Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 29th November 2024

ASIA

APAC stocks traded mixed albeit with a slightly positive bias in the absence of a lead from Wall Street owing to the Thanksgiving Day holiday and as participants digested a slew of data releases into month-end. ASX 200 was lacklustre amid weakness in defensives, finance and tech with the latter not helped after the Australian Senate passed the social media ban for under-16s, while ANZ Bank also pushed back its forecast for the first RBA rate cut to May next year from February and only sees two 25bp cuts vs a prior view of three cuts. Nikkei 225 mildly declined with headwinds from recent currency strength after firmer-than-expected Tokyo inflation, while participants also digested the latest Industrial Production and Retail Sales figures which both fell short of estimates. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp were underpinned despite the lack of obvious catalysts and shrugged off the PBoC's net daily liquidity drain, while participants await tomorrow's official PMI data in which the headline Manufacturing PMI is expected to show a further improvement.

EUROPEAN CLOSES

BOURSES: DAX: +0.45% at 19,410, FTSE 100: +0.36% at 8,292, CAC 40: +0.03% at 7,257, Euro Stoxx 50: +0.21% at 4,799, AEX: -0.05% at 879, IBEX 35: +0.47% at 11,712, FTSE MIB: -0.20% at 33,428, SMI: -0.18% at 11,695, PSI: +0.47% at 6,439

SECTORS: IT 1.13%, Industrials 0.95%, Utilities 0.84%, Financials 0.71%, Telecoms 0.58%, Healthcare 0.31%, Energy 0.16%, Materials 0.10%, Consumer Disc -0.03%, Consumer Stpl -0.10%

FTSE 100

Aviva (AV/ LN) - Co. has contacted Direct Line (DLG LN) shareholders directly, via FT citing sources; move is designed to persuade the board to come to the table. (FT)

Anglo American (AAL LN) - FT writes "BHP's (BHP AT) need for copper prompts speculation of fresh Anglo bid". As of Friday, BHP can launch another takeover for Anglo as the six-month standstill from the last offer has expired. (FT)

HSBC (HSBA LN) - Co. is reportedly pulling back from its China credit card business, via Reuters citing sources; as the Co. struggled to expand and make profit. (Reuters)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

IDS (IDS LN) - EP Group, led by Kretinsky, would be free to increase stamp prices if the takeover is successful, as no specific cap has been agreed, via Telegraph citing sources. (Telegraph)

Wise (WISE LN) - Belgian National Bank review in early 2022 found that the Co. lacked proof of address for hundreds of thousands of customers, prompting a remediation plan, via FT citing sources. (FT)

BROKER MOVES

Anglo American (AAL LN) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Jefferies

Cranswick (CWK LN) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Berenberg

DFS (DFS LN) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Berenberg

JD Sports (JD/ LN) initiated with Buy at Berenberg

Smiths Group (SMG LN) initiated with Buy at Citi

SSE (SSE LN) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank

DAX

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

Delivery Hero (DHER GY) - Co. has set the IPO price for Talabat Holding at AED 1.60 per share, the top of its range, making it the UAE's largest IPO this year, Bloomberg reports. (Bloomberg)

Evotec (EVT GY) - Announces changes to the management board. COO Johnstone is to step down and leave the Co. (Newswires)

ThyssenKrupp (TKA GY) - German Chancellor Scholz urged the Co. to reconsider its planned job cuts in its steel division. He also reaffirmed the government's commitment to capping energy grid charges for energy-intensive companies and promoting climate-friendly production. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

CAC

STMicroelectronics (STM FP) - Co. announced a strategic collaboration with Hua Hong Semiconductor, China's second-largest foundry, defying broader industry trends, DigiTimes reports. This move comes amid global economic uncertainties and geopolitical shifts, as STMicroelectronics seeks to strengthen its position in the semiconductor sector. (Newswires)

Saint Gobain (SGO FP) - To reappoint Bazin as Chairman and CEO. (Newswires)

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

Pluxee (PLX FP) - Acquired Beneficio Facil in Brazil. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Accor (ACC FP) upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan

Elior (ELIOR FP) upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan

PAN EUROPE

BAM (BAMNB NA) - Co. has been selected to manage section control systems on Dutch motorways. (Newswires)

Chip Names - German government plans to invest around EUR 2bln in its semiconductor industry to strengthen Europe's chip supply chain, Bloomberg reports. The funds will support advanced production capacities. This follows Intel's (INTC) delay of its EUR 30bln chip factory in Magdeburg. (Bloomberg)

Elia (ELIA BB) - Q3 Update: 20204 outlook has been revised to the upper-end of the guided range. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Proximus (PROX BB) downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan

Proximus (PROX BB) downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at BNP

Telecom Italia (TIT IM) upgraded to Neutral from Underperform at BNP

SMI

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

SCANDINAVIA

SBB (SBB SS) - Received letters expressing an intention to accelerate from bondholders re. Eurobonds issues under the EMTN programme. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

US

Closed on account of Thanksgiving. 

29 Nov 2024 - 06:50- Geopolitical- Source: Newsquawk