Feb 23 ,2026
Synopsis:
European indices have ended in negative territory, except for Italy, Switzerland and Spain. Main focus on President Trump revising the global tariff rate from 10% to 15% under Sec. 122 that can be in place for only 150 days. Press previously highlighted that CUSMA goods were exempt from fresh tariffs round on Friday. USTR Greer added Sunday that the US expects trade partners to stand by deals (CBS News). Poll showed Canadians think Trump tariffs are only going to get worse. Related, the EU is likely to delay ratification of its US trade deal, with Brussels demanding full clarity from the Trump administration and condemned the chaos
In geopolitcs, recent US-Iran headlines suggest renewed diplomatic momentum after a wave of reports last week indicated a US strike on Iran was imminent; negotiators are set to resume talks Thursday in Geneva contingent on Tehran submitting a new nuclear draft proposal by Tuesday. Key sticking point remains uranium enrichment with US envoy Witkoff reiterating zero enrichment is non-negotiable, though Iranian media is reporting Washington may allow limited enrichment; Reuters said Iran is prepared to offer new nuclear concessions while maintaining its right to enrich; Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi said Sunday he saw a "good chance" of a diplomatic solution
In macro-news, German IFO for February rose to 88.6 versus consensus 88.4 and prior unrevised 87.6, marking highest since Aug-2025 and underscoring optimism despite ongoing US-EU trade tensions and structural challenges. Over past 12 months, headline index has shown gradual improvement, with last three months reflecting accelerating momentum as manufacturing and services gains outpace trade weakness, while capacity utilization likely edged up (implied by better assessments). In Germany, Chancellor Merz ruled out a further loosening in debt limit in the current term, arguing it would be irresponsible to take on more debt (Reuters). Came after CDU adopted a motion at weekend party conference that pledged against softening in limit. Party's youth wing argued that the relaxation of rules to accommodate high defense spending already contradicts the CDU's election campaign promises. Commission appointed by coalition government will make proposals for modernizing rules enshrined in constitution
On the reporting front, PostNL (PNL.NA) posted Q4 numbers, whilst Victoria (VCP.LN) issued a profit warning; also, Almirall (ALM.SM) and MONY Group (MONY.LN) released FY earnings ; of note, in its CMD today Enel (ENEL.IM) now expects EPS to increase to between €0.80 and €0.82 in 2028 compared to ~€0.69 expected in 2025,. In M&A news, Johnson Matthey (JMAT.LN) and Honeywell agreed to extend the long stop date and also reduced the the financial terms in connection with Honeywell's acquisition of JM's Catalyst Technologies Business to £1.325B from £1.8B; local press wrote that Ubisoft (UBI.FP) is considering asset sales whilst - still in France - Renault (RNO.FP) is buying Volvo (VOLV.B.SS) 45% stake and CMA-CGM's 10% in Flexis; in Spain, Banco de Sabadell (SAB.SM) backtracked on the sale of its payments business to Nexi (NEXI.IM). Elsewhere, Swedish wires reports that Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken (SEB.A.SS) bank's accounts may have been used to circumvent sanctions against Russia and Bloomberg reported that L'Oréal has played key role in recent ouster of Sanofi (SAN.FP) CEO Paul Hudson and choice of his successor. Furthermore, shares in Novo Nordisk (NOVO.B.DC) ended ~(15%) after the REDEFINE 4 trial in people with obesity did not achieve primary endpoint
Looking ahead to tomorrow's calendars, HSBC Holdings (HSBA.LN), Standard Chartered (STAN.LN), Solvay (SOLB.BB), Bic (BB.FP) Galapagos (GLPG.NA), Edenred (EDEN.FP), ), Forvia (FRVIA.FP), Verallia (VRLA.FP), MTU Aero Engines (MTX.GR), Fresenius Medical Care (FME.GR), Telecom Italia (TIT.IM), Saipem (SPM.IM), Lerøy Seafood Group (LSG.NO), Endesa (ELE.SM), Telefonica (TEF.SM), Temenos (TEMN.SW) and Croda International (CRDA.LN) will be among few other names to update investors
Digest:
Sectors - STOXX Europe 600:
Outperformers: Utilities +1.10%, Basic Resources +1.04%, Telecom +0.74%, Oil & Gas +0.72%, Persnl & HHold Goods +0.42%, Banks +0.13%, Real Estate +0.00%, Insurance (0.05%), Food & Beverage (0.15%), Retail (0.32%)
Underperformers: Media (2.08%), Financial Svcs (2.05%), Autos & Parts (1.59%), Travel & Leisure (1.53%), Health Care (1.36%), Ind Goods & Svcs (1.24%), Technology (1.10%), Construct & Mtls (0.81%), Chemicals (0.76%)
Macro:
EU countries furious at Hungary over plan to block Russia sanctions and Ukraine loan (Politico)
Merz wants to ban Germans from calling in sick (Telegraph)
German Opposition to EU Debt Hasn't Changed, Klingbeil Tells FAZ (BBG)
German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil said Germany sees no need to revise its stance on common European debt (BBG)
France to summon US ambassador over comments on ar-right activist's killing (F24)
Meloni and Macron postpone their first high-level summit (Politico)
UK job vacancies 'fall to lowest level since pandemic' (Guardian)
Company news:
Notable Gainers
+14.9% ENRO.SS (Eniro Group SEK0.51, +0.07) -- holder sell its stake at SEK0.433/share to Eva and Mats Qviberg
+13.6% WRKS.LN (TheWorks.co.uk £0.41, +0.05) -- Kelso Group raises stake to 7.0%
+6.8% ENEL.IM (Enel €9.70, +0.62) -- CMD update
+6.8% ERA.FP (Eramet €52.30, +3.32) -- statement regarding fire at the Grande Côte extraction site
+3.0% FPIP.SS (FormPipe Software SEK23.70, +0.70) -- SEK135M share buyback
+3.0% PNL.NA (PostNL €1.18, +0.03) -- Q4 earnings
+2.9% ENQ.LN (EnQuest £0.16, -0.00) -- FY trading update
+2.7% MEDCL.FP (MedinCell €24.52, +0.64)
+2.7% MONY.LN (MONY Group £1.57, +0.04) -- FY earnings; £25M share repurchase program
+2.6% JD.LN (JD Sports Fashion £0.80, +0.02) -- £200M share buyback
+2.1% VCP.LN (Victoria £0.27, +0.01) -- FY trading update
+2.0% EMEIS.FP (Emeis SA €14.60, +0.29) -- early exit from the accelerated safeguard plan
+1.9% SAB.SM (Banco de Sabadell €3.35, +0.06) -- backtracks on sale of its payments business to Nexi - Expansion; Deutsche Bank upgrade
+1.8% BNOR.NO (BlueNord NOK469.00, +8.50) -- invitation to extend Danish underground consortium license beyond 2042
+1.4% SJJ.GR (Serviceware €14.65, +0.20) -- FY earnings
+0.9% TLW.LN (Tullow Oil £0.10, -0.00)
+0.9% UBI.FP (Ubisoft Entertainment €4.14, +0.04) -- CEO Yves Guillemot details his strategy to get the company back on track -- Les Echos
+0.1% 1COV.LN (Covestro £60.52, +0.06) -- CEO Markus Steilemann will not extend his contract beyond 31-May-28
Notable Decliners
-18.9% XBRANE.SS (Xbrane Biopharma SEK7.05, -1.65) -- agrees to extend the long stop date, amends financial terms in connection Honeywell's acquisition of JM's Catalyst Technologies Business
-17.0% JMAT.LN (Johnson Matthey £19.13, -3.91) -- extension of the long stop date,
-16.5% NOVO.B.DC (Novo Nordisk DKK251.40, -49.60) -- REDEFINE 4 trial in people with obesity did not achieve primary endpoint
-10.0% BEAN.SW (BELIMO Holding CHF824.50, -91.50) -- FY earnings
-8.9% EQT.SS (EQT AB SEK269.70, -26.20) -- tender offer for remaining 18.2M DOUZONE BIZON shares at KRW120,000/share
-8.2% FRVIA.FP (Forvia €12.70, -1.13) -- FORVIA HELLA prelim. FY earnings and 2026 outlook
-4.9% ICG.LN (ICG £16.53, -0.85) -- in talks to buy stake in Southern Communications Group at valuation of over £700M -- Sky News
-4.2% SNWS.LN (Smiths News £0.69, -0.03) -- statement re. Tuffnells Parcels Express Pension Scheme update
-3.3% NCC.LN (NCC Group £1.28, -0.04)
-2.9% NANO.LN (Nanoco Group £0.06, -0.00) -- adds Apple Inc. as co-party in the existing Shoei litigation; claim value unchanged
-2.7% ENSU.NO (Ensurge Micropower NOK0.75, -0.02) -- Q4 earnings
-2.2% BAYN.GR (Bayer AG €42.74, -0.94) -- files false advertising suit against J&J and Janssen Biotech regarding NUBEQA
-0.7% SEB.A.SS (Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken SEK194.60, -1.40) -- suspects that the bank's accounts may have been used to circumvent sanctions against Russia -- Swedish Radio Ekot investigation
-0.6% RNO.FP (Renault €32.15, -0.20) -- buys Volvo's 45% ownership and CMA-CGM's 10% in Flexis S.A.S.
EU companies reporting tomorrow:
Benelux: Solvay (SOLB.BB), Galapagos (GLPG.NA), Nedap (NEDAP.NA)
Denmark: Per Aarsleff Holding (PAAL.B.DC), Danske Andelskassers Bank (DAB.DC)
France: Edenred (EDEN.FP), Altarea (ALTA.FP), Forvia (FRVIA.FP), Verallia (VRLA.FP), Bic (BB.FP)
Germany: MTU Aero Engines (MTX.GR), Fresenius Medical Care (FME.GR), Elmos Semiconductor (ELG.GR), Takkt (TTK.GR), Dr. Hönle (HNL.GR)
Italy: Telecom Italia (TIT.IM), Saipem (SPM.IM)
Norway: Lerøy Seafood Group (LSG.NO), Austevoll Seafood (AUSS.NO), BlueNord (BNOR.NO), MPC Container Ships (MPCC.NO), SED Energy Holdings (ENH.NO), Salmon Evolution (SALME.NO)
Other: Uniphar (UPR.ID)
Spain: Endesa (ELE.SM), Telefonica (TEF.SM), Grenergy Renovables (GRE.SM), Metrovacesa (MVC.SM), ENCE Energia y Celulosa (ENC.SM)
Sweden: BONESUPPORT HOLDING (BONEX.SS), HANZA (HANZA.SS), Maha Capital (MAHA.A.SS), Immunovia (IMMNOV.SS)
Switzerland: Temenos (TEMN.SW), PSP Swiss Property (PSPN.SW), dormakaba Holding (DOKA.SW), OC Oerlikon Corp. (OERL.SW), Bellevue Group (BBN.SW)
UK: HSBC Holdings (HSBA.LN), Standard Chartered (STAN.LN), Croda International (CRDA.LN), UNITE Group (UTG.LN), Georgia Capital (CGEO.LN), McBride (MCB.LN), Brooks MacDonald Group (BRK.LN)
Trading Update:
France: Adocia (ADOC.FP)
CMD/Events: Forvia (FORVIA.FP), Wienerberger (WIE.AV), Elmos Semiconductor (ELG.GR), TBC Bank Group (TBCG.LN)
Macro-releases expected for tomorrow:
France Feb business confidence, Finland Jan unemployment rate, UK Feb distributive trades - CBI
Data:
Economics:
Germany Feb IFO survey
Business climate 88.6 vs consensus 88.4, prior 87.6
Current conditions 86.7 vs consensus 86.1, prior 85.7
Expectations 90.5 vs consensus 90.5, prior revised 89.6 from 89.5
Italy Jan CPI +1.0% y/y vs preliminary +1.0%
Switzerland Jan PPI (0.2%) m/m vs consensus +0.1%, prior (0.2%)
Ireland Jan PPI (5.2%) y/y vs consensus (6.7%) and prior (6.4%)
Markets:
WTI Crude (Mar 26): +$0.00 or +0.00% to $66.39
€-$ +0.0006 or +0.05% to 1.1803
£-$ +0.0021 or +0.16% to 1.3505
€-£ (0.0010) to 0.8739
S&P 500 (0.25%)
Performance year-to-date
FTSE 100: +7.59%
DAX: +2.05%
CAC: +4.27%
MIB: +3.90%
Stoxx 600: +6.00%
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