Apr 13 ,2026
Synopsis:
European equity markets closed lower with Middle East developments weighing on risk appetite. Financial services, energy and insurance were the best performing sectors whilst telecom, utilities and food and beverage were the underperformers. Follows last week's broad gains.
Markets reacting to President Trump's announcement that US will begin naval blockade of Strait of Hormuz after talks in Pakistan failed to produce agreement on core issues of Iran's nuclear ambitions, stockpiles of enriched uranium and its demands to control Strait of Hormuz. Trump also vowed navy would interdict ships that have paid Iran tolls and left door open to resuming military strikes.
Latest developments sparked another surge in oil and gas futures with blockade ostensibly aimed at curbing Iranian crude sales but at a cost of higher energy prices. Has seen bond yields backing up given the implications for inflation outlook. However, while the market has reacted negative to latest developments, signals from both Trump and Iranian officials suggest they are open to resumption of negotiations with media sources believing talks could resume within days.
European investors also digesting Hungarian election, which saw Orban ousted after 16 years as premier, with opposition center-right Magyar on track for a two-thirds majority. Will see pivot back towards EU and away from Russia. No major macro data of note. Survey of UK finance chiefs showed optimism the lowest since Covid lockdown due to Iran war. REC/KPMG UK jobs update saw ongoing weakness in labor market. Attention on IMF meeting this week. UK Chancellor Reeves said in a weekend op-ed that she will set out plans to boost competitiveness at a time of rising energy bills.
In central banks, ECB's de Guindos spoke at 14:00CET at 'Wake Up, Spain' symposium (through Fri) whilst EU Parliament's Metsola made an address. Elsewhere, OPEC released its latest oil market report and IEA's Birol discusses the global energy market resilience in a moment of crisis at 17:30BST at event hosted by Atlantic Council and there's a G24 Deputies meeting.
In corporate news, Sulzer (SUN.SW) reported lower than expected Q1 order intake but confirmed FY guidance, whilst Partners Group Holding (PGHN.SW) issued a Q1 extraordinary interim business update on its fundraising and investment activity. In Norway, Vår Energi (VAR.NO) released a Q1 trading update, indicating net production of 406 kboepd, up 2% q/q and 51% y/y. In the UK, National Grid (NG.LN), Wise (WISE.LN) and Polar Capital (POLR.LN) updated investors with their latest numbers. In M&A, PolyPeptide Group (PPGN.SW) reportedly attracts takeover interest from PE firms, including EQT and KKR. Elsewhere, Iberdrola (IBE.SM) reportedly puts the sale of a minority stake in 1-GW Spanish solar energy portfolio on hold for now.
Amongst the M&A news flow, Hexagon (HEXA.B.SS) agrees to acquire Waygate Technologies for $1.45B in cash, Revenio Group (REG1V.FH) to acquire Visionix at an EV of €290M, Deutsche Börse (DB1.GR) acquires a minority stake in MerQube for $15M and Rheinmetall (RHM.GR), Destinus to form JV on advanced missile systems. Reportedly, Deoleo hires William Blair as a financial advisor to explore all available strategic alternatives, including selling the company.
Digest:
Sectors - STOXX Europe 600:
Outperformers:
Financial Svcs +1.23%, Oil & Gas +0.83%, Insurance +0.51%, Media +0.37%, Technology +0.25%, Ind Goods & Svcs +0.11%, Real Estate (0.06%)
Underperformers:
Telecom (1.38%), Utilities (1.18%), Food & Beverage (1.09%), Travel & Leisure (1.02%), Retail (0.89%), Autos & Parts (0.65%), Construct & Mtls (0.59%), Chemicals (0.56%), Persnl & HHold Goods (0.39%), Health Care (0.36%), Banks (0.26%), Basic Resources (0.19%)
Macro/Peripheral markets:
Geopolitics:
The global oil demand is forecast to grow by a healthy 1.4 mb/d in 2026, y/y, unchanged from last month's assessment - OPEC
ECB:
Germany:
Recommendations for greater circularity in the construction and building sector - SRU
Italy:
Iran war exposes Italy's vulnerabilities such as soaring bond yields, recession risks, and fading Meloni honeymoon - Reuters
Finland:
Finnish companies are reducing their emissions globally by substituting for more polluting alternatives - press release
France:
French court fines Lafarge, hands ex-CEO jail term for funding IS in Syria - rfi
Ireland:
Government announces new package of fuel supports - press release ; announces €100M fuel support package for farmers, contractors and fishers - press release
Sweden:
Government presents 2026 Spring Budget to the Riksdag - press release
UK:
Starmer eyes Brexit fight with Farage in bid to follow EU rules - Bloomberg
Firms cut jobs at the fastest pace so far this year in Mar - REC/KPMG
Business output contracted in Mar for the first time since Feb-21 - Business Matters citing BDO
Finance leaders' confidence drops to a six-year low - Deloitte's CFO survey
PM refuses to join Trump's Strait of Hormuz blockade, deepening rift with US over Iran conflict - Telegraph
Company news:
Notable Gainers
+32.7% IQE.LN (IQE £0.49, +0.12)
+17.7% ITM.LN (ITM Power £0.84, +0.13)
+16.7% BSL.GR (Basler €15.78, +2.26)
+11.4% OLE.SM (Deoleo €0.33, +0.03) -- Deoleo hires William Blair as a financial advisor to explore all available strategic alternatives, including selling the company -- Expansion
+9.4% POLR.LN (Polar Capital Holdings £6.95, +0.60) -- 3M AuM
+7.9% NELLY.SS (Nelly Group SEK65.00, +4.75) -- buy recommendation at Dagens Industri
+7.5% ONCIN.NO (Oncoinvent NOK50.00, +3.51) -- initiated buy at ABG Sundal Collier
+7.2% PRTC.LN (PureTech Health £1.30, +0.09) -- Seaport Therapeutics IPO
+5.5% NIBE.B.SS (NIBE Industrier SEK41.23, +2.15) -- initiated outperform at BNP Paribas Exane
+5.2% PHO.NO (PhotoCure NOK63.10, +3.10) -- update on regulatory classification for OAY equipment
+5.1% KID.NO (Kid ASA NOK134.80, +6.60) -- Q1 revenue
+3.2% BORR.NO (Borr Drilling NOK57.38, +1.80) -- operational and contracting update
+3.2% BRKN.SW (Burkhalter Holding CHF174.20, +5.40) -- FY earnings
+2.9% IPH.FP (Innate Pharma €1.20, +0.03)
Notable Decliners
-20.6% MTC.LN (Mothercare £0.01, -0.00) -- pre-close trading update
-10.7% ESNT.LN (Essentra £0.84, -0.10) -- Deutsche Bank downgrade
-5.4% POST.AV (Oesterreichische Post €34.10, -1.95) -- Oddo downgrade
-5.4% WIZZ.LN (Wizz Air Holdings £9.39, -0.54) -- Bernstein downgrade
-4.8% NAS.NO (Norwegian Air Shuttle NOK14.31, -0.72)
-4.1% AF.FP (Air France-KLM €9.64, -0.42)
-3.8% VTY.LN (Vistry Group £3.27, -0.13) -- new CEO
-3.2% SMWH.LN (WH Smith £5.89, -0.20) -- RBC Capital Markets downgrade
-2.8% NEM.GR (Nemetschek €59.60, -1.70) -- UBS downgrade
-2.5% RXL.FP (Rexel €37.08, -0.97) -- Barclays downgrade
-2.4% EZJ.LN (EasyJet £3.77, -0.09) -- Bernstein downgrade
-2.2% LHA.GR (Deutsche Lufthansa €7.77, -0.18)
-2.0% ABF.LN (Associated British Foods £18.82, -0.38) -- RBC Capital Markets downgrade
-2.0% INDU.A.SS (Industrivarden SEK493.80, -10.20) -- SEB downgrade
-1.7% RS1.LN (RS Group plc £5.78, -0.10) -- Deutsche Bank dwongrade
-1.6% KER.FP (Kering €272.05, -4.40) -- Morgan Stanley downgrade
EU companies reporting tomorrow:
Earnings:
DACHs: tonies (TNIE.GR)
France: Forsee Power (ALFOR.FP)
Nordics: Avarda Bank (TFBANK.SS), Carasent (CARA.SS), Admicom (ADMCM.FH)
UK: AB Dynamics (ABDP.LN)
Trading Update:
DACHs: Givaudan (GIVN.SW), Sika Group (SIKA.SW), COMET Holding (COTN.SW), Kuros Biosciences (KURN.SW), Cicor Technologies (CICN.SW)
France: Kering (KER.FP), Publicis Groupe (PUB.FP), Sidetrade (ALBFR.FP)
UK: Oxford Instruments (OXIG.LN), Atalaya Mining (ATYM.LN)
Sales: DFDS (DFDS.DC)
Traffic: Flughafen Zuerich (FHZN.SW)
CMD/Events: Bayerische Motoren Werke (BMW.GR) pre-close call at 14:00CET (registration link), Sensirion Holding (SENS.SW) business update call, Veolia Environnement (VIE.FP) environmental security
Data:
Economics:
Portugal Mar CPI +2.7% y/y vs preliminary +2.7%
Markets:
WTI Crude (May 26): +$5.96 or +6.17% to $102.53
€-$ +0.0037 or +0.32% to 1.1710
£-$ +0.0062 or +0.46% to 1.3459
€-£ (0.0009) to 0.8704
S&P 500 +0.10%
Performance year-to-date
FTSE 100: +6.56%
DAX: (3.05%)
CAC: +1.06%
MIB: +5.75%
Stoxx 600: +3.66%
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