Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 30th March 2026

ASIA

APAC stocks were pressured following the geopolitical escalation over the weekend, in which Yemeni Houthis launched missiles towards Israel to enter the conflict for the first time, while the US and Israel also conducted strikes on Iran's largest steel plants and some energy-related facilities. Furthermore, there were some mixed comments from US President Trump, who said the US could take oil in Iran and could take Kharg Island 'very easily', but also stated that they had good negotiations with Iran and claimed Iran responded to the 15-point plan and gave them most points, without providing further details. ASX 200 declined with the downside led by underperformance in tech and financials, although losses were somewhat cushioned by resilience in the energy, defensives and commodity-related sectors. Nikkei 225 suffered with intraday losses of more than 2000 points amid pressure from higher oil prices and jawboning by Japanese officials, while the Summary of Opinions continued to show a hawkish bias, and money markets are currently pricing in a near coin flip between a hike and a hold at the next BoJ meeting in April. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp were mixed as participants digested a deluge of earnings, including from ICBC, China Construction Bank, BoCom, PetroChina and BYD, while it was also reported late last week that China began probes on US trade practices in retaliation for the US Section 301 investigations.

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: Euro Stoxx 50 -1.19% at 5,500, Dax 40 -1.32% at 22,315, FTSE 100 -0.05% at 9,967, CAC 40 -0.87% at 7,702, FTSE MIB -0.74% at 43,379, IBEX 35 -0.95% at 16,803, PSI -1.28% at 8,882, SMI -0.73% at 12,550, AEX -1.09% at 960

SECTORS: Materials 0.34%, Healthcare 0.00%, Consumer Stpl -0.16%, Energy -0.25%, Utilities -0.55%, Financials -0.72%, Telecoms -0.81%, Consumer Disc -1.24%, Industrials -2.04%, IT -2.16%

FTSE 100

Anglo American (AAL LN) – The Australian writes that the Co. has reportedly short-listed three parties for its Queensland coal portfolio sale process. (The Australian)

Rio Tinto (RIO LN) – Co. affirms Pilbara iron ore shipments after Tropical Cyclone Narell. (Newswires)

UK Business - UK Lloyds Business Barometer (Mar) 55 (Prev. 44). (Lloyds)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

Senior (SNR LN) – The FT writes that Blackstone is part of a consortium which is in advanced talks to take Senior private, according to sources. No decision has been made yet, with the deadlines for the parties to make a firm offer sets to expire early next week. (FT)

BROKER MOVES

Big Yellow Group (BYG LN) downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman Sachs

Land Securities (LAND LN) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman Sachs

DAX

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

CAC

Sanofi (SAN FP) - Sanofi said primary and key secondary endpoints in COAST 1, COAST 2, and SHORE were assessed at Week 24 in patients who received amlitelimab either every four weeks or every 12 weeks with or without topical medications. (Sanofi)

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

Atos (ATO FP) - United States District Court for the Southern District of New York issued its pre-judgment decision in the litigation between Syntel and Cognizant and its subsidiary TriZetto. The Court ordered Syntel to pay EUR 204.1mln to Cognizant/TriZetto. Atos Group confirms that this decision does not have a material adverse impact on the assets, business, liquidity or financial condition of the Atos Group. (Atos) Atos acquired Syntel in 2018.

BROKER MOVES

Klepierre (LI FP) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman Sachs; analysts suggest that prime shopping centers are gaining share.

Sodexo (SW FP) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Jefferies

Sartorius Stedim Biotech (DIM FP) upgraded to Buy from Neutral by Goldman Sachs; analysts believe that the recent pullback provides an attractive entry point.

PAN EUROPE

Ahold Delhaize (AD NA) – Co. appoints Tim Bork as Chief Commercial Officer Ahold Delhaize Europe & Indonesia. (Ahold Delhaize)

Aluminium-exposed names - Israel conducted strikes on Iran’s largest steel plants simultaneously on Saturday, while Iran issued evacuation orders for six of the largest steel plants in neighbouring Gulf countries as well as Israel as it prepared to retaliate. It was separately reported that Aluminium Bahrain said its facilities were targeted by Iran on Sunday. (Newswires)

Bankinter (BKT SM) – Bankinter Investment and Plenium Partners merge their investment management firms and acquire a significant stake of Access Capital Partners to drive their expansion in Europe. (Bankinter)

Geopols - Yemen’s Houthis fired missiles at Israel on Saturday morning, marking the first time it has been involved in the war; Israeli PM Netanyahu ordered the military to expand its invasion of southern Lebanon. US President Trump said the US could take oil in Iran and could take Kharg Island 'very easily', according to the FT. Trump also stated that indirect talks with emissaries are progressing well and a deal could be made fairly quickly. US President Trump said there were good negotiations with Iran on Sunday, and the US destroyed many targets that day, while they are negotiating directly and indirectly with Iran. Trump responded that Iran came back to them on the 15-point plan and gave them most points, but didn't give any further details. Trump also claimed that Middle East countries are fighting back against Iran. (FT / Newswires)

Monte Paschi (BMPS IM) - Monte Paschi asked shareholders to back its board slate at the 15th April AGM; it said the proposed list would ensure strong alignment between governance and executive leadership, and provide stability during the integration of Mediobanca (MB IM) after last year’s USD 17bln hostile takeover. (Bloomberg)

Raiffeisen Bank (RBI AV) / BBVA (BBVA SM) - Announces that its Romanian subsidiary Raiffeisen Bank S.A. has reached an agreement to acquire Garanti BBVA Group Romania, in a deal valued at EUR 591mln. The transaction is expected to have a c. minus 60 basis point impact on the CET1 ratio at closing. (Raiffeisen Bank)

Telecom Italia (TIT IM) - Telecom Italia said it will not renew a mobile phone tower agreement with Inwit when it expires in August 2030 (that would have extended the contract to 2038); it leaves Telecom Italia without a new long-term tower arrangement, Bloomberg notes. (Bloomberg)

BROKER MOVES

SMI

Nestle (NESN SW) – Nestle issued a update on a KitKat shipment, where over 400,000 KitKats were stolen from a truck. “Whilst we appreciate the criminals’ exceptional taste, the fact remains that cargo theft is an escalating issue for businesses of all sizes,” KitKat said in a statement. (Nestle / KitKat)

Novartis (NOVN SW) – Co. announced final two-year results from the Phase III APPLAUSE-IgAN study of Fabhalta in IgA nephropathy. Fabhalta demonstrated a statistically significant, clinically meaningful improvement in estimated glomerular filtration rate slope, a key marker of kidney function, compared with placebo. The primary endpoint was the annualized total eGFR slope over 24 months. (Novartis)

Roche (ROG SW) - Roche launches the cobas MPX-E assay, a new 4-in-1 donor screening test to further safeguard the global blood supply. (Roche)

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

Galderma (GALD SW) – Co. announced new phase II data showing that nemolizumab was well tolerated and effective in children (aged 2 to 11 years) with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis. (Galderma)

Tecan (TECN SW) – Co. appointed Camila Japur as CFO, effective June 1st. (Tecan)

BROKER MOVES

SCANDINAVIA

Elisa (ELISA FH) – Co. appointed Mikko Soirola as CEO, effective immediately. (Elisa)

BROKER MOVES

Nokia (NOKIA FH) upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Goldman Sachs; analysts write that the co. will continue to benefit from the ongoing AI infrastructure buildout.

Orsted (ORSTED DC) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Bank of America

US

SECTORS: Consumer Discretionary -3.05%, Financials -2.49%, Communication Services -2.25%, Technology -2.02%, Health -1.71%, Industrials -1.27%, Real Estate -0.56%, Materials -0.32%, Utilities +0.61%, Consumer Staples +0.78%, Energy +1.87%.

Eli Lilly (LLY) - Eli Lilly said the Phase 3b Together-PsA trial showed Taltz plus Zepbound was statistically superior to Taltz alone at 36 weeks in adults with active psoriatic arthritis and obesity or overweight with at least one additional weight-related comorbidity. The combination met the primary and all key secondary endpoints. (Eli Lilly)

30 Mar 2026 - 06:59- Research Sheet- Source: Newsquawk