Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 30th September 2024

ASIA

APAC stocks were mixed heading into month-end amid the backdrop of recent geopolitical escalation and as participants digested a slew of data releases, as well as China's latest support efforts and Japan's leadership transition. ASX 200 was led by outperformance in the commodity-related sectors as oil and metal prices benefitted from geopolitics and China's policy announcements. Nikkei 225 suffered heavy losses amid a firmer JPY following Ishiba's victory against Abe protege Takaichi in the LDP leadership race, while the data releases from Japan were mixed with a steeper-than-expected drop in Industrial Production but Retail Sales topped forecasts. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp rallied ahead of National Day Golden Week holiday closures despite mixed PMI data from China with advances led by strength in property developers after the PBoC instructed banks to lower interest rates on existing mortgages and lower down-payments, while some Chinese cities also eased home purchase restrictions. Furthermore, the mainland index is on course for its largest gain since 2015 and is set for a bull market after China's latest policy announcements and the PBoC's Monetary Policy Committee quarterly meeting where it pledged several supportive efforts.

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: DAX: +1.26% at 19,481, FTSE 100: +0.43% at 8,321, CAC 40: +0.64% at 7,792, Euro Stoxx 50: +0.71% at 5,069, AEX: +0.63% at 917, IBEX 35: +0.12% at 11,968, FTSE MIB: +0.92% at 34,727, SMI: +0.34% at 12,239, PSI: +0.54% at 6,808.

SECTORS: Industrials 0.50%, Materials 0.49%, Healthcare 0.40%, Telecoms 0.12%, Consumer Disc -0.03%, Consumer Stpl -0.12%, IT -0.18%, Utilities -0.19%, Financials -0.58%, Energy -2.20%

FTSE 100

OTHER UK COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

DAX

Porsche Automobil Holding (PAH3 GY) - Adjusts guidance accordingly after Volkswagen (VOW3 GY) cut; group result seen between EUR 2.4-4.4bln (prev. 3.5-5.5bln). Confirms net debt forecast of 5.0-5.5bln. (Newswires)

Volkswagen (VOW3 GY) - Cuts guidance, mainly due to developments at brands Volkswagen Passenger Cars, Commercial Vehicles and Tech; expects group sales revenue of EUR 320bln (vs prior 322.3bln and prior guidance of +5%). Now expects deliveries to customers to be around 9mln vehicles (prev. 9.24mln in 2023; prior guidance +3%). Expects to achieve an operating result of EUR 18bln, corresponding to operating return of sales of 5.6%, vs prior guide of +6.5-7.0%. (Newswires) Follows similar guidance cuts at Mercedes Benz (MBG GY) and BMW (BMW GY), both within the past month.

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

BayWa (BYW6 GY) - Extension of the existing agreement and increase in bridge financing; to increase loan by EUR 500mln. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Porsche SE (PAH3 GY) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Stifel

CAC

Vivendi (VIV FP) - Co. enters into structured financing agreements to cover the potential redemption of its bonds; nominal value of EUR 2bln. (Newswires)

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

Atos (ATO FP) - Shareholders approve draft accelerated safeguard plan; plan includes: the equitization of EUR 2.9bln of debt; and the receipt of EUR 1.5-1.675bln of new money debt. To be executed from November 2024 until December 2024/January 2025. (Atos)

Scor (SCR FP) - Co. to buy Altarea's stake in MRM and will then aim to de-list MRM; Scor considering an estimated offer price of EUR 35.4/MRM shr. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

PAN EUROPE

Autos - The EU is set to vote on October 4th on whether to impose tariffs up to 45% on electric vehicles from China due to unfair subsidies, Bloomberg reports. The vote follows last-minute negotiations with Beijing, as member states have received a draft regulation on the proposed measures. (Bloomberg)

China-exposed stocks - Chinese Caixin Composite PMI (Sep) 50.3 (Prev. 51.2); Services PMI (Sep) 50.3 vs. Exp. 51.6 (Prev. 51.6); Manufacturing PMI (Sep) 49.3 vs. Exp. 50.5 (Prev. 50.4); Chinese NBS Composite PMI (Sep) 50.4 (Prev. 50.1); NBS Non-Manufacturing PMI (Sep) 50.0 vs. Exp. 50.4 (Prev. 50.3); NBS Manufacturing PMI (Sep) 49.8 vs. Exp. 49.5 (Prev. 49.1)

Italian Banks - The Bank of Italy confirms a countercyclical capital buffer for banks at zero for Q4 2024. (Newswires)

Stellantis (STLAM IM/STLAP FP) - Cuts guidance sees industrial FCF in the range of EUR -5bln to EUR -10bln (prev. "positive"); primarily reflects substantially lower AOI outlook as well as the impact of temporary elevated working capital in 2025 and beyond. Cuts FY adj. operating income margin outlook. Elsewhere, UAW urges Co. workers to authorise a strike as the union accuses Stellantis of breaching contract promises. (Newswires) Guidance cut comes after Volkswagen (VOW3 GY) cut guidance on Friday, Mercedes-Benz (MBG GY) last week, and BMW (BMW GY) three weeks ago.

Poste Italiane (PST IM) - Italy picks UBS (UBSG SW) as advisers for Poste Italiane stake sale. (Newswires)

UniCredit (UCG IM) - Co. plans to invest significantly in the retraining of 600 staff who will be moved to branch networks from central offices, via Reuters citing sources. Elsewhere, CEO Orcel attended a virtual meeting with Commerzbank on Friday 27th September, but declined to comment on details, according to Reuters citing sources. (Reuters)

UCB (UCB BB) - Announces a study evaluating Bimzelx Versus Skyrizi In Psoriatic Arthritis. (UCB)

BROKER MOVES

Puig (PUI SM) initiated with Buy at Jefferies

SMI

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

SCANDINAVIA

Nokia (NOKIA FH) - Co. selected by Vodafone Idea as a major 4G and 5G partner in India (Newswires)

SEB (SEBA SS) - Christoffer Malmer appointed CFO of SEB. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Outokumpu (OUT1V FH) initiated with Buy at Jefferies

US

CLOSES: SPX -0.13% at 5,738, NDX -0.53% at 20,009, DJIA +0.33% at 42,313, RUT +0.67% at 2,225

SECTORS: Technology -0.96%, Materials -0.23%, Consumer Discretionary -0.08%, Health -0.04%, Consumer Staples -0.01%, Industrials +0.15%, Real Estate +0.19%, Financials +0.34%, Communication Services +0.49%, Utilities +1.01%, Energy +2.11%.

Apple (AAPL) - Irish Finance Minister on Apple (AAPL) back taxes says roughly EUR 8bln will be received by Irish exchequer by 2024, remaining EUR 6.1bln to be received in 2025. (Newswires)

Nvidia (NVDA) - China urges local companies to stay away from Nvidia's AI chips; Nvidia can only sell slower AI chips to China due to US curbs, Bloomberg reports. Elsewhere, Huawei has begun testing its Ascend 910C AI chip with Chinese clients as firms seek alternatives to Nvidia's products following US sanctions, SCMP reports. The upgraded chip, a successor to the 910B, aims to bolster China's semiconductor self-sufficiency, with significant applications in AI infrastructure development. Bytedance, the owner of TikTok, reportedly plans a new AI model built with Huawei's Ascend 910B chips, according to sources; Bytedance is NVIDIA's (NVDA) largest customer for H20 AI chips tailored for the Chinese market (Bloomberg / SCMP)

30 Sep 2024 - 06:47- Geopolitical- Source: Newsquawk