Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 30th July 2024

30th July 2024

ASIA

APAC stocks were mostly pressured following the mixed performance stateside and with markets cautious as this week's major risk events drew closer. ASX 200 was dragged lower amid underperformance in mining stocks after several quarterly production updates and with heavy losses in Fortescue after an investor sought to offload as much as AUD 1.9bln of shares, while a much wider-than-expected contraction in building approvals added to the glum mood. Nikkei 225 retreated amid cautiousness as the BoJ kick-started its two-day policy meeting where it will decide on taper plans and is expected to mull lifting its policy rate by 15bps to around 0.25%. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp. conformed to the broad negative mood in which the former tested the 17,000 level to the downside with notable weakness seen in consumer, energy and tech stocks, while the mainland was subdued with Chinese official PMI data also due tomorrow.

BHP (BHP AT) - Co. and Lundin Mining will acquire Filo for CAD 4.5bln. Upon completion, BHP and Lundin Mining will each hold 50% of Filo Corp. and its Filo del Sol (FDS) copper project in Chile. (Newswires)

Toyota (7203 JT) - June global parent-only production fell 12.9% Y/Y to 795.9k units, global parent-only sales fell 5.1% Y/Y to 853.1k units. (Newswires)

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: DAX: -0.49% at 18,327, FTSE 100: flat at 8,292, CAC 40: -0.98% at 7,444, Euro Stoxx 50: -1.00% at 4,814, AEX: -0.28% at 904, IBEX 35: -0.43% at 11,118, FTSE MIB: -0.51% at 33,641, SMI: -0.30% at 12,204, PSI: +0.44% at 6,699.

SECTORS: Healthcare 0.85%, Utilities 0.36%, Telecoms 0.03%, Energy -0.08%, Financials -0.10%, Industrials -0.24%, Materials -0.75%, Consumer Stpl -0.85%, Consumer Disc -0.92%, IT -1.10%

FTSE 100

Haleon (HLN LN) - Pfizer (PFE) and Haleon entered a share purchase deed providing a framework for the latter to make certain off-market purchases of ordinary shares from Pfizer. (Newswires)

Standard Chartered (STAN LN) - Q2 (USD) Adj. pre-tax 1.83bln (exp. 1.63bln). Upgraded its 2024 operating income guidance to growth of more than 7% (prev. forecasts of 5% to 7%). Interim dividend 0.09 (prev. 0.06 Y/Y). H1 credit impairment charge of USD 249mln. Co. to conduct USD 1.5bln share buyback. Underlying profit before tax rose 21% Y/Y at constant currency to 4.0bln, and NII rose 5% Y/Y in constant currency to USD 5bln. (Newswires) Shares surged over 5% in Hong Kong trade.

UK Retail - UK BRC Retail Shop Price Index YY (Jul) 0.2% (Prev. 0.2%). BRC chief executive said: “The 2023 declines in global food commodity prices continued to feed through, helping bring down food inflation rates over the first seven months of 2024... However, this shows signs of reversing, suggesting renewed pressure on food prices in the future." (Newswires/Express)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

DAX

Covestro (1COV GY) - Q2 (EUR): Revenue 3.69bln (exp. 3.69bln). EBITDA 320mln (exp. 311mln). Group result -72mln (exp. +14mln). Co. lowered its guidance and anticipates EBITDA between EUR 1.0-1.4bln (prev. between EUR 1.0-1.6bln). Co. also sees free operating cash flow of between EUR -100mln to EUR +100mln (prev. between EUR 0-300mln). For ROCE above WACC, Covestro now anticipates a range between –7.0ppt and –4.0ppt (prev.: between –7.0ppt and –2.0ppt). (Covestro IR) Shares seen opening -1.8%.

Heidelberg Materials (HEI GY) - H1 (EUR): Revenue 9.994bln (exp. 9.983bln). EBITDA 1.828bln (exp. 1.807bln). RCO margin 12% (prev. 11.4%). EPS 3.16 (prev. 3.86). Heidelberg Materials confirms its outlook. "The company anticipates that demand in the construction sector will stabilise at a low level globally, even though inflation and persistently high financing costs are likely to continue to have a negative impact on residential construction in particular." (Heidelberg Materials IR)

Infineon Technologies (IFX GY) - Infineon Technologies filed a patent-infringement complaint with the US ITC seeking to ban imports of Innoscience's gallium-nitride-based semiconductor devices. This is the second trade action against the Chinese company. The complaint follows Infineon’s recent addition of three patents to an ongoing California federal lawsuit initially filed in March. (Newswires)

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

Fresenius Medical Care (FME GY) - Q2 (EUR): Total Revenue 4.743bln (exp. 4.798bln). Operating Income 433mln (exp. 433mln). Net Income 207mln (exp. 201mln). Co. reaffirms operating margin outlook. (Newswires)

Fuchs (FPE GY) - H1 (EUR): Revenue 1.764bln (exp. 1.7679bln). EBIT 218mln (exp. 217.6mln). Net Income 155mln (exp. 155.4mln). (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

CAC

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

Rexel (RXL FP) - H1 (EUR): Revenue 9.6297bln (exp. 9.665bln). Net Income 353mln (exp. 343mln). EBITDA 596.4mln (exp. 597mln). Adj. EBITDA 574.2mln (exp. 588mln). (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

PAN EUROPE

China-exposed Sectors - China customs official Lyu said China faces an increasingly uncertain trade environment and challenges in growing trade in H2. (Newswires)

Poste Italiane (PST IM) - Q2 (EUR): Revenue 3.12bln (exp. 3.402bln). Adj. EBIT 782mln (exp. 713mln). Net profit 525mln (exp. 510mln). Co. upgrades 2024 adj. EBITDA guidance, driven by outperformance in Mail & Parcel. (Newswires)

Memory Pricing - Memory prices are expected to remain stable or go up in Q3 for different market segments, but consumer demand will continue to be disappointing, according to industry sources cited by DigiTimes. (DigiTimes)

BROKER MOVES

SMI

Clariant (CLN SW) - H1 (CHF): Revenue 2.070bln (exp. 2.075bln). H1 EBITDA 339mln (prev. 342mln). EBITDA margin 16.4% (prev. 15.0%). Growth in Care Chemicals Adsorbents & Additives was offset by an expected decline in Catalysts. Clariant reiterates its expectation that 2025 will be a year of continued, albeit significant, recovery in profitability. Clariant remains committed to its medium-term targets as end markets recover and growth normalizes over the next two to three years. (Clariant IR)

Roche (ROG SW) - European Commission approves Roche’s Vabysmo for treatment of retinal vein occlusion (RVO). (Roche)

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

SCANDINAVIA

BROKER MOVES

US

CLOSES: SPX +0.1% at 5,464, NDQ +0.2%, DJIA -0.1% at 40,540, RUT -1.1% at 2,235

SECTORS: Energy -0.87%, Technology -0.33%, Financials -0.21%, Industrials -0.16%, Consumer Staples +0.07%, Health +0.09%, Materials +0.17%, Utilities +0.44%, Real Estate +0.62%, Communication Services +0.87%, Consumer Discretionary +1.42%.

Apple (AAPL) - Apple said the artificial intelligence models underpinning Apple Intelligence, its AI system, were pre-trained on processors designed by Google (GOOG) in a sign that big tech Cos are looking for alternatives to Nvidia (NVDA) in training AI. (Newswires)

Nvidia (NVDA) - Announced generative AI models and NIM microservices for openUSD language, geometry, physics and materials, while it accelerates humanoid robotics development. (Newswires)

30 Jul 2024 - 06:48- Fixed IncomeData- Source: Newsquawk