Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 5th September 2023

5th September 2023

ASIA

Asia-Pac stocks were mostly subdued after the holiday lull stateside and as the region digested disappointing data releases including the weaker-than-expected Chinese Caixin Services PMI. ASX 200 (-0.3%) was lower amid underperformance in the commodity-related sectors and as participants braced for the conclusion of RBA Governor Lowe’s final monetary policy meeting in which the central bank kept rates unchanged as widely expected. Nikkei 225 (+0.1%) stalled on its approach to the 33,000 level and with headwinds from disappointing household spending data which suffered its worst drop since February 2021, while KOSPI (-0.1%) traded in the red after firmer-than-expected CPI data reignited the hawkish pressure for the BoK. Hang Seng (-1.6%) and Shanghai Comp. (-0.6%) were pressured after Chinese Caixin Services PMI data missed forecasts and with the property sector dampened by default fears with about a third of 50 major private builders said to face around USD 1.5bln dollar of payments this month, while Country Garden narrowly averted a default and paid USD-denominated coupons hours before the end of the grace period.

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: DAX -0.10% at 15,824, FTSE 100 -0.2% at 7,452, CAC 40 -0.24% at 7,279, Euro Stoxx 50 -0.08% at 4,278, IBEX 35 -0.35% at 9,416, FTSE MIB -0.01% at 28,647, SMI -0.20% at 11,053, PSI +0.02% at 6,183.

SECTORS: Industrials 4.00%, IT 0.48%, Consumer Disc 0.24%, Energy 0.04%, Materials 0.02%, Healthcare -0.01%, Financials -0.08%, Consumer Stpl -0.32%, Telecoms -0.34%, Utilities -0.78%

FTSE 100

Aviva (AV/ LN) - Financial trading group XTX Markets sues the Co. and L&G (LGEN LN) over their refusal to allow it to put money in some of their funds, claiming Russian discrimination, according to the FT. (FT)

GSK (GSK LN) – Co. is preparing to launch the world’s first vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus after 15 years of research. Arexvy will be sold in the US and UK this autumn. The CEO said the launch is expected to be a “blockbuster”, a term reportedly used for a medicine that generates annual sales of at least USD 1bln, according to The Times. Note, Pfizer (PFE) is mentioned in the article as a rival. (Times)

Retail Names - UK BRC Retail Sales YY (Aug 2023) 4.3% (Prev. 1.8%); UK BRC Total Sales YY (Aug) 4.1% (Prev. 1.5%), via BRC. (BRC)

NatWest (NWG LN) - Travers Smith, a law firm reviewing the Co's closure of Farage's account, will miss its deadline for completing the work, according to sources cited by FT. (FT)

National Grid (NG/ LN) - Yesterday reported unplanned 1,500 MW transmission unavailability on IFA1 interconnector from September 1-6th; protection and control fault. (Newswires)

Pension Names - UK should hike minimum pension contributions to 12% from 8% over the next decade, says New Financial Research Group cited by Bloomberg. (Bloomberg)

UK Trade - The Port of Dover wants to build into the sea to avoid delays when the EU's planned biometric border system starts. The new controls, known as the Entry Exit scheme, were first slated for introduction in May 2023, but are now expected in autumn 2024, according to BBC. (BBC)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

B&M (BME LN) downgraded to Underweight from Overweight at JP Morgan Chase

CMC (CMCX LN) resumed with Add at Peel Hunt

Tesco (TSCO LN) downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JP Morgan

DAX

Deutsche Bank (DBK GY) - Co. and SVP win control of Celsa in a Debt-Equity swap, where ownership will transfer to its lenders who will write off USD 1.352bln. The plan will cut Celsa's debt pile by 50%, according to Bloomberg citing an emailed ruling. In other news, Deutsche Bank faces watchdog probe after it failed to remedy software issues at its retail unit. (Bloomberg)

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

Hapag-Llyod (HLAG GY) - CEO said shipping freight rates have come under pressure from slack demand, while costs have risen. The CEO "listed higher wage inflation, fuel prices, and terminal and timecharter costs, adding that the cost concerns could mean that certain voyages were cancelled."(Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Commerzbank (CBK GY) downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight at Barclays, Shares seen -1.7%

Fresenius SE (FRE GY) downgraded to Hold from Buy at HSBC

Siemens Healthineers (SHL GY) upgraded to Buy from Hold at HSBC

CAC

Airbus (AIR FP) - Co. and Air France KLM (AF FP) entered exclusive negotiations for the creation of a 50-50 JV dedicated to Airbus A350 component support. (Newswires)

LVMH (MC FP) - Hodinkee, a firm backed by LVMH, is cutting almost 20% of its staff as prices of pre-owned watched slump, according to Bloomberg. (Bloomberg)

Renault (RNO FP) - CEO said the company’s new EV division could fetch an IPO price of up to EUR 10bln when it floats next year. Although the Co. has not confirmed its pricing ambitions for the unit, according to FT. (FT)

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

Valeo (VLO FP) - Co. and Mobileye (MBLY) launched a partnership for world-class imaging radars. In other news, CEO said it is not seeing any sign of slowdown in the car business in China and in advanced talks to sell the last of its two activities in Russia (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Sanofi (SAN FP) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Berenberg

SocGen (GLE FP) downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Barclays

PAN EUROPE

Energy Names - Italy regulated household gas prices +2.3% in August, according to the Energy Authority Arera. (Newswires)

Solvay (SOLB BB) - Not in a position to confirm that required 75% majority has been reached for consent solicitation of 2029 bonds (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Ahold Delhaize (AD NA) downgraded to Underweight from Overweight at JP Morgan Chase

SMI

UBS (UBSG SW) - Credit Suisse is defending the Mozambique president, who a judge ruled cannot be sued in London over the long-running USD 2bln "tuna bonds" scandal, according to the FT. (FT)

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

SCANDINAVIA

Genmab (GMAB DC) - Phase 3 innovaTV 301 confirmatory trial met primary endpoint. (Newswires)

GN Store Nord (GN DC) - Announces Gitte Abbo will step down as CEO of GN Store Nord and GN Hearing, effective October 1st. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

US

Apple (AAPL) and Microsoft (MSFT) said some of their flagship services are not popular enough to be designated as ‘gatekeepers’ under new EU legislation designed to rein in the power of big tech. Microsoft has rejected the idea that Bing should be subject to the same obligations placed on its much larger rival, Google Search, according to FT citing people familiar with the matter. Separately, Apple believes it does not meet the threshold of user numbers at which the rules apply, according to the FT. (FT)

05 Sep 2023 - 06:52- Exclusive- Source: Newsquawk