Dec 04 ,2024
Synopsis:
European equity markets ended mixed to mostly firmer Wednesday. German DAX +1.1% best performer, and saw its third straight day of record gains. Among EU sectors, Retail, Autos/Parts and Technology outperformed; Healthcare main laggard. Regionally, Italy and Germany led gainers whilst UK, Switzerland and Denmark underperformed amid weakness in some heavyweight pharma names.
French Prime Minister Michel Barnier faces a no-confidence vote today that if successful will topple the government; this would then force President Emmanuel Macron to find a viable successor. Debate in parliament is underway, with outcome from the vote expected around 2000 CET (1900 GMT). If the government falls, it would be the first successful no-confidence vote since a defeat for Georges Pompidou's government in 1962, when Charles de Gaulle was president. Macron has dismissed calls for his resignation, and said he will swiftly select a new Prime Minister if Barnier is voted out. Still, analysts suggest finding a suitable candidate challenging given fragmented political landscape. (Reuters , France24)
On the central bank front, ECB's Holzmann warned Trump policies cast a shadow on inflation in Europe. Rehn expressed support for continued policy easing. BoE Governor Bailey sees four rate cuts next year if economy evolves as forecast. Bundesbank chief Nagel called for relaxation in debt brake law to support investment. On data front, Eurozone composite PMI revised up from flash, though still in contractionary territory. Notable downturn in Italian services sector activity, while Spanish held up. UK composite PMI revised up to show economy just in expansionary territory after initially showing very small contraction.
Retail was standout European sector performer. Press reports suggested Brussels considering a tax to slow surge of goods sold on Chinese sites that evade custom duties and checks, such as Temu and Shein. Autos & Parts another outperformer. Stellantis (STLAM.IM) denied a report in Corriere della Sera daily that it planned to name outgoing Apple CFO Luca Maestri as its new chief executive. VW (VOW3.GR) CEO said union proposal far from sufficient to company future. BMW's (BMW.GR) former CFO Nicolas Peter to become new Chairman of supervisory board, reported Handelsblatt, citing company sources. Technology also higher. BESI.NA upgraded to buy at Bank of America due to an anticipated hybrid bonding demand inflection within 12 months. ASM.NA confirmed new US export regulations align with previous assumptions. Instead, Healthcare among the main laggards. Heavyweight Novartis (NOVN.SW) downgraded to reduce from hold at HSBC. LLY's Zepbound beat Novo Nordisk's (NOVO.B.DC) Wegovy in first head-to-head study of weight loss duopoly. Food, Beverage and Tobacco in focus as Campari (CPR.IM) picked industry veteran Simon Hunt as CEO, with analysts suggesting appointment clearly a welcome development especially given experience in US market.
Note thar confirmed FTSE 100 rebalance changes will be announced after market close. Recall the indicative additions were Alliance Witan, Games Workshop Group and St James's Place, while indicative deletions include B&M European Value Retail, Frasers Group and Vistry Group.
Digest:
Sectors - STOXX Europe 600:
Outperformers:
Retail +2.21%, Technology +1.74%, Autos & Parts +1.30%, Ind Goods & Svcs +1.15%, Real Estate +1.09%, Travel & Leisure +0.97%, Consumer Products and Services +0.93%, Financial Svcs +0.54%, Banks +0.51%
Underperformers:
Energy(0.78%), Utilities (0.72%), Health Care (0.66%), Telecom (0.59%), Food, Beverage and Tobacco (0.27%), Basic Resources (0.20%), Media (0.06%), Personal Care Drug and Grocery Stores +0.08%, Chemicals +0.22%, Construct & Mtls +0.27%
Macro:
Central banks
BOE's Bailey Signals Expectation of Four Rate Cuts Next Year -- Bloomberg
ECB's Inflation Fight Nearing End But Not Over Yet, Lagarde Says -- Bloomberg
ECB's Holzmann says interest rate cut of 0.25 percentage points at next week's meeting conceivable --Oberösterreichische Nachrichten
ECB can keep cutting gradually in December, says Croatia's Vujčić -- POLITICO
France
UK
UK Fiscal Stance Unsustainable Without More Tax Rises, OECD Says -- Bloomberg
Autos
VDIK expects new car registrations in the German market to be 2.82M vehicles in 2024 down (0.8%) y/y
Greece
Mitsotakis holds first meeting with Androulakis as main opposition leader -- ekathimerini
Company news:
Notable Gainers
+39.9% VOW.NO (Vow ASA NOK2.35, +0.67) -- commercial terms agreed with shipyard for delivery of equipment valued at around NOK 500M
+32.5% ALCOX.FP (Nicox €0.29, +0.07) -- first commercial sale of ZERVIATE in China by partner Ocumension
+12.7% PSM.GR (ProSiebenSat.1 Media €0.00, +0.60) -- MFE-MediaForEurope has asked banks for €3.4B in financing related to ProSiebenSat.1 Media - Reuters
+10.2% PMI.LN (Premier Miton Group £0.61, +0.06) -- FY earnings
+10.0% VCT.LN (Victrex £10.98, +1.00) -- Jefferies upgrade
+9.7% BOSS.GR (Hugo Boss €0.00, +3.37) -- HUGO BOSS Supervisory Board expresses its confidence in CEO Daniel Grieder; possible violation insider trading regulations unfounded
+9.6% SYSR.SS (Systemair SEK102.00, +8.90) -- Q2 earnings
+8.1% XFAB.FP (X-FAB Silicon Foundries €4.56, +0.34) -- updates 2026 financial targets
+7.9% HEXA.B.SS (Hexagon SEK103.35, +7.52) -- new Vice Chairman
+7.0% FTK.GR (flatexDEGIRO €14.56, +0.95) -- Nov update
+6.0% VLA.FP (Valneva €1.93, +0.11) -- peer-reviewed publication in the British medical journal
+6.0% LGEN.LN (Legal & General Group £2.35, +0.13) -- CMD update
+5.8% NEL.NO (NEL ASA NOK3.03, +0.17) -- Nordea upgrade
+5.4% EGTX.SS (Egetis Therapeutics SEK5.66, +0.29) -- to explore RTH-beta as the next indication for tiratricol (Emcitate)
+5.2% ABVX.FP (Abivax €8.10, +0.40) -- initiated market outperform at Citizens JMP
+5.0% BESI.NA (BE Semiconductor Industries €121.65, +5.80) -- BofA upgrade
+4.9% GGP.LN (Greatland Gold £0.07, -0.00) -- completes acquisition of Havieron and Telfer gold-copper projects
+4.6% CRNA.NO (Circio Holding NOK0.91, +0.04) -- updates on Atlas financing commitment to fund the company´s operations until the end of June 2025
+4.3% CPR.IM (Davide Campari-Milano €6.10, +0.25) -- new CEO
+4.3% AZA.SS (Avanza Bank Holding SEK251.70, +10.40) -- Nov update
+3.8% SCLP.LN (Scancell Holdings £0.14, +0.01) -- Genmab exercises option to second commercial license agreement
+3.7% VAC.FP (Pierre & Vacances €1.38, +0.05) -- FY earnings
+3.7% BERG.B.SS (Bergman & Beving SEK294.50, +10.50) -- acquisition
+3.7% EKT.GR (EnergieKontor €0.00, +1.50) -- reduces FY24 earnings before taxes (EBT) forecast target range
+2.4% ASRNL.NA (ASR Nederland €46.15, +1.09) -- JPMorgan upgrade
+2.3% ENEA.SS (Enea AB SEK106.40, +2.40) -- CMD update; $1.6M license agreement for OSE with US customer
+2.2% SUN.SW (Sulzer CHF137.20, +3.00) -- initiated buy at Jefferies
+2.0% SFSN.SW (SFS Group CHF130.60, +2.60) -- initiated buy at Jefferies
+1.8% SPX.LN (Spirax Group £75.40, +1.35) -- Barclays upgrade
+1.7% BCHN.SW (Burckhardt Compression Holding CHF670.00, +11.00) -- initiated buy at Jefferies
+1.0% HEALTH.FH (Nightingale Health €2.98, +0.03) -- peer-reviewed study published in Nature Communications
+0.9% CAPSL.NO (Capsol Technologies NOK11.00, +0.10) -- lays out milestones expected during next 6-12 months
+0.8% CLAS.B.SS (Clas Ohlson SEK202.60, +1.60) -- Q2 earnings
+0.7% APN.LN (Applied Nutrition £1.36, +0.01) -- initiated buy at Deutsche Numis
Notable Decliners
-12.9% ZIG.LN (Zigup Plc £3.39, -0.50) -- H1 earnings
-10.9% VWS.DC (Vestas Wind Systems DKK95.92, -11.73) -- CFO to step down
-5.4% ANDR.AV (Andritz €49.56, -2.80) -- Barclays downgrade; completef share buy-back program
-4.4% LIGHT.NA (Signify €20.50, -0.94) -- Barclays downgrade
-3.2% STJ.LN (St. James's Place £8.78, -0.29) -- HSBC downgrade
-3.1% NOVN.SW (Novartis CHF89.97, -2.92) -- HSBC downgrade
-3.0% ORA.FP (Orange €9.41, -0.29) -- Morgan Stanley downgrade
-3.0% CARL.B.DC (Carlsberg DKK715.00, -22.40) -- BNP Paribas Exane and Nordea downgrades
-3.0% MAERSK.B.DC (Maersk DKK12,160.00, -380.00) -- Morgan Stanley downgrade
-2.7% RILBA.DC (Ringkjøbing Landbobank DKK1,150.00, -32.00) -- ABG Sundal Collier downgrade
-2.6% ARB.LN (Argo Blockchain £0.06, -0.00) -- Nov update
-2.6% SPNO.DC (Spar Nord Bank DKK137.20, -3.60) -- ABG Sundal Collier downgrade
-1.9% INTEG.B.SS (Integrum SEK20.00, -0.40) -- Q2 earnings
-1.6% ELON.SS (Elon AB SEK24.50, -0.40) -- Black Week sales
-1.1% MEGP.LN (ME Group International £2.23, -0.02) -- trading update
-0.6% TRYG.DC (Tryg DKK162.50, -0.90) -- CMD update; new DKK 2B share buyback
EU companies reporting tomorrow:
Earnings:
DACHs: Aurubis (NDA.GR), Zumtobel Group (ZAG.AV)
France: Derichebourg (DBG.FP), Groupe LDLC (ALLDL.FP)
UK: DS Smith (SMDS.LN), Frasers Group (FRAS.LN), Watches of Switzerland (WOSG.LN), AJ Bell (AJB.LN), Future (FUTR.LN), SDI Group (SDI.LN)
Trading Update: Brederode (BREB.BB), Balfour Beatty (BBY.LN)
Traffic: Finnair (FIA1S.FH), Norwegian Air Shuttle (NAS.NO)
CMD/events: Safran (SAF.FP), Mersen (MRN.FP), Sabre Insurance Group (SBRE.LN), FUCHS (FPE3.GR)
Data:
Economics:
Services PMI Nov
Sweden 50.9 vs consensus 52.7 and prior revised 53.1 from 52.9
Spain 53.1 vs consensus 53.2 and prior 54.9
Eurozone 49.5 vs preliminary 49.2
Germany 49.3 vs preliminary 49.4
France 46.9 vs preliminary 45.7
Italy 49.2 vs consensus 51.2 and prior 52.4
UK 50.8 vs preliminary 50.0
Eurozone Oct PPI (3.2%) y/y vs consensus (3.3%) and prior (3.4%); +0.4% m/m vs consensus +0.3% and prior (0.6%)
Markets:
WTI Crude (Jan 25): ($0.39) or (0.56%) to $69.55
€-$ +0.0017 or +0.17% to 1.0527
£-$ +0.0035 or +0.28% to 1.2708
€-£ (0.0010) to 0.8283
S&P 500 +0.36%
Performance year-to-date
FTSE 100: +7.79%
DAX: +20.78%
CAC: (3.18%)
MIB: +12.30%
Stoxx 600: +8.03%
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