Mar 02 ,2026
Synopsis
European equity markets set to open firmly lower across the board on latest geopolitical tensions. Oil higher with WTI Crude +7.30% to $71.91/bbl; Gold advances to $5392.40. Asia equities mostly lower Monday. Energy and LNG stocks the big winners, whil defense and shipbuilding manufacturers also seeing large gains.
US and Israel began military campaign again Iran on Saturday, striking regime targets that resulted in deaths of Supreme Leader Khamanei and several high-level officials. Heavy strikes are expected to continue for days. In response, Iran launched missile attacks on US military bases in Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Meanwhile, Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon have been exchanging fire as the Iran conflict widens.
European Travel & Leisure sector may see ripple effects after travel chaos extended through the Middle East and beyond, causing major disruptions at some of the world's busiest airports; hundreds more flights cancelled on Monday and major Middle Eastern airports, including Dubai closed for a third consecutive day (Bloomberg, FT, Guardian). Names such as TUI, Lufthansa seen down ~(10%) in premarket trade.
Investors also anticipate volatility from potential Strait of Hormuz disruptions and shipping impacts. Maersk to pause future Trans Suez sailings through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait for the time being. It is suspending all vessel crossings in the Strait of Hormuz until further notice. With Strait of Hormuz shipping disrupted (Bloomberg, NY Times), OPEC+ agreed to resume unwinding of 1.65M bpd of production cuts with increase of 206K bpd from April (vs 137K bpd increment in December).
The week ahead sees UK's OBR publish new forecasts for the economy, Chancellor Merz and US President Trump meet in Washington, Feb manufacturing/services PMIs and preliminary CPIs from across the region as well as earnings/updates from ASM International (ASM.NA), Aviva (AV.LN), Bayer (BAYN.GR), Kuehne & Nagel (KNIN.SW), Smith & Nephew (SN.LN) and Thales (HO.FP).
Of note, there are bank holidays in certain States/regions in Spain on Mon, though markets remain open.
European macro data reelases out today include Italy, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland Feb manufacturing PMI as well as final reads for Eurozone, France, Germany, UK, Germany Jan retail sales, Italy 2025 GDP, Switzerland Jan retail sales, UK Feb house price index - Nationwide, Jan mortgage approvals, M4 money supply, Ireland Feb preliminary HICP, Denmark Jan retail sales, Belgium Dec industrial production. Netherlands Jan Retail Sales +2.2% y/y vs consensus +4.2% and prior +3.0%.
In central banks, Swiss National Bank publishes its Annual Results 2025 at 7:15CET. Norges Bank Monetary Policy Mandate Conf (through Tue) with opening remarks at 8:45CET by Norges Bank's Wolden Bache, Riksbank's Seim, BOE's Taylor panellists at 14:30CET. Elsewhere, ECB's Elderson fireside chat at 10:15CET at the annual conf of the Spanish Centre for Sustainable and Responsible Finance (FINRESP) whilst International Women's Day 2026 event sees ECB's Lagarde deliver opening remarks at 15:00CET and along with Bundesbank's Nagel, Greece central bank's Stournaras panellists at 15:10CET. In politics, UK parliament committee topics include the BOE's real-time gross settlement renewal program at 15:30GMT (BOE's Ramsden, Monk and Cleland). EU's von der Leyen and Kadisl open the European Ocean Days in Brussels, the flagship yearly event dedicated to the maritime and fisheries sectors whilst EU's von der Leyen and President of the Swiss Confederation also to sign a broad package of EU-Switzerland agreements. EU's Fitto will be in Luxembourg to discuss with EU institutional and national counterparts the future of EU cohesion policy, including in the next EU long-term budget (through Tue) and EU's Tzitzikostas attends ITB Berlin, a leading platform for the global travel and tourism industry (through Tue), delivers a keynote speech on Shaping the future of EU tourism on Tue. Also on Mon, informal meeting of EU Ministers for General Affairs (through Tue) and Economist Impact 11th Annual Sustainability Week (through Wed and Incorporating the 3rd annual Energy Transition Summit). Paris Fashion Week's Womenswear Fall/Winter 2026-27 event and UN's nuclear watchdog board of governors meeting (through Fri)
Politics/Macro/World News
Khamenei killing shatters Iran's order, triggers high-stakes succession race (Reuters )
Trump vows to press on with more strikes on Iran (Times )
Oil prices rise as Iran war threatens shipping through strait of Hormuz (Guardian )
Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon exchange fire as conflict widens after attack on Iran (BBC )
UAE shuts Dubai, Abu Dhabi stock markets for two days amid rising regional tension (Gulf News )
Suspected drone strike hits British air base in Cyprus (Reuters )
EU can sharply cut local battery prices with Made in Europe plan, T&E report says (Reuters )
Portugal Outlook Revised To Positive On Resilient Economy And Declining Debt; 'A+' Ratings Affirmed (S&P )
Reeves Reaps £22 Billion Windfall as Britain's Tax Take Surges (Bloomberg )
France Feb new passenger car registration (14.7%) y/y to 120,764 vehicles -- PFA
Top company news
Earnings/updates
ARYN.SW (Aryzta) reports final FY earnings: EPS €4.24 vs FactSet €3.95 [4 est, €3.71-4.21]; announce management succession Plan
SESG.FP (SES) -- reports FY adj EBITDA €1.20B vs consensus €1.19B and guidance €1.17-1.21B; guides FY26
LSG.NO (Lerøy Seafood Group) -- targets NOK50B in revenues towards 2030 - CMD
FLU.AV (Flughafen Wien) -- reports FY EPS €2.21 vs FactSet €2.34 [4 est, €2.19-2.62]; expects stable net earnings in 2026 of € 210M despite fee reductions and slight decline in passenger traffic
ORY.SM (Oryzon Genomics) -- reports Q4 EPS (€0.02) vs FactSet (€0.03) [1 est]
GURN.SW (Gurit Holding) -- reports FY net income (CHF60.4M) vs FactSet (CHF57.1M) [3 est, (CHF69.2)-(41.2M)]
TLGO.SM (Talgo) -- reports FY adjusted net income (€100.7M) vs FactSet (€16M)
Also reporting today
Earnings:
DACHs: Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI.AV) annual report, naturenergie holding (NEAG.SW)
France: Thermador Groupe (THEP.FP)
Nordics: Integrum (INTEG.B.SS)
Southern Europe: Galp Energia (GALP.PL)
UK: Smith & Nephew (SN.LN), Bunzl (BNZL.LN), RHI Magnesita (RHIM.LN), Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT.LN), Senior (SNR.LN), GlobalData (DATA.LN), Craneware (CRW.LN), Tristel (TSTL.LN)
Other: Bank of Ireland Group (BIRG.ID)
CMD/Events: JDE Peet's (JDEP.NA) EGM
M&A
AES (AES Corp.) -- BlackRock's GIP and EQT in advanced negotiations to acquire AES Corp. - Bloomberg citing sources (earlier)
AMS.SM (Amadeus IT Group) -- considering bid for Idermia's public-security unit - Bloomberg
CAPMAN.FH (CapMan Infra) -- to sell its 60% stake in Valokuitunen Oy to Brookfield Infrastructure Structured Solutions and Telia (
OXUR.BB (Oxurion) -- announces extension of negotiations relating to proposed acquisition of majority stake in French CRO
HTRO.SS (Hexatronic Group) -- to acquire JOWO Systemtechnik AG for fixed enterprise value €11.8M
LEON.SW (Leonteq) -- Raiffeisen Switzerland sells a 22.7% stake in Leonteq AG
Healthcare
NOVO.B.DC (Novo Nordisk) -- FDA approves Novo Nordisk's Sogroya for three additional pediatric indications
BMRN (Biomarin Pharmaceutical) -- FDA approves PALYNZIQ sBLA for phenylketonuria in adolescents 12 years and older
SAN.FP (Sanofi) -- Sanofi's Blueprint Medicines presents four-year PIONEER data for AYVAKIT at AAAAI (earlier, 9:45ET)
SAN.FP (Sanofi) -- Sanofi's rilzabrutinib earns orphan drug designation in Japan for IgG4-related disease
ROG.SW (Roche Holding) -- Roche Holding' pivotal Phase III study (FENhance 1) of fenebrutinib in RMS met its primary endpoint
BAYN.GR (Bayer AG) -- Bayer reports results for the investigational targeted radionuclide therapy 225Ac-PSMA-Trillium in advanced metastatic prostate cancer
RYTM (Rhythm Pharmaceuticals) -- reports additional positive data from global Phase 3 TRANSCEND trial
DBV.FP (DBV Technologies) -- highlights additional data from phase 3 VITESSE study at the AAAAI 2026 Annual Meeting
ATORX.SS (Alligator Bioscience) -- Exercise price determined for the exercise of warrants series TO 14 in Alligator Bioscience AB
BAVA.DC (Bavarian Nordic) -- announces Paul Chaplin to step down as CEO for personal reasons (
Other
UBSG.SW (UBS Group) -- UBS to delay timeline to replace CEO Sergio Ermotti beyond April 2027 - NZZ
BARC.LN (Barclays) -- reportedly considering blockchain platform for payments and deposits - Bloomberg
LDO.IM (Leonardo) -- publishes board guidelines
SOLV.BB (Solvac) -- comments on market response to Syensqo financial results and outlook
ENGI.FP (ENGIE) -- launches a capital increase of approximately €3B
ENGI.FP (ENGIE) -- 107.1M-share secondary priced at €28.00/share
MOWI.NO (Mowi) -- Chair Ørjan Svanevik resigns
Estimated weekend box office revenues in US, Canada $110.6M, +103.1% y/y - Box Office Mojo
OpenAI closes funding round, BMW announces plans for humanoid robots in intraday news (27-Nov)
Key rating changes
Upgrades
JPMorgan upgrades ENI.IM, TTE.FP
HLUN.B.DC (H. Lundbeck) -- to hold from underperform at Jefferies
VAR.NO (Vår Energi) -- to buy from hold at Arctic Securities
PLNW.FP (Planisware) -- to buy from hold at Stifel
Downgrades
CNA.LN (Centrica) -- to hold from buy at Jefferies
BARN.SW (Barry Callebaut) -- to underweight from neutral at JPMorgan
Data
Nikkei (1.35%) to 58057.24
Hang Seng (1.88%) to 26128.75
Shanghai Composite +0.51% to 4183.92
S&P futures (81.5) vs prior close of 6889.0
€-$ (0.0024) or (0.20%) to 1.1738
$-¥ +0.59 or +0.38% to 156.86
€-¥ +0.30 or +0.16% to 184.10
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