC IM) Chairman and CEO Remo Ruffini is consolidating control of the company with LVMH's support via a new partnership, Reuters reports. LVMH acquired a 10% stake in Ruffini's investment vehicle, Double R, which will increase its stake in Moncler to 18.5%. The deal strengthens LVMH's luxury sector dominance, Reuters added.

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

Bouygues (EN FP) - Construction contraction worth AUD 528.6mln. (Newswires)

Scor (SCR FP) - Co. acquires Altarea's stake in MRM; share capital of 15.9% to total 72.5% stake. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Ubisoft (UBI FP) downgraded to Hold from Buy at HSBC

PAN EUROPE

Azelis (AZE IM) - Acquires Hortimex; expected to close in Q4. (Newswires)

ENI (ENI IM) - Reportedly expected to sign a deal with KKR (KKR) for sale of a stake in Enilive in the next 2-3 weeks, according to Reuters citing sources. (Reuters)

Telecom Italia (TIT IM) - Group confirms FY guidance of 3-4% growth in group revenues for 2024. (Newswires)

UCB (UCB BB) - UCB announces late-breaking two-year data for BIMZELX in moderate to severe hidradenitis suppurativa at EADV 2024

BROKER MOVES

Fincantieri (FCT IM) initiated with Hold at Jefferies

SMI

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

SCANDINAVIA

BROKER MOVES

US

CLOSES: SPX +0.4% at 5,745, NDX +0.72% at 20,115, DJIA +0.62% at 42,175, RUT +0.57% at 2,210

SECTORS: Energy -2.00%, Real Estate -1.05%, Utilities -0.72%, Consumer Staples -0.04%, Consumer Discretionary +0.14%, Communication Services +0.31%, Health +0.32%, Industrials +0.50%, Financials +0.54%, Technology +0.89%, Materials +1.97%.

Costco Wholesale Corp (COST) - Q2 EPS 5.29 (exp. 5.07), Q2 revenue USD 79.70bln (exp. 80.23bln). Q4 US comp sales (ex-gas, FX) +6.3%, (exp. +5.96%); Q4 total company comp sales (incl. gas, FX) +5.4%, (exp. +4.27%). Q2 membership fees USD 1.51bln (exp. 1.544bln); Q4 merchandise gross margin 10.99% (exp. 10.8%). Q4 Net income USD 2.354bln (exp. 2.255bln), pretax profit USD 3.113bln (exp. 3.052bln), operating income USD 3.042bln (exp. 2.952bln). Exec noted Costco early benefits from initiatives over the past year; said further improvements are in progress. In its earnings call, the company noted that 2025 earnings may be less linear than initially expected.

Mondelez (MDLZ), Publicis Groupe (PUBGY), Accenture (ACN) - Mondelez has partnered with Accenture and Publicis to enhance global marketing through a new platform utilising AI and generative AI. The initiative aims to expedite the creation of personalised content, including text, images, and videos, to better align with evolving consumer preferences.

27 Sep 2024 - 06:45- Research Sheet- Source: Newsquawk