Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 23rd June 2026

ASIA

APAC stocks were subdued with initial choppy price action following the mixed performance stateside, where participants reflected on the progress in US-Iran talks, but communication stocks and the Nasdaq Comp underperformed. KOSPI, -6.9%, led the sell off, moving to a test of 8.5k to the downside. ASX 200 traded little changed for most of the session amid a lack of major fresh catalysts overnight and as the strength in financials and defensives offset the losses in the tech and commodity-related sectors. Nikkei 225 swung between gains and losses with the index briefly climbing to a fresh record high before reversing course, and is on track to snap its 8-day win streak. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp conformed to the lacklustre mood in the region and the absence of any major fresh catalysts, with the Hong Kong benchmark pressured by losses in miners, and digital platforms stocks amid a rotation out of hyperscalers into semiconductors.

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: Euro Stoxx 50 +0.35% at 6,315, Dax 40 +0.66% at 25,151, FTSE 100 +0.72% at 10,438, CAC 40 -0.25% at 8,400, FTSE MIB -0.10% at 52,797, IBEX 35 +1.18% at 19,575, PSI +0.72% at 9,168, SMI +0.52% at 13,845, AEX +0.44% at 1,083

SECTORS: Financials 1.29%, Consumer Stpl 0.92%, IT 0.64%, Materials 0.61%, Healthcare 0.60%, Utilities 0.60%, Industrials 0.41%, Energy 0.30%, Telecoms -0.90%, Consumer Disc -1.07%

FTSE 100

Brexit - Britain’s biggest business lobby group, CBI, said UK firms are not seeking another Brexit referendum and have little interest in rejoining a customs union with the EU, according to FT. (FT)

Centrica (CNA LN) - Bloomberg reports that the Co. is looking to buy more US LNG, looking to diversify supplies. (Bloomberg)

Rio Tinto (RIO LN) - Co., BHP (BHP AT) and Caterpillar (CAT) have launched a trial of two Cat 793 XE Early Learner battery-electric haul trucks at a mine-site demonstration in Western Australia’s Pilbara as part of an industry-first collaboration. (Rio Tinto)

UK-EU relations - EU’s move to delay next month’s summit with Britain has frustrated officials in London, as Brussels waits for pro-European Andy Burnham to enter Downing Street before reshaping post-Brexit ties, according to FT. (FT)

UK Politics - UK's Burnham will seek to soothe markets as he marches on number 10 and will use a speech next week to pledge to grow the economy and commit to Labour's fiscal rules, according to The Times. Burnham is considering Miliband, Streeting and Mahmood for Chancellor. (The Times)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

Flutter Entertainment (FLTR LN) initiated with a Hold at Freedom Capital

Fevertree Drinks (FEVR LN) upgraded to Hold from Sell at Peel Hunt

DAX

Porsche (P911 GY) - CEO says US will remain Porsche's most important market in the future; China is not short-term downturn but a structural shift. (Newswires)

RWE (RWE GY) - Co. raises EUR 4bln from capital measures, to increase its stake in Amprion. Details: The new shares and the treasury shares were placed at a placement price of EUR 54.00 per share (RWE)

Siemens (SIE GY) - Siemens’ new Acend Intelligent portfolio transforms fire safety notification into a digital, connected, data-driven system. (Siemens)

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

GEA (G1A GY) upgraded to Equal Weight from Underweight at Morgan Stanley

Qiagen (QIA GY) upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley

CAC

Danone (BN FP) - Co. is reportedly mulling more acquisitions in Australia and New Zealand, AFR reports. (AFR)

Sanofi (SAN FP) - Sanofi’s Wayrilz approved in Japan to treat immune thrombocytopenia. Sanofi said the approval is based on the LUNA 3 phase 3 study, in which Wayrilz met the primary and secondary endpoints, showing a positive impact on sustained platelet counts and other symptoms. Statistically significant durable platelet response at week 25. The results of this analysis are descriptive and were not powered for statistical significance. (Sanofi) 

TotalEnergies (TTE FP) - Port Arthur (238k capacity) restart delayed by operating issues. (TotalEnergies)

Michelin (ML FP) - May: Global Original Equip Tire Market -8% Y/Y: Replacement Tire +1% Y/Y. (Michelin)

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

BioMerieux (BIM FP) downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley

L'Oreal (OR FP) downgraded to Sell from Hold at Deutsche Bank

Hermes (RMS FP) downgraded to Hold from Buy at HSBC

TotalEnergies (TTE FP) initiated with Outperform at CICC

PAN EUROPE

EU Autos - ACEA data shows that total car registrations rose 3.6% to 1,152,523 vehicles in May. Registrations were up 4.5% in the first five months of the year compared with the same period last year. (ACEA)

Netherlands Pension - Bloomberg reports that The Netherlands is making plans to open up a EUR 1.5tln portion of its retirement industry to foreign pension providers, for the first time. (Bloomberg)

Signify (LIGHT NA) - Co. introduces strategy to create a more focused, better-performing company. 2029 medium-term objectives and updated capital allocation policy: Comparable sales growth of 0-1% Adjusted EBITA margin of c. 10%. Free cash flow generation of 7-8% of sales. Updated dividend policy to pay an annual cash dividend with a pay-out ratio of 40–50% of continuing net income. (Signify)

Tech names - KOSPI fell below 9,000 amidst a Tech sell off, which also triggered a sell-side circuit breaker. Framed as profit-taking, and overvaluation woes. (Newswires) ASML (ASML NA) -2.9%, STMicroelectronics (STMPA FP) -3.1% in pre-market trade.

BROKER MOVES

SMI

Lonza (LONN SW) - Co. publishes restated H1'25 financial report, which also incl. the divestment of Capsules & Health Ingredients. (Lonza)

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

Avolta (AVOL SW) - Co. enters into an agreement with DFS to acquire its operations in Okinawa, entering the Japanese travel retail market; undisclosed terms. (Avolta)

BROKER MOVES

DKSH (DKSH SW) initiated with Overweight at Barclays

Sonova (SOON SW) upgraded to Equal Weight from Underweight at Morgan Stanley

SCANDINAVIA

BROKER MOVES

Epiroc (EPIA SS) downgraded to Sell from Neutral at UBS

Telenor (TEL NO) downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight at Barclays

Telia (TELIA SS) upgraded to Equal Weight from Underweight at Barclays

Yara International (YAR NO) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies

US

CLOSES: SPX -0.34% at 7,475, NDX -0.19% at 30,347, DJI +0.29% at 51,713, RUT +0.78% AT 3,003.

SECTORS: Communication Services -3.83%, Consumer Discretionary -2.33%, Consumer Staples -0.68%, Technology -0.04%, Materials +0.06%, Utilities +0.50%, Financials +0.56%, Industrials +0.76%, Health +0.90%, Energy +1.23%, Real Estate +1.38%.

Apollo Global (APO) - Apollo Global's private credit fund is capping investor redemptions at 5% after receiving requests to repurchase approximately 16.8% of outstanding shares as of 31st March. The fund said leveraged lending markets remain resilient outside the software sector, with new-issue spreads broadly unchanged YTD. Q2 gross inflows totalled USD 0.3bln (equivalent to 2% of NAV), while the 5% redemption cap represents an estimated USD 0.7bln in gross outflows, leaving expected net outflows of approximately USD 0.4bln (or 3% of NAV), for the quarter. US onshore redemption requests moderated to about 4.3%, while offshore redemptions rose to 12.5%. (Apollo)

Defence Contractors - US President Trump said defence contractors are not allowed to conduct stock buybacks, calling them a fake way to raise the share price; follows last week's news that a Senate Armed Services Committee-approved defence bill includes a provision that could bar some defence contractors from stock buybacks or dividend payments without Defense Department approval, after which business groups representing publicly traded defence contractors expressed concern. Trump will meet executives from major US defence contractors on Wednesday. (Newswires)

IBM (IBM) - IBM shares rose almost 2% in extended trading after US President Trump positively mentioned CEO Arvind Krishna during a White House signing ceremony on quantum technology. Trump singled out Krishna’s leadership, and joked that he had sold IBM stock after becoming President, calling it “not a good move”. Separately, IBM joined the OpenAI Daybreak Cyber Partner Programme, bringing frontier AI capabilities into security operations to help enterprises counter machine-speed threats. Building on Project Lightwell, IBM launched a new application security service using OpenAI model cyber capabilities to help organisations identify and validate software vulnerabilities with greater speed and precision. (Newswires)

Pfizer (PFE) - Pfizer said Phase 3 SigVie-002 topline results showed sigvotatug vedotin did not significantly improve overall survival versus docetaxel in the overall population with previously treated non-squamous NSCLC. Safety was manageable and consistent with prior studies. (Pfizer)

Qualcomm (QCOM) - Qualcomm is in advanced discussions to acquire AI chip startup Modular at a valuation of about USD 4bln, according to Bloomberg. The price marks a significant step-up from the USD 1.6bln valuation Modular secured in a funding round nine months ago. Founded in 2022, Modular has raised USD 380mln to date. (Bloomberg)