Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 3rd January 2025

ASIA

APAC stocks were ultimately mixed with most major indices higher although the gains were capped amid the holiday closure in Japan and after the negative handover from the US where the dollar strengthened and Tesla deliveries disappointed. ASX 200 was underpinned with energy and gold miners leading the advances after recent gains in underlying commodity prices. KOSPI outperformed despite reports of a standoff between a military unit and South Korean investigative authorities attempting to arrest impeached President Yoon, while acting President Choi ordered to deploy market stabilising measures swiftly and boldly if volatility heightens. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp traded mixed despite falling yields amid a report the PBoC is said to plan a policy overhaul as pressure mounts on the economy and would likely cut interest rates from the current level of 1.5% at an appropriate time. Nonetheless, some support was seen for Hong Kong tech stocks after an NDRC official said they will sharply increase funding from ultra-long treasury bonds this year to support "two new" programmes and will broaden the consumer trade-in initiative to include smartphones, while the mainland failed to benefit amid the ongoing US-China trade-related frictions.

Chinese stocks - China NDRC official says will sharply increase funding from ultra-long treasury bonds this year to support "two new" programmes. China issues special bonds to support trade-in programs and projects. China is to broaden consumer trade-in initiative to include smartphones. Elsewhere, PBoC is said to plan a policy overhaul as pressure mounts on the economy and said it was likely it would cut interest rates from the current level of 1.5% at an appropriate time, according to FT. (Newswires / FT)

Kia Corp (000270 KS) - December global sales rose 12% Y/Y and 2024 global sales were flat Y/Y, while it aims to sell 3.22mln vehicles globally in 2025. (Newswires)

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: DAX: +0.48% at 20,004, FTSE 100: +1.07% at 8,260, CAC 40: +0.18% at 7,394, Euro Stoxx 50: +0.42% at 4,916, AEX: +0.97% at 887, IBEX 35: +0.71% at 11,677, FTSE MIB: +0.55% at 34,375, SMI: +0.10% at 11,601, PSI: +0.55% at 6,412.

SECTORS: Energy 2.35%, Utilities 1.58%, Telecoms 1.12%, IT 0.83%, Healthcare 0.79%, Industrials 0.63%, Consumer Stpl 0.54%, Materials 0.40%, Financials 0.13%, Consumer Disc -0.07%

FTSE 100

Vodafone (VOD LN) - Vodafone Spain, Zegona Communications (ZEG LN) and MasOrange sign a FibreCo contract to create a new fibre network company; Zegona to hold about 10% of the JV. (Newswires)

UK BRC - Number of people visiting British shops fell 2.2% last year, marking the biggest drop in 2021; Sensormatic consultant said "While December saw some flurries of festive footfall around a few key trading days, overall the picture was filled with much less sparkle as shopper traffic remained subdued". (Newswires)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

Shein IPO - Shein and Temu face UK lawmakers committee hearing as part of a wider inquiry into employment rights on Jan 7th. (Newswires)

Tullow Oil (TLW LN) - Co. exempt from USD 320mln tax after ICC ruling on Ghana operations. Tullow Ghana will have no further exposure to BRPT in respect of its operations under petroleum agreements. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

DAX

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

Hensoldt (HAG GY) - CEO Dörre says Europe should mimic the US by pushing for additional local procurement of military equipment to bolster regional defence infrastructure. (FT)

BROKER MOVES

CAC

Airbus (AIR FP) - Airbus delivered approximately 760 aircraft in 2024, narrowly missing its target of 770, Bloomberg reports citing sources. A strong December, with nearly 120 deliveries, offset a slow start to the year. The final tally will be confirmed on January 9th, but no material shortfall requiring disclosure has occurred. (Bloomberg) Report hit around 16:15 GMT in the prior session

EssilorLuxottica (EL FP) - Strengthens its presence in the hearing space with the acquisition of an AI-driven tech startup in France. (Newswires)

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

Scor (SCR FP) - Finalises the sale of its stake in the Humensis Group. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

PAN EUROPE

Italy autos - Italy car sales -4.93% Y/Y in December; Stellantis (STLAM IM/STLAP FP) held 23.25% of Italy's car market in Dec (prev. 24.86% in Nov). (Newswires)

Watch names - Rolex raised prices on some of its popular watch models; some as much as 8%, amid soaring gold prices, via Bloomberg. (Bloomberg)

BROKER MOVES

SMI

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

SCANDINAVIA

BROKER MOVES

US

CLOSES: SPX -0.22% at 5,869, NDX -0.17% at 20,976, DJIA -0.36% at 42,392, RUT +0.07% at 2,232

SECTORS: Consumer Discretionary -1.27%, Materials -1.14%, Real Estate -1%, Consumer Staples -0.43%, Industrials -0.37%, Financials -0.21%, Technology -0.21%, Health +0.01%, Communication Services +0.64%, Utilities +0.73%, Energy +1.04%.

Meta Platforms (META) - Meta's Nick Clegg will step down as President of Global Affairs; Joel Kaplan, a longtime executive with strong Republican ties, has been promoted to policy chief. Clegg's tenure included navigating societal pressures on tech, while Kaplan's promotion comes ahead of Donald Trump's second presidential term.

Tesla (TSLA) - Says China-made EV sales rose 12.8% M/M in December to 83k units, while China-made EV sales rose 8.8% Y/Y to a record 657k units in 2024. (Newswires)

US Steel (X) - US President Biden decides to block the sale of US Steel (X) to Nippon Steel (5401 JT), according to the Washington Post. (Washington Post)

US Banking System Reserves - US banking system reserves dropped below USD 3tln for the first time since October 2020, falling by USD 326bln in the week to January 1st. The decline marks the largest weekly decrease in over two years, reflecting the Fed's ongoing balance sheet reduction since June 2022. (Newswires)

03 Jan 2025 - 06:36- EquitiesResearch Sheet- Source: Newsquawk