Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 7th July 2025

ASIA

APAC stocks were mostly subdued following a lack of bullish catalysts from over the weekend and with the region cautious ahead of upcoming key events, including central bank announcements and the July 9th tariff deadline. ASX 200 marginally retreated amid weakness in miners and as gold producers suffered due to a decline in the precious metal, although the downside in the broader market was limited by resilience in defensives and ahead of tomorrow's RBA announcement where the central bank is widely expected to deliver a consecutive 25bps rate cut. Nikkei 225 was pressured following softer-than-expected growth in Labour Cash Earnings which resulted in the largest decline in Japan's real wages in almost two years, while automakers were weighed on by the ongoing US tariff threat. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp conformed to the uninspired mood amid trade uncertainty and frictions with China retaliating against the EU ban on public tenders for medical devices by imposing import restrictions on medical devices.

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: Euro Stoxx 50 -1.15% at 5,281, Dax 40 -0.62% at 23,755, FTSE 100 -0.21% at 8,805, CAC 40 -0.98% at 7,678, FTSE MIB -0.97% at 39,554, IBEX 35 -1.70% at 13,926, PSI +0.11% at 7,763, SMI -0.53% at 11,909, AEX -0.81% at 908.

SECTORS: Healthcare 1.09%, Consumer Stpl -0.15%, Telecoms -0.21%, Utilities -0.34%, Energy -0.39%, Industrials -0.66%, Materials -0.84%, Financials -0.89%, Consumer Disc -1.15%, IT -1.41%.

FTSE 100

OTHER UK COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

Berkeley Group (BKG LN) upgraded to Buy from Add at Peel Hunt

Curry’s (CURY LN) downgraded to Sector Perform from Outperform at RBC

Weir Group (WEIR LN) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Citi

DAX

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

Nordex (NDX1 GY) - 91MW order in Germany, contract includes 20yr premium service. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Prosiebensat.1 (PSM GY) upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan

CAC

Airbus (AIR FP) - French President Macron announces a historic deal between Airbus and Malaysia Airlines; ordering 50 A321XLR planes with conversion rights for another 20 in deal worth USD 12.25bln. (Newswires)

Capgemini (CAP FP) - To acquire WNS (WNS) to form a global leader in agentic AI-powered intelligent operations. Acquisition for USD 76.50/shr, total cash consideration of USD 3.3bln. (Newswires)

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

PAN EUROPE

Energy Names - OPEC+ said eight member countries agreed to raise oil output by 548k bpd in August (prev. 411k bpd increases) and will next meet on August 3rd. Elsewhere, the EU is reportedly holding back on the climate action plan with China, via FT. Separately, Saudi Arabia raised August prices for its Arab Light crude to Asia by USD 1/bbl above the regional benchmark (exp. +0.65), signalling confidence in the market despite OPEC+ supply increases. This surprised several Asian refinery officials, Bloomberg reports. (Newswires/FT/Bloomberg)

Medical Names - China retaliated against the EU ban regarding public tenders for medical devices by imposing import restrictions on medical devices. China’s Finance Ministry said it is to exclude imports of medical devices exceeding CNY 45mln from the European Union from July 6th, while imports of medical devices from non-EU countries should not contain EU-made components worth more than 50% of the contract value. (Newswires)

Mining Names - China boosts nickel reserves as tensions with the US simmer, according to FT. (FT)

Trade, EU - EU diplomats said on Friday that EU negotiators failed to achieve a breakthrough in US trade talks and negotiations to continue into the weekend, while EU negotiators were looking to secure a US tariff pause extension if no wider trade deal is agreed. It was also separately reported that the US threatened the EU with a 17% tariff on food exports, according to FT. (Newswires/FT)

Trade, Global - US President Trump said trade letters are signed and are going out on Monday addressed to 12 countries but declined to say which countries or the different tariff levels involved. Trump later commented that they will have a deal or letter with most nations done by July 9th and could send out 12 or 15 letters on tariffs on Monday. Furthermore, Trump posted "Any Country aligning themselves with the Anti-American policies of BRICS, will be charged an ADDITIONAL 10% Tariff. There will be no exceptions to this policy.". (Newswires/Truth)

UniCredit (UCG IM)/Generali (G IM) - UniCredit has begun reducing its 6.49% stake in Generali as part of a gradual exit, according to Repubblica. The shares sold so far amount to less than 1.5% of Generali’s capital. (Newswires)

Universal Music Group (UMG NA) - 200 executives from independent record labels have written to EU Competition Commissioner Ribera calling on the Commission to undertake a more detailed investigation of the UMG acquisition of Downtown. (FT)

BROKER MOVES

Generali (G IM) upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan

SMI

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

SCANDINAVIA

Clas Ohlson (CLASB SS) - June (SEK): Sales 921mln, +8%. (Newswires)

Wihlborgs (WIHL SS) Q2 (SEK): Rental Income 1.1bln (prev. 1.03bln), Property Management Income 524mln. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

US

CLOSES: N/A

SECTORS: N/A

Canada Pipeline - Canadian PM Carney said a new oil pipeline to the West Coast is “highly likely” to be proposed as a nation-building project, potentially fast-tracked under new government legislation. He noted the private sector must initiate the proposal rather than the government imposing it.

07 Jul 2025 - 06:50- EquitiesResearch Sheet- Source: Newsquawk