Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 7th April 2026

ASIA

APAC stocks traded cautiously following the positive lead from the US and with all focus remaining on geopolitics heading into US President Trump's Tuesday evening deadline for Iran to open up the Strait of Hormuz or face the US destroying its power plants and bridges, although President Trump had also previously stated that he thinks talks are going well with Iran and they would like to be able to make a deal. ASX 200 rallied with tech and miners leading the upside and with almost all sectors in the green aside from industrials and consumer staples. Nikkei 225 failed to sustain its initial advances with the index pressured amid headwinds from higher oil prices and following disappointing Household Spending data. KOSPI surged at the open with strong gains in Samsung Electronics after its preliminary results topped forecasts and showed around an eight-fold jump in Q1 operating profit, although most of the advances were then pared as shares in the index heavyweight also pulled back. Shanghai Comp lacked conviction on return from the long weekend, with upside limited after another meek PBoC liquidity operation and with the Stock Connect still closed as Hong Kong markets remained shut.

LG Electronics (066570 KS) - Prelim. Q1 (KRW) oper profit 1.67tln (exp. 1.36tln), rev. 23.37tln (exp. 23.23tln). (Newswires)

Samsung Electronics (005930 KS) - Samsung announced prelim Q1 operating profit of KRW 57.2tln (exp. 40.6tln), and Q1 revenue of KRW 133tln (exp. 119.2tln). Prelim Q1 operating profit was up more than eightfold Y/Y, while revenue rose 68% Y/Y, driven by strong AI infrastructure demand, tight memory chip supply and higher chip prices. Samsung benefited primarily from commodity DRAM and NAND pricing, with one analyst estimating the chip division generated about KRW 54tln of profit (or roughly 95% of the total), while mobile also remained profitable. Samsung is due to release full Q1 earnings on 30th April.

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: European and UK indices were shut on account of Easter Monday

FTSE 100

OTHER UK COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

DAX

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

Evotec (EVT GY) - Co. nominates Dieter Weinand as supervisory board Chairman. (Evotec)

BROKER MOVES

CAC

Bureau Veritas (BVI FP) - Co. acquires Lotusworks, reinforcing its position in data centers and entering the semiconductor sector; this establishes a new c. EUR 300mln growth platform. This implies a 2026e EV/EBITA multiple of 15x. Transaction exp. to close by summer 2026. The transaction, representing an enterprise value of EUR 375mln, will be financed via existing and recently negotiated credit lines. (Bureau Veritas)

Sanofi (SAN FP) - Co's lunsekimig met primary and key secondary endpoints in phase 2 respiratory studies in asthma and CRSwNP. In the AIRCULES phase 2b study, lunsekimig met its primary and key secondary endpoints demonstrating a statistically significant and clinically meaningful reduction in exacerbations and improvement in lung function, as measured by pre-bronchodilator forced expiratory volume in one second. (Sanofi)

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

PAN EUROPE

ASML (ASML NA) - Samsung Electronics (005930 KS) has reportedly ordered about 70 lithography tools for P5 Phase 1, including around 20 EUV systems from Dutch semiconductor equipment maker ASML worth more than KRW 10tln. The order supports 1c DRAM and HBM4 output, with delivery for cleanroom completion in Q1 next year and installation from Q2, extending Samsung’s lead over SK Hynix (HXSCL) and Micron (MU). (Newswires)

Leonardo (LDO IM) - The Italian government are reportedly set to announce a new Leonardo CEO this week, according to Bloomberg. (Bloomberg)

Siemens (SIE GY) / Stadler Rail (SRAIL SW) / SBB (SBBB SS) - Cos has withdrawn its appeal against SBB's double-deck train contract award to Siemens, bringing the dispute to a close. (Rail Market)

Tech/Chip/Memory names - Samsung Electronics (005930 KS) shares jumped in Korean trade after profit soared on strong AI chip demand and upbeat guidance. Details in the APAC session above

UK/EU Banks - London City financial figures warned that Brussels banking rules could impact lenders and the UK-EU resets, according to FT. (FT)

BROKER MOVES

SMI

Roche (ROP SW) / AbbVie (ABBV), Amgen (AMGN) - AbbVie and Roche's Genentech will join TrumpRx on Monday as the 10th and 11th participating drugmakers, CBS News reports. AbbVie will offer Humira at an 86% discount, with coupons lowering the uninsured price to USD 950 (from more than USD 6,900), while Genentech will offer Xofluza at about USD 50 (vs USD 168). Amgen is also adding Enbrel and Otezla. (CBS News)

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

EMS Chemie (EMSN SW) - Q1 2025 (CHF): Revenue 487mln (prev. 522mln Y/Y). Affirms FY26 guidance. Higher costs require price increases for customers. (EMS Chemie)

BROKER MOVES

SCANDINAVIA

H&M (HMB SS) - Cautious mention in Bloomberg, which says that H&M is struggling to sell its rebound story; it writes that CEO Daniel Erver is trying to revive the apparel group amid investor credibility concerns, but eight years after a capital markets day where then-CEO Karl-Johan Persson sought to reassure shareholders following a record quarterly sales drop, H&M reported roughly USD 4bln in unsold garments, and a 62% drop in operating profit. (Bloomberg)

BROKER MOVES

Coloplast (COLOB DC) downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman Sachs

Yara (YAR NO) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Pareto Securities

US

CLOSES: SPX +0.43% at 6,611, NDX +0.61% at 24,192, DJI +0.35% at 46,669, RUT +0.44% at 2,541

SECTORS: Consumer Discretionary +0.80%, Energy +0.77%, Consumer Staples +0.72%, Financials +0.64%, Communication Services +0.59%, Industrials +0.50%, Technology +0.49%, Real Estate +0.26%, Materials -0.36%, Health -0.38%, Utilities -0.42%.

Broadcom (AVGO), Alphabet (GOOG) - Broadcom shares rose in extended trading after an announcement that it will produce future versions of Google’s AI chips; it also expanded its deal with Anthropic, giving the startup access to about 3.5 gigawatts of computing capacity based on Google processors. (Broadcom)

Medicare - Shares of UnitedHealth (UNH), Humana (HUM) and CVS (CVS) rose in extended trading after news that the US will raise average Medicare Advantage payments to private insurers by 2.48% in 2027, with a 2.5% risk-assessment adjustment taking the total increase to about 5%, Reuters reports. CMS said this would add more than USD 13bln in payments. (Reuters)

Prediction Markets - Kalshi won a federal appeals court ruling in its fight with New Jersey, with a 2-1 majority upholding a prelim injunction, and saying the CFTC regulates the platform. The decision is a significant win for Kalshi in the dispute over whether prediction markets should be overseen by the CFTC or state regulators, Bloomberg said. (Bloomberg)

S&P 500 (SPX) - Casey’s General Stores (CASY) will replace Hologic (HOLX) in the S&P 500, effective before trading on 9th April, following the acquisition of Hologic by affiliates of Blackstone and TPG Global, which is expected around 7th April; DigitalOcean Holdings (DOCN) will replace Casey’s General Stores in the S&P MidCap 400; Broadstone Net Lease (BNL) will replace DigitalOcean Holdings in the S&P SmallCap 600. (Newswires)

07 Apr 2026 - 06:53- Research Sheet- Source: Newsquawk