Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 5th January 2024

5th January 2024

ASIA

APAC stocks eventually traded mixed as the earlier positivity gradually waned despite a lack of major newsflow but in the run-up to the US NFP and ISM Services PMI. ASX 200 was initially supported by gold-related names alongside the Financials and Healthcare sectors, but gains were later countered by losses in Tech. Nikkei 225 outperformed and briefly topped 33,500 with the weak JPY providing tailwinds, although the index closed under the level. KOSPI fell into the red after South Korea ordered an evacuation on Yeonpyeong Island near the North Korean border "due to the situation related to North Korea's provocation". Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp moved between gains and losses but held a downside bias towards the end of the session, whilst the PBoC drained a net CNY 2.423tln through open market operations this week, marking the biggest weekly cash withdrawal on record, according to Reuters calculations.

BYD (1211 HK) - Has started construction on a CNY 10bln sodium-ion battery plant in China's Xuzhou city, according to the the local government. The Xuzhou factory has a planned annual capacity of 30 gigawatt-hours. (Newswires)

Samsung Electronics (005930 SK) - Samsung cut its Q1 wafer foundry price quotes by 5-15% to attract customers and fill production. Firms such as UMC, VIS and PSMC may also follow suit, according to Money UDN. (Money UDN)

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: DAX +0.48% at 16,617.29, FTSE 100 +0.53% at 7,723.07, CAC 40 +0.52% at 7,450.63, Euro Stoxx 50 +0.57% at 4,473.55, IBEX 35 +1.28% at 10,182.40, FTSE MIB +1.01% at 30,403.96, SMI +0.46% at 11,222.10

SECTORS: Utilities 1.65%, Healthcare 1.43%, Financials 1.21%, Industrials 0.75%, Telecoms 0.69%, Energy 0.61%, Consumer Stpl 0.07%, Consumer Disc 0.04%, Materials -0.04%, IT -0.40%

FTSE 100

Endeavour Mining (EDV LN) – Termination of President and CEO Sébastien de Montessus, for serious misconduct with immediate effect. Following an “… irregular payment instruction issued by him in relation to an asset disposal undertaken by the Company. The amount of this irregular payment instruction is US$5.9 million”. (Endeavour)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

Experian (EXPN LN) upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at BNP Paribas

DAX

Deutsche Bank (DBK GY) – Alison Harding-Jones, former Citigroup (C) dealmaker, has been named as the new global head of M&A. (FT)

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

Qiagen (QIA GY) - To accelerate investments into QIAGEN Digital Insights bioinformatics business. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

CAC

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

Sodexo (SW FP) - Q1 (EUR): Revenue 6.29bln, +3.1% Y/Y. Affirms FY24 and FY25 targets. (Newswires)

Valeo (FR FP) - Co. and Teledyne FLIR announce agreement and first contract for thermal imaging for automotive safety systems. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Credit Agricole (ACA FP) upgraded to Market Perform from Underperform at Keefe Bruyette

Publicis (PUB FP) upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Macquarie

PAN EUROPE

BROKER MOVES

Signify (LIGHT NA) initiated with Underweight at Barclays

SMI

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

SCANDINAVIA

Maersk (MAERSKB DC) - Says it has rerouted four out of five container vessels that were stuck in the Red Sea back towards the Suez Canal to commence the journey around Africa, to avoid the risk of attack. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Maersk (MAERSKB DC) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Jefferies

Nibe Industrier (NIBEB SS) initiated with Overweight at Barclays

US

CLOSES: SPX -0.3% at 4,689, NDX -0.5% at 16,282, DJI +0.03% at 37,440, RUT -0.08% at 1,958.

SECTORS: Health +0.46%, Financials +0.24%, Industrials +0.1%, Consumer Staples -0.15%, Real Estate -0.27%, Utilities -0.33%, Materials -0.33%, Technology -0.64%, Communication Services -0.69%, Consumer Discretionary -0.97%, Energy -1.63%.

American Tower (AMT) - Completes strategic review and announces an agreement to sell its operations in India to Brookfield; total cash proceeds to the company at closing would potentially represent up to approximately INR 210bln, or USD 2.5bln. (Newswires)

ExxonMobil (XOM) - Sees change in gas prices to positively impact Q4 upstream earnings by USD 0.4-0.8bln vs Q3. Sees change in industry margins to negatively impact Q4 energy products earnings by USD 1.7-1.5bln vs Q3. Sees change in industry margins to positively impact Q4 chemical products earnings by USD 0.3- 0.5bln vs Q3. Sees change in liquids prices to negatively impact Q4 upstream earnings by USD 0.8bln-0.4bln vs Q3. Sees change in unsettled derivatives (mark-to-market) to impact Q4 upstream earnings by negative USD 0.3bln to positive USD 0.1bln vs Q3. Sees change in unsettled derivatives to impact Q4 energy products earnings by positive USD 1-1.4bln vs Q3. (Newswires)

McDonald's (MCD) - CEO notes Middle East war is causing a 'meaningful' impact. (Newswires)

05 Jan 2024 - 06:45- EquitiesResearch Sheet- Source: Newsquawk