Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 5th April 2023

5th April 2023

ASIA

Asia-Pac stocks traded mixed with sentiment clouded following the negative handover from Wall St where risk assets were pressured as weak JOLTS data stoked economic growth concerns, while trade was also hampered owing to the mass closures across the Greater China region for Ching Ming Festival. ASX 200 (-0.1%) was rangebound with early support from strength in healthcare, tech and gold-related stocks although upside in the index was later pared amid weakness in commodity-related sectors and after Services and Composite PMI data was confirmed in contractionary territory despite the mild upward revision. NZX 50 (-0.5%) wiped out its initial gains and was pressured after the RBNZ delivered a more aggressive than expected rate hike of 50bps and signalled a further rate increase. Nikkei 225 (-1.7%) underperformed and breached the 28,000 level to the downside amid broad weakness across sectors and as retailers including index heavyweight Fast Retailing failed to benefit from the recent monthly comparable store sales updates.

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: EURO STOXX 50 +0.10% at 4,315, FTSE 100 -0.50% at 7,634, DAX 40 +0.14% at 15,603, CAC 40 -0.01% at 7,344, FTSE MIB -0.56% at 27,026, IBEX 35 +0.28% at 9,183, SMI -0.18% at 11,073.

SECTORS: Utilities 0.39%, Financials 0.26%, Consumer Disc 0.18%, IT 0.14%, Healthcare 0.11%, Consumer Stpl 0.02%, Telecoms -0.07%, Industrials -0.31%, Materials -0.48%, Energy -1.46%

FTSE 100

Hammerson (HMSO LN) - Lighthouse Properties, which holds a 22.8% stake in Hammerson, has stated that it has "no confidence in the board as currently constituted" and plans to vote against the election of "at least two" non-executive directors at next month's annual meeting. (Times)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

Direct Line Insurance (DLG LN) upgraded to Buy from Sell at Citi

DAX

Volkswagen (VOW GY) - Co's Czech unit Skoda is to raise wages by 10%. (Newswires)

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

Grenke (GLJ GY) - Co. said it generated a "highly profitable new business in the first quarter despite volatile interest rate environment". New leasing business posted 22.2% Y/Y growth to EUR 610mln (prev. 499.2mln). CEO said "The market for lease financing in the small-ticket segment, as well as the demand, is very solid," (Grenke)

Heidelberg Materials (HEI GY) - Co. will reportedly sign an MoU with the Canadian government for a carbon capture facility for cement production, according to Reuters sources. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Deutsche Telekom (DTE GY) maintained with Overweight at Morgan Stanley

DWS (DWS GY) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Citi

Siemens (SIE GY) upgraded to Buy from Hold at SocGen

CAC

Sodexo (SW FP) - H1 2022 (EUR): Revenue 12.1bln (prev. 10.3bln Y/Y). Underlying Net 475mln (prev. 339mln). Underlying operating profit 704mln (prev. 538mln). Co. plans to spin off its Benefits & Rewards services during 2024. Co. confirms its mid-term targets. (Newswires)

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

Technip Energies (TE FP) initiated with Sector Perform at RBC

PAN EUROPE

Energy Names - Exxon (XOM) sees the change in liquid prices to negatively impact Q1 upstream earnings by USD 0.6bln-1.0bln vs Q4 and sees the change in gas prices to negatively impact upstream earnings by USD 0.4bln-0.8bln vs Q4. (Newswires)

Gaming Names - Amazon (AMZN) laid off more than 100 employees in its video games division, CNBC reports. The layoffs are part of its 9,000 job cuts announced earlier this year. The report added that since the launch of Amazon Games in 2013, it has struggled to produce a hit despite several published projects. (CNBC)

Iberdrola (IBE SM) - Co. agrees to sell in excess of 8,400 MW of combined cycle gas capacity in Mexico for USD 6bln to Mexico's infrastructure partners. (Newswires)

Pirelli (PIRC IM) - Italy is reportedly reviewing options to limit China's influence over Pirelli, according to Bloomberg. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

SMI

Credit Suisse (CSGN SW)/UBS (UBSG SW) - BoE approved UBS's (UBSG SW) takeover of Credit Suisse (CSGN SW) in the UK, according to Reuters. Separately, the banks have received a temporary green light from the EU antitrust regulators for the acquisition, but will still have to request clearance under EU merger rules, according to the European Commission. (Newswires)

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

Barry Callebaut (BARN SW) - H1 2022 (CHF): Revenue 4.1bln (exp. 4.27bln). EBIT 348mln (prev. 318mln). Net 234mln (prev. 224mln). Sales volume -2.9% Y/Y. Co. affirms its FY guidance. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

SCANDINAVIA

BROKER MOVES

Alfa Laval (ALFA SS) upgraded to Buy from Hold at SEB

Aker Solutions (AKSO NO) initiated with Outperform at RBC

Assa Abloy (ASSAB SS) downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Citigroup

H&M (HMB SS) upgraded to Equal Weight from Underweight at Morgan Stanley

Subsea 7 (SUNC NO) initiated with Outperform at RBC

Wartsila (WRT1V FH) upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley

US

CLOSES: SPX -0.58% at 4,100, NDX -0.37% at 13,100, DJIA -0.59% at 33,402, RUT -1.81% at 1,769.

SECTORS: Industrials -2.25%, Energy -1.72%, Materials -1.45%, Financials -1.01%, Technology -0.58%, Consumer Staples -0.24%, Consumer Discretionary -0.07%, Real Estate +0.01%, Health +0.02%, Communication Services +0.31%, Utilities +0.53%.

05 Apr 2023 - 06:43- Research Sheet- Source: Newsquawk