Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 28th May 2024

28th May 2024

ASIA

APAC stocks were mixed with price action mostly rangebound in the absence of a lead from Wall St and as geopolitical uncertainty lingered following an Israeli strike on Rafah which killed dozens of Palestinians on Sunday. ASX 200 swung between gains and losses albeit in a thin range with sentiment not helped by soft retail sales. Nikkei 225 retreated after stalling beneath the 39,000 level as participants also digested the firm Services PPI data which accelerated by its fastest pace since 2015. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp were somewhat varied as Hong Kong outperformed with Alibaba Health Information Technology front-running the gains post-earnings, while there was also notable strength in China's major oil companies after the recent upside in underlying commodity prices. Conversely, the mainland lacks conviction with only brief support seen in property stocks following Shanghai's latest measures to spur the flagging sector.

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: DAX 40 +0.4%, CAC 40 +0.5%, Euro Stoxx 50 +0.5%, IBEX 35 +0.7%, FTSE MIB +0.8%, SMI +0.2%

SECTORS: Utilities 1.13%, Consumer Disc 0.55%, Energy 0.50%, Industrials 0.49%, Materials 0.46%, Telecoms 0.36%, Financials 0.20%, IT 0.17%, Consumer Stpl 0.12%, Healthcare -0.03%

FTSE 100

Anglo American (AAL LN) - Reminder, the UK CMA deadline for BHP (BHP AT) to make a firm offer or walk away is currently set for Wednesday, 29th May. Elsewhere, FT reports that BlackRock, Ninety One and Sanlam Investments were among those who encouraged meaningful negotiations with BHP and the extension of talks, via FT citing sources. Finally, JP Morgan said a successful takeover by BHP could lead to outflows of USD 4.3bln from South Africa (Newswires/FT/Bloomberg)

AstraZeneca (AZN LN) - Datopotamab deruxtecan showed clinically meaningful overall survival improvement vs. chemotherapy in patients with advanced nonsquamous non-small cell lung cancer in TROPION-Lung01 Phase III trial. Survival results did not reach statistical significance in the overall trial population.  (AstraZeneca)

BP (BP/ LN) - BP Southern Africa and Shell Downstream South Africa (SHEL LN) have reached an agreement to sell their respective 50% stakes in assets held by nation's largest refinery to state-owned Central Energy Fund SOC, according to Bloomberg. (Bloomberg)

Energy Names – Ofgem COE McAllister expects energy bills to be “relatively flat in the medium term” and is in favour of additional “targeted support” for those having difficulties with bills. (FT)

IDS (IDS LN) – Reminder, the UK CMA deadline for Kretinsky to make a firm offer or walk away is currently set for Wednesday, 29th May. (Newswires)

JD Sports (JD/ LN) - Peel Hunt analysts said shares were "very cheap" at the current level ahead of its earnings, according to The Times. (The Times) FY24 results due on 29th May

NatWest (NWG LN) - UK's Labour Party has pledged to review plans to sell the Government's stake in the bank, if it wins the upcoming general election. (Bloomberg)

Rio Tinto (RIO LN) - Co. and BHP (BHP AT) collaborate on battery-electric haul truck trials in the Pilbara. (Newswires)

Unilever (ULVR LN) – CEO Petrou says demand for high-end cosmetic brands has surged despite the cost of living crisis, remarking that “beauty is recession proof”. (FT)

UK Pension Names - UK PM Sunak is to announce a GBP 2.4bln tax cut for pensioners in a bid to shore up the key Conservative 'grey vote' and stabilise the party's chaotic start to the general election campaign, according to FT. (FT)

UK BRC - UK BRC Shop Price Index YY (May) 0.6% vs Exp. 1.0% (Prev. 0.8%). (BRC)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

DAX

Deutsche Bank (DBK GY) - Co. is to wind down its Numis US operations after cutting its estimated value of Numis, following a takeover deal, according to The Telegraph. (The Telegraph)

RWE (RWE GY) - Co. is to build Australia's first eight-hour battery; Tesla (TSLA) will supply its megapack batteries for the project with commissioning planned for late 2025. (Newswires)

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

CAC

Vinci (DG FP) - Vinci renews road maintenance and improvement contract in Milton Keynes in the UK; contract worth around EUR 240mln. (Newswires)

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

PAN EUROPE

ABN AMRO (ABN NA) - Announced the acquisition of Hauck Aufhauser Lampe, strengthening top 3 position in wealth management in Germany; Co. will pay EUR 672mln at closing, which will be adjusted after closing based on audited financials. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

SMI

UBS (UBSG SW) - Co's APAC President has signalled that most of the bank's job cuts in the region are over, via Bloomberg. Elsewhere, the Co. has reportedly ruled out an outsider as successor to CEO Ermotti, via FT citing sources; instead, will be selecting from a shortlist of three internal candidates. (Bloomberg/FT)

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

SCANDINAVIA

EQT (EQT SS) - Says it resolved to repurchase a max of 2mln own ordinary shares for a total max amount of SEK 1bln. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

US

US stocks were closed for trade on Monday for Memorial Day.

Amazon (AMZN) - Amazon Web Services in talks with Italy's Government about investing billions of Europe to expand data centre business in the country, via Reuters citing sources. (Reuters)

28 May 2024 - 06:50- EnergyData- Source: Newsquawk