Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 8th July 2024

8th July 2024

ASIA

APAC stocks were mostly lower as the region failed to resume the momentum from last Friday's dovish post-NFP reaction, while the weekend macro news flow was light aside from the French election results. ASX 200 was dragged lower by energy and mining stocks, while a surprise contraction in Home Loans added to the glum mood. Nikkei 225 faded after initially bucking the trend and hitting a fresh record high before reversing course, as participants digested mixed data. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp. were pressured with underperformance in Hong Kong amid weakness in property stocks, while the mainland also lacked demand ahead of this week's key releases from China including CPI and the latest trade data.

TSMC (2330 TT/TSM) - Co. shares rose 3.5% in Asia trade after Morgan Stanley boosted its price targets of the Co. ahead of its earnings, citing tighter 2025 supply chains, via Bloomberg. (Bloomberg)

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: DAX: flat at 18,461, CAC 40: -0.26% at 7,676, PSI: flat at 6,679, FTSE 100: -0.45% at 8,204, IBEX 35: -0.39% at 11,024, FTSE MIB: -0.35% at 33,988, SMI: -0.43% at 12,017, Euro Stoxx 50: -0.19% at 4,978.

SECTORS: Utilities 1.01%, IT 0.89%, Telecoms 0.27%, Healthcare 0.09%, Consumer Stpl -0.04%, Consumer Disc -0.39%, Industrials -0.47%, Materials -0.57%, Financials -0.60%, Energy -1.06%

FTSE 100

Burberry (BRBY LN) - Co. is preparing to cut hundreds of jobs, where employees fear as many as 400 jobs could be cut, according to The Telegraph. (The Telegraph)

IAG (IAG LN) - British Airways and easyJet (EZJ LN) are in a legal battle, which may force the Cos to pay out hundreds of millions of pounds to passengers, regarding late flights, via The Telegraph. (The Telegraph)

HSBC (HSBA LN) - Co's Chairman is looking at internal and external candidates as the next CEO, with current CFO Elherdery and personal banking head Matos seen as frontrunners, according to Bloomberg. (Bloomberg)

UK Housing - New UK Chancellor Reeves is said to reinstate home-building targets, which may lead to councils building on green belt land to help meet Labour's promise of building 1.5mln new homes within the next five years, according to The Telegraph. (The Telegraph)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

Taylor Wimpey (TW/ LN) - Co. dropped out of Cala Homes bidding war, after a source close to the matter described the bid as a "very lower offer", according to The Times. (The Times)

BROKER MOVES

DAX

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

Delivery Hero (DHER GY) - Co. may face significant fines due to antitrust violations and intends to increase the corresponding provision. May face fine in excess of EUR 400mln for alleged anti-competitive agreement to share national markets. (Newswires) Shares -8% in pre-market trade

BROKER MOVES

CAC

French Stocks - France's left-wing New Popular Front alliance surprisingly won the most seats (182 seats) in the second round of the French parliamentary election but fell short of an absolute majority, while President Macron’s centrist bloc won the second-most number of seats (163 seats) followed by the far-right National Rally in third place (143 seats) in a shock win for the left-wing coalition with France set for a hung parliament.

Safran (SAF FP) - Workers at Safran plant in Canada have voted to accept a proposed agreement with the Co., and the strike is over. (Newswires)

TotalEnergies (TTE FP) - Co. considers lower pump price caps for some of its customers, via Bloomberg. (Bloomberg)

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

Veolia (VIE FP) - Signed an agreement to divest its stake in Lydec. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Credit Agricole (ACA FP) upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at BNP Paribas

Michelin (ML FP) upgraded to Buy from Hold at HSBC

Ubisoft (UBI FP) upgraded to Buy from Underperform at Jefferies

PAN EUROPE

BROKER MOVES

Arkema (ARK NA) upgraded to Neutral from Underweight at JP Morgan

Finecobank (FBK IM) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Jefferies

Pirelli (PIRC IM) upgraded to Buy from Hold at HSBC

SMI

Holcim (HOLN SW) - Acquired Mark Demsdet to accelerate circular construction as a driver of profitable growth. (Newswires)

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

SCANDINAVIA

Wihlborgs Fastigheter (WIHL SS) - Interim H1 Report: Rental Income SEK 2.072bln (prev. 1.935bln Y/Y). Financial market sentiment has improved significantly. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

US

CLOSES: SPX +0.55% at 5,567, NDX +1.02% at 20,392, DJI +0.17% at 39,376, RUT -0.49% at 2,027.

SECTORS: Energy -1.52%, Industrials -0.4%, Financials -0.28%, Materials +0.13%, Utilities +0.19%, Real Estate +0.32%, Technology +0.49%, Health +0.72%, Consumer Discretionary +0.85%, Consumer Staples +1.21%, Communication Services

Boeing (BA) - Agrees to plead guilty to US fraud conspiracy charge in fatal plane crashes probe, according to DoJ. Boeing will be subject to criminal fine of USD 243.6mln as part of the agreement. Boeing agreement with DOJ provides no immunity to any individual employees or executives. Agreement covers misconduct predating 737 MAX crashes, does not provide immunity for any other corporate conduct including Jan. 5 blowout incident. Boeing will have to invest at least USD 455mln over next three years to strengthen compliance, safety programs. Boeing board of directors will meet with relatives of those killed in MAX crashes as part of plea deal. (Newswires)

Skydance Media and Paramount (PARA) - Sign definitive agreement to advance Paramount as a world-class media and technology enterprise with Paramount Class A stockholder will receive USD 23/shr and Class B shareholders will get USD 15/shr in USD 8bln deal. (Newswires)

08 Jul 2024 - 06:52- EquitiesData- Source: Newsquawk