European Movers: Deutsche Telekom (DTE GY) +5.4%, ProsiebenSat.1 (PSM GY) +5.0%, Persimmon (PSN LN) +4.0%, Serco (SRP LN) +3.5%, Merck KGaA (MRK GY) +1.3%, Commerzbank (CBK GY) U/C, Zurich Insurance (ZURN SW -2.5%, Rheinmetall (RHM GY) -1.0%

• WPP (WPP LN) +25%: H1 metrics beat, shows Improving margins alongside upbeat commentary.  
• Deutsche Telekom (DTE GY) +5.4%: Revenue as-exp., adj. EBITDAaL beat. Lifts FY FCF guidance. Increases the 2026 buyback by up to EUR 3bln.
• ProsiebenSat.1 (PSM GY) +5.0%: Rev. beat, EBITDA returns positive and retains guidance.
• Persimmon (PSN LN) +4.0%: Rev + Pretax beat, guides to higher end of exp.
• Serco (SRP LN) +3.5%: Revenue higher Y/Y. Lifts guidance and increases buyback size.
• Merck KGaA (MRK GY) +1.3%: Revenue & EBITDA beat. Lifts FY guidance.
• Commerzbank (CBK GY) U/C: Revenue & operating profit beat, NII in-line Y/Y. EUR 1.2bln buyback approved.
• Rheinmetall (RHM GY) -1.0%:  Sales, operating result higher Y/Y. FY sales guidance cut.
• RIo Tinto (RIO LN)  -0.6%: China's CMRG reportedly told some steel mills to stop talks with Co.'s shipments from September.

Sessional movers wraps of this kind capture a broad European reporting day where the common thread is beats plus capital returns: guidance raises and enlarged buybacks at Deutsche Telekom, Serco and Merck KGaA sit alongside Commerzbank's approved repurchase, a combination that in past reporting seasons has tended to drive the sharpest single-name moves, since the market pays more reliably for cash returned and raised outlooks than for the beat itself. The distinction worth drawing is between the raisers and the cutters: Rheinmetall's trim to FY sales guidance despite higher year-on-year results fits the established pattern in which defence names that have re-rated hard get sold on any disappointment to expectations, however strong the underlying print. The outsized move in WPP on margin improvement follows the familiar template for a heavily-shorted or derated name where a modest operational inflection produces a disproportionate re-rating. Commerzbank's unchanged status despite the beat and buyback is consistent with names already carrying a full bid from corporate activity, where results matter less than the ongoing takeover dynamic. The Rio Tinto item, a reported instruction from the Chinese buyer to mills to pause talks, is the odd one out: a flow and negotiating-leverage story rather than an earnings one, where the precedent is that such procurement standoffs tend to resolve on price terms rather than sustained volume loss. Follow-ons are the calls and any sell-side revisions, plus whether the buyback theme broadens across the remaining reporters.