Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 9th July 2025

ASIA

APAC stocks traded mixed following the similar performance stateside, where tariff updates remained in focus after the US flagged more tariff letters and President Trump suggested a 50% tariff on copper. ASX 200 marginally retreated with most sectors in the red, although price action was confined within tight parameters. Nikkei 225 swung between gains and losses amid global trade uncertainty, while there were balanced comments from BoJ's Koeda who stated it is inappropriate to say the specific timing of the next rate hike now due to high uncertainty but added the BoJ must debate how much it should eventually shrink its expanded balance sheet and balance of JGB holdings. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp conformed to the mixed overall picture in the region as property names dragged the Hong Kong benchmark lower, while the mainland remained afloat as participants reflected on mixed inflation data from China.

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: Euro Stoxx 50 +0.69% at 5,378, Dax 40 +0.50% at 24,193, FTSE 100 +0.56% at 8,856, CAC 40 +0.56% at 7,767, FTSE MIB +0.67% at 40,183, IBEX 35 -0.11% at 14,059, PSI +0.01% at 7,733, SMI +0.09% at 11,964, AEX +0.30% at 917.

SECTORS: Energy 2.00%, IT 1.09%, Healthcare 0.85%, Materials 0.82%, Consumer Disc 0.60%, Financials 0.39%, Industrials 0.05%, Consumer Stpl -0.23%, Telecoms -0.32%, Utilities -0.61%

FTSE 100

LSE (LSEG LN) - UK CBI has written a report outlining that the London stock market risks "drifting into irrelevance" with both government and regulatory reform, suggesting financial incentives, marketing campaigns and boardroom pay are key components to ensure the markets success and as such alterations such as looser bonus rules and IPO ta breaks need to occur. (Sky News)

UK Shipping - Shipping costs from China to the UK have surged about 60% in three months to USD 3,305 per 40-foot container, driven by the impact of the US trade conflicts, Bloomberg reports. The rise risks pushing consumer prices higher and complicating the BoE’s plan to gradually lower interest rates, the report adds. (Bloomberg)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

abrdn (ABDN LN) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies

Bellway (BWY LN) downgraded to Sector Perform from Outperform at RBC

Berkeley Group (BKG LN) upgraded to Outperform from Underperform at RBC

British American Tobacco (BATS LN) initiated with Buy at Jefferies, named a "top pick"

Imperial Brands (IMB LN) initiated with Buy at Jefferies

Persimmon (PSN LN) upgraded to Sector Perform from Underperform at RBC

Taylor Wimpey (TW/ LN) downgraded to Sector Perform from Outperform at RBC

DAX

Germany-China Relations - German Chancellor Merz set to make first visit to China towards the end of this year and Merz expected to take a delegation of business executives to China in a trip planned for October, according to a Reuters source. (Newswires)

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

Renk Group AG (R3NK GY) - Renk Group AG is reviewing strategic options for its civilian industrial business as it shifts focus to defence, Bloomberg reported. The gearbox maker is working with advisers and may partially or fully sell subunits of the civilian business, which is unlikely to be sold as a whole. (Bloomberg )

BROKER MOVES

CAC

Airbus (AIR FP) - June 2025 numbers: 63 deliveries to 35 customers; gross orders 203. Jan-June: Gross orders 494, Booked 402 net aircraft. (Newswires)

EssilorLuxottica (EL FP) - Meta (META) bought a minority stake in EssilorLuxottica worth around USD 3.5bln, Bloomberg reported. Meta has invested in EssilorLuxottica to advance its smart glasses initiative, deepening their partnership to develop next-generation wearable tech. (Bloomberg)

Renault (RNO FP) - Co. is set to name an interim CEO in the next week, via FT citing sources; the shortlist has been narrowed down to Denis Le Vot, Francois Provost and Maxime Picat. (FT)

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

Ubisoft (UBI FP) - Ubisoft confirmed layoffs of 19 employees at its Red Storm Entertainment, the studio behind several "Tom Clancy" titles and "Assassin's Creed Nexus VR," IGN reports. The move is part of targeted restructuring and cost-saving efforts, and no other studios were affected. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

PAN EUROPE

Base Metal Sector - Copper futures held on to the prior day's significant gains after surging over 10% to a record high in the aftermath of tariff comments from US President Trump who believes the copper tariff will be 50%. (Newsquawk)

China-exposed Sectors - Chinese CPI YY (Jun) 0.1% vs. Exp. 0.0% (Prev. -0.1%). Chinese CPI MM (Jun) -0.1% vs. Exp. -0.1% (Prev. -0.2%). Chinese PPI YY (Jun) -3.6% vs. Exp. -3.2% (Prev. -3.3%). (Newswires)

Commerzbank (CBK GY), UniCredit (UCG IM) - UniCredit has raised its equity stake in Commerzbank to around 20% by converting derivatives into shares, becoming its largest shareholder, Bloomberg reported. The bank plans to increase its holding to approximately 29% by converting remaining synthetic positions, following approvals from the ECB, German antitrust authorities, and the Federal Reserve. (Bloomberg)

EU-US Trade - EU is said to be nearing a trade deal with the US that would exempt some tariffs for commercial aircrafts [Airbus (AIR FP)], according to Bloomberg sources. The deal would also give some relief to automakers, albeit mostly German [BMW (BMW GY), Volkswagen (VOW3 GY), Mercedes-Benz (BMG GY)], whilst other carmakers such as Ferrari (RACE IM) could miss out on benefits as the deal may only aid companies with US factories. Sources added that spirits makers [LVMH (MC FP), Pernod Ricard (RI FP), Remy Cointreau (RCO FP)] are also expected to receive a reprieve. (Bloomberg). Separately, US President Trump said the EU has been speaking to the US, the EU is treating the US very nicely; probably two days off from sending the EU a letter, adding that a letter means a deal. (Newswires) US President Trump's deal is to leave the EU facing higher tariffs than the UK, according to the FT. Brussels is ready to sign a temporary “framework” agreement that sets the US president’s “reciprocal” tariff at 10% while talks continue. The EU is not expecting to achieve the same access to the US market as British steel, cars and other products subject to sectoral duties. (FT)

Latam-exposed Sectors - US President Trump said BRICS will be getting a 10% charge pretty soon, and anyone in BRICS is getting a 10% charge, adding that BRICS was set up to hurt the US. (Newswires)

Pharma/Semiconductor Sectors - US President Trump said he will announce something on pharmaceuticals very soon; will be announcing semiconductor tariffs; Speaking on pharmas, said "going to give people about a year, year and a half to come in and after that they are going to be tariffed if they have to bring the pharmaceuticals, drugs into the country, and will be a very high rate, something like 200%". (Newswires)

Repsol (REP SM) - Q2 estimated refining margin indicator in Spain at USD 5.90/bbl; Q2 estimated production 557k BOEPD. (Newswires)

US Tariffs - US President Trump said some letters are at 60% and 70% rate, while he said he could have been much harsher on trade and that he could go higher with tariffs. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

SMI

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

SCANDINAVIA

BROKER MOVES

US

CLOSES: SPX -0.07% at 6,226, NDX +0.07% at 22,702, DJI -0.37% at 44,241, RUT +0.66% at 2,229

SECTORS: Consumer Staples -1.09%, Utilities -1.07%, Financials -0.90%, Consumer Discretionary -0.64%, Communication Services -0.53%, Real Estate -0.15%, Industrials +0.01%, Technology +0.39%, Health +0.43%, Materials +0.53%, Energy +2.72%

AI Companies - California State Senator Scott Wiener has introduced a bill requiring AI companies with models above a certain computing threshold to publicly disclose safety and security protocols assessing catastrophic risks. The law would also mandate reporting critical safety incidents to the state attorney general; the moves could impact companies like OpenAI, Alphabet's (GOOG) Google, and Anthropic. (Newswires)

Apple (AAPL) - Apple appointed Sabih Khan as Chief Operating Officer, succeeding Jeff Williams in a long-planned transition. Khan is a 30-year Apple veteran, currently SVP of operations, and will assume the COO role later this month. Williams will continue overseeing design and Apple Watch until retiring later this year. (Newswires) Separately, Apple is reportedly in talks to acquire US screening rights for F1, via FT citing sources; set to challenge Disney's (DIS) ESPN when the contract is up for renewal in 2026. (FT)

Amazon (AMZN) - Amazon’s largest shareholder and chairman, Jeff Bezos, sold nearly 3mln Amazon shares worth USD 665.8mln over two days in July, part of a plan to offload up to 25mln shares by May 2026. It follows a USD 736.7mln sale in June. (Newswires)

Merck (MRK) - Co. nears a USD 10bln deal for respiratory drugmaker Verona, according to FT. (FT)

Mobileye Global (MBLY) - Mobileye announced a secondary offering of 45mln Class A shares by an Intel (INTC) subsidiary, with a 30-day option for underwriters to purchase 6.75mln more. Mobileye will repurchase USD 100mln of shares concurrently. Intel also plans to convert 50mln Class B shares into Class A, increasing the public float but not selling them. Mobileye sees Q2 revenue between USD 502–506mln (exp. 466.4mln); said that the recent Israel-Iran conflict is not expected to materially impact short-term results. It has signed a new supply agreement with TSMC (TSM) to enhance supply chain redundancy alongside its long-standing STMicroelectronics (STM) partnership. (Newswires)

US-China Relations - US President Trump says have had a really good relationship with China lately and China has been very fair on trade deals; speaks with China President Xi often. (Newswires)

09 Jul 2025 - 06:53- Research Sheet- Source: Newsquawk