Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 9th December 2024

ASIA

APAC stocks were mixed for a bulk of the session before eventually trading mostly lower, with South Korean stocks underperforming after the vote to impeach South Korea’s President failed following a boycott by ruling party MPs. ASX 200 was relatively flat for most of the session before tilting lower amid a late pullback in base metals and ahead of the RBA announcement tomorrow which is expected to keep rates unchanged at 4.35%. Nikkei 225 traded between gains and losses before adopting an upward bias as Q3 GDP was revised higher. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp opened mixed but later traded lower with the former subdued by property names whilst the latter gears up for China’s Central Economic Work Conference on December 11th and 12th, whilst Chinese CPI missed expectations whilst PPI printed slightly above forecasts - with no major price action seen on the release.

TSMC (2330 TT) will begin 2nm CyberShuttle services for the 1st time in April,2025, which will help aid in reducing wafer price for clients such as Apple (AAPL), Intel (INTC), AMD (AMD), MediaTek (2454 JT), Qualcomm (QCOM), Alchip, according to CTEE. (CTEE)

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: DAX: +0.21% at 20,409, FTSE 100: -0.55% at 8,304, CAC 40: +1.31% at 7,427, Euro Stoxx 50: +0.56% at 4,979, AEX: -0.31% at 892, IBEX 35: -0.45% at 12,064, FTSE MIB: +0.40% at 34,764, SMI: +0.03% at 11,780, PSI: -1.18% at 6,336.

SECTORS: Consumer Disc 1.70%, Healthcare 0.58%, Telecoms 0.37%, IT 0.32%, Industrials 0.11%, Materials -0.17%, Consumer Stpl -0.20%, Financials -0.42%, Energy -0.52%, Utilities -0.62%

FTSE 100

AstraZeneca (AZN LN) - Fixed-duration Calquence plus venetoclax demonstrated superior progression-free survival vs. standard of care in previously untreated chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, with 77% of patients progression free at three years in AMPLIFY Phase III trial. (AstraZeneca)

BP (BP/ LN) - BP is seeking buyers for up to a 49% stake in its US natural gas pipeline network, potentially raising USD 3bln, Reuters reports. The move is part of its strategy to reduce its rising debt, following a weaker performance and investor pressure. BP is also looking to sell stakes in its solar and wind divisions. (Reuters)

Frasers (FRAS LN) / Boohoo (BOO LN) - Frasers boss Mike Ashley said excited at the prospect of working collaboratively with Boohoo CEO to turn the fashion retailer around, according to Reuters citing a shareholder letter. (Reuters)

Interpublic Group (IPG), Omnicom Group (OMC), WPP (WPP LN) - Omnicom is in advanced talks to acquire Interpublic, potentially forming the world’s largest advertising firm, WSJ reports. The deal could value Interpublic at between USD 13-14bln ex-debt, and would create a combined entity with net revenue surpassing USD 20bln, overtaking WPP as the largest advertising company. An announcement could come soon. (WSJ)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

Spirax Sirco (SPX LN) upgraded to Overweight from Equalweight at Morgan Stanley

DAX

Allianz SE (ALV GY), Amundi SA (AMUN FP) - Allianz has paused talks with Amundi over merging their asset management arms, which would have created a EUR 2.8tln industry leader, the FT reports. The discussions, ongoing for over a year, faltered due to disagreements on control and structure. Allianz sought co-leadership, while Amundi favoured a structure with Credit Agricole (ACA FP) in charge. (FT)

Rheinmetall (RHM GY) - Co. joined forces with a US software specialist, Auterion, on combat drone development, via the FT. (FT)

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

Sartorius (SRT3 GY) - Micheal Grosse to become the CEO of Sartorius AG. effective July 1 2025. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

CAC

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

JCDecaux (DEC FP) - IgpDecaux won a Rome bus shelter contract. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Rexel (RXL FP) upgraded to Overweight from Equalweight at Morgan Stanley

STMicroelectronics (STM FP) downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan

PAN EUROPE

Banco BPM (BAMI IM), Credit Agricole (ACA FP), UniCredit (UCG IM) - Credit Agricole has increased its stake in Banco BPM from 9.9% to 15.1% and aims to raise it further to 19.99%, complicating UniCredit's takeover bid, FT reports. The move follows Banco BPM’s rejection of UniCredit’s EUR 10.1bln offer, which sought to consolidate the Italian banking sector. Reuters reports that Credit Agricole informed the Italian Government of its plans, and received backing. A UniCredit spokesperson said on a post on LinkedIn, that Credit Agricole's decision to increase stake in Banco BPM "changes nothing for UniCredit". Added that UniCredit's move made Credit Ag's investment more expensive and more complicated. Elsewhere, II Sole 24 reported that Banco BPM is considering asking Consob for an exemption of the passivity rule, which stops takeover targets from taking actions against buyout bids without the approval of shareholders. (FT/Reuters/Newswires)

China-exposed stocks - Chinese CPI YY (Nov) 0.2% vs. Exp. 0.5% (Prev. 0.3%); Chinese CPI MM * (Nov) -0.6% vs. Exp. -0.4% (Prev. -0.3%); Chinese PPI YY (Nov) -2.5% vs. Exp. -2.8% (Prev. -2.9%)

Chip Stocks - South Korean opposition leader Lee said some irreversible economic fallout expected on chips industry, and financial markets unless President Yoon steps down immediately, according to Reuters. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Repsol (REP SM) downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at JPMorgan

Signify (LIGHT NA) downgraded to Equalweight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley

SMI

Baloise (BALN SW) - Board will propose to AGM that Vincent Vandendael and Andre Helnfenstein to be elected to Board. (Newswires)

Novartis (NOVN SW) - Longer-term data for Novartis Scemblix reinforce superior efficacy with favorable safety and tolerability profile in adults with newly diagnosed CML. (Novartis)

Roche (ROG SW) - Five-year results confirm Roche’s Polivy combination therapy as new standard of care for previously untreated aggressive lymphoma. (Roche)

UBS (UBSG SW) - From time to time may offer to sell up to USD 60bln or equivalent of any other currency, of debt securities and warrants. (Newswires)

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

ABB (ABBN SW) upgraded to Equalweight from Underweight at Morgan Stanley

SCANDINAVIA

Boliden (BOL SS) - Co. to acquire the Neves-Corvo and Zinkgruvan mines. Deal valued at USD 1.3bln plus up to USD 150mln contingent payments. Transaction expected to complete mid-2025. (Newswires)

Genmab (GMAB DC) - Investigational epcoritamab (DuoBody CD3xCD20) monotherapy achieves high overall and complete response rates in clinical trial of patients with relapsed or refractory (R/R) chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) in preliminary analysis. (Genmab)

Novo Nordisk (NOVOB DC) - Novo Holdings' USD 16.5bln Catalent buy has won EU antitrust approval. (Newswires)

Skanska (SKAB SS) - Signed contract for the next part of NKT's cable factory in Sweden for SEK 1.2bln. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Equinor (EQNR NO) upgraded to Overweight from Underweight at JPMorgan

Kone (KNEBV FH) downgraded to Underweight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley

Neste (NESTE FH) upgraded to Neutral from Underweight at JPMorgan

US

CLOSES: SPX +0.25% at 6,090.27, NDX +0.81% at 19,859.77, DJIA -0.28% at 44,642.52 , RUT +0.54% at 2,408.99.

SECTORS: Cons Disc 2.39%, Communication Svcs 1.38%, Technology 0.14%, Financials 0.03%, Real Estate -0.04%, Industrials -0.25%, Materials -0.26%, Cons Stpl -0.44%, Health -0.54%, Utilities -1.19%, Energy -1.57%

Apple (AAPL) - Co. plans 3-year modem chip rollout in bid to outdo Qualcomm (QCOM), according to Bloomberg; to continue using Broadcom (AVGO) and Skyworks (SWKS) parts in its devices. (Newswires)

GE Aerospace (GE), Safran (SAF FP) - Bernstein's analysts sees GE Aerospace's recent share decline, following Safran's 2025 revenue and earnings guidance, as a buying opportunity. The JV with Safran on engine production is a key factor, with Bernstein maintaining its "Outperform" rating and a USD 225 price target for GE, despite the 5% fall.

Telecoms - The US House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on a defence bill on December 11th which will provide USD 3bln to help telecom companies remove Huawei and ZTE equipment from their networks, Reuters reports. The funding aims to address a shortfall in the FCC's programme. (Newswires)

09 Dec 2024 - 06:54- MetalsResearch Sheet- Source: Newsquawk