Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 4th July 2025

ASIA

APAC stocks traded mixed with gains limited despite the better-than-expected jobs data stateside which unwound some Fed rate cut bets, while the House also passed President Trump's sweeping tax cut and spending bill. Nonetheless, trade uncertainty lingered ahead of the July 9th tariff deadline and with President Trump noting that they will begin sending out letters today, although Treasury Secretary Bessent said to expect a flurry of trade deals ahead of the deadline. ASX 200 was rangebound as strength in tech and consumer discretionary was offset by losses across the commodity and resources sectors. Nikkei 225 traded indecisively amid recent currency moves and as strong Household Spending data supported the case for the BoJ to resume normalisation. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp were mixed with the Hong Kong benchmark pressured, while the mainland is resilient as China plans subsidies for young children to boost the national birthrate, while the US lifted the license suspension for GE Aerospace on sales of jet engines to China's COMAC.

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: Euro Stoxx 50 +0.48% at 5,344, Dax 40 +0.47% at 23,902, FTSE 100 +0.55% at 8,823, CAC 40 +0.21% at 7,755, FTSE MIB +0.40% at 39,943, IBEX 35 +0.86% at 14,166, PSI +1.60% at 7,755, SMI -0.08% at 11,975, AEX +0.52% at 915.

SECTORS: Financials 1.17%, IT 0.86%, Consumer Stpl 0.71%, Industrials 0.65%, Energy 0.52%, Utilities 0.33%, Consumer Disc 0.24%, Telecoms 0.19%, Materials -0.45%, Healthcare -1.02%.

FTSE 100

OTHER UK COMPANIES

Burberry (BRBY LN) - New CEO Schulman is, according to the WSJ, steering the Co. back towards its heritage. Aiming to revive Burberry’s reputation for functional, aspirational luxury rooted in tradition. (WSJ)

BROKER MOVES

Accesso Technology (ACSO LN) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Peel Hunt

DAX

SAP (SAP GY) - CEO said Europe does not need to build more data centres to compete in AI, disputing Nvidia (NVDA) CEO’s call for more infrastructure. SAP CEO argued that Europe should focus on applied AI use cases rather than expanding hardware capacity, emphasising practical deployment over data centre proliferation. (Bloomberg)

Volkswagen (VOW3 GY) - Audi is to hold pricing through July and evaluate the impact of changing tariffs. (Newswires)

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

Stabilus (STM1 GY) - Jaeger to become the new CFO, from November 1st. Buchsner to act as interim CFO. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

CAC

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

Air France (AF FP) - To increase its stake in SAS to 60.5%. (Newswires)

Alstom (ALO FP) - EUR 2bln order from the NY Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Order to be booked in Q2 of FY25/26. (Newswires)

Eutelsat (ETL FP) - Bpifrance has sold its stake in Eutelsat to APE. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

PAN EUROPE

BMPS (BMPS IM) - CEO says he is certain they will complete the bid for MedioBanca (MB IM), price is fair and correct, via Il Sole 24. Bid will result in conditions for a second growth phase, during which they will assess every new opportunity that comes to the market. (Newswires)

Cofinimmo (COFB BB) - Acquires development products and is on track with the asset rotation plan. Divested several assets in Germany and Netherlands. (Newswires)

Eni (ENI IM) - CEO met with the Ivory Coast President Quattara, to discuss progress of main energy and sustainability projects. (Newswires)

European Cos - China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi said China is shortening rare earth export approvals for European companies. (Newswires)

EU-China - China plans to cancel the second day of its upcoming two-day summit with EU leaders at Beijing’s request, reflecting growing tensions between Brussels and Beijing. European foreign policy chief Kallas urged China to rebalance economic ties and end restrictive practices, including limits on rare earth exports. (Newswires)

Ferrovial (FER SM) - Concluded the sale of the entire 5.25% stake in Heathrow Airport. (Newswires)

Sabadell (SAB SM) - Calling two EGMs for August 6th. First meeting is to authorise the disposal of the entire share capital of TSB. Second meeting for approval of an extraordinary gross cash dividend of EUR 0.50/shr. (Newswires)

US-China - President Trump’s administration is contacting US business executives to gauge interest in joining a potential presidential trip to China this year, aiming to strengthen economic ties despite ongoing US efforts to decouple from Beijing, Bloomberg reports. It is unclear how many CEOs have been invited or confirmed participation. (Bloomberg)

BROKER MOVES

SMI

ABB (ABBN SW) - Signed a 15yr fleet service contract with Royal Caribbean (RCL). (Newswires)

Nestle (NESN SW) - China plans to introduce nationwide subsidies of 3,600 yuan per child annually until age three from 2025, aiming to reverse population decline with direct financial incentives for families, according to sources cited by Bloomberg. (Bloomberg)

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

SCANDINAVIA

Aker BP (AKRBP NO) - Q2 Update: Equity production averaged 415k BOEPD (prev. 441k), net volume sold 413k BOEPD. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

US

CLOSES: SPX +0.83% at 6,279, NDX +0.99% at 22,867, DJI +0.77% at 44,829, RUT +1.02% at 2,249

SECTORS: Technology +1.29%, Financials +1.08%, Industrials +0.82%, Consumer Discretionary +0.75%, Utilities +0.74%, Communication Services +0.61%, Energy +0.25%, Consumer Staples +0.20%, Real Estate +0.12%, Health +0.11%, Materials unch.

Apple (AAPL) - Apple reportedly considered offering cloud infrastructure services to developers, aiming to rival AWS, Google Cloud, and Azure, according to The Information. Internally discussed under Michael Abbott and tied to “Project ACDC,” the initiative would leverage Apple Silicon for AI and app processing. Talks persisted into early 2024, but no formal product has yet emerged.

AT&T (T) - AT&T plans to accelerate fibre rollout by 1mln locations annually from 2026 following the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, citing tax incentives and spectrum policy as key enablers. It will update its 2025 and long-term financial outlook on July 23rd alongside its Q2 results.

GE Aerospace (GE) - The US has authorised GE Aerospace to resume jet engine shipments to China's COMAC, lifting earlier licence suspensions tied to trade tensions, Reuters reports. The move affects LEAP-1C and CF34 engines. It follows other eased restrictions on chip and energy exports, signalling progress in US-China trade talks and rare earths-related concessions by Beijing.

04 Jul 2025 - 06:45- Data- Source: Newsquawk