Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 14th July 2026

APAC stocks were mostly in the red following the weak lead from the US, where risk sentiment was weighed on by tech selling and geopolitical escalation, while US-Iran strikes persisted for the third consecutive night and Trump announced to reinstate the naval blockade on Iran, as well as touted a 20% Hormuz shipping fee. ASX 200 was dragged lower by weakness in tech, industrials, consumer staples and financials, but with the downside stemmed by resilience in energy and utilities, while there was also an improvement in Westpac Consumer Sentiment. Nikkei 225 initially dropped below the 67,000 level amid tech weakness and higher oil prices, but then gradually nursed its losses and returned to flat territory as domestic yields softened. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp conformed to the tech-related weakness and ultimately failed to benefit from the better-than-expected Chinese trade data.

CLOSES: Euro Stoxx 50 -0.01% at 6,269, Dax 40 +0.08% at 25,087, FTSE 100 +0.01% at 10,498, CAC 40 +0.31% at 8,365, FTSE MIB +0.37% at 52,809, IBEX 35 -0.30% at 19,327, PSI +0.30% at 9,134, SMI +0.25% at 14,271, AEX +0.11% at 1,085

UK Retail - BRC Retail Sales Monitor YoY (Jun) Y/Y 1.7% vs. Exp. 2.9% (Prev. 3.4%). (BRC)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

Pearson (PSON LN) downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

Evotec (EVT GY) - H1 2026 (EUR): Revenue 300.1mln (exp. 365.4mln), guides FY revenue between 570-610mln (exp. 730.2mln, prev. guided 595-635mln). (Evotec)

Hapag-Lloyd (HLAG GY) - Co. raised its FY EBITDA view to USD 2.7-3.7bln (from USD 1.1-3.1bln), citing strong demand and freight rates, Reuters reports. It also lifted FY EBIT guidance to USD 100mln-1.1bln, while warning of uncertainty from rate volatility and geopolitical challenges. (Hapag-Lloyd)

BROKER MOVES

Commerzbank (CBK GY) downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at Autonomous Research

Salzgitter (SZG GY) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Jefferies, citing the Co. as a key beneficiary of more protectionist EU steel quotas, higher EU steel prices, and Germany's infrastructure spending from 2027 onwards.

STMicroelectronics (STMPA FP) - Co. enters into an agreement with FocalPoint to deliver enhanced GNSS reliability for automotive applications. (PR Newswire)

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

EssilorLuxottica (EL FP) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman Sachs

Allegro (ALE PW) - Q2 2026 Prelim. (PLN): Adj. EBITDA 1.03bln (prev. 0.92bln Y/Y), Revenue 3.34bln (prev. 2.97bln Y/Y). (Allegro)

Flughafen Wien (FLU AV) - Co. reports. June traffic 4.04mln, +0.2% Y/Y. (Flughafen Wien)

BROKER MOVES

Buzzi (BZU IM) initiated with Hold at Jefferies

Roche (ROP SW) - Co. announces that it introduces the cobas(R) HDV test, a diagnostic tool for the detection and quantification of Hepatitis D Virus RNA, in countries accepting the CE mark. (Roche)

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

Flughafen Zürich (FHZN SW) - Co. reports June passengers 2.9mln, -0.3% Y/Y. (Flughafen Zürich)

Lindt (LISP SW) - A Co. executive says they are stepping up efforts to invest in China, stating that China is one of its strongest-performing markets with average growth of 20% every year over the past 5 years. (China Daily)

SoftwareOne (SWON SW) - Co. appoints Raphael Erb as sole CEO, effective August 1st. (SoftwareOne)

BROKER MOVES

Avanza Bank (AZA SS) - Q2 2026 (SEK): Operating Profit 928mln (prev. 879mln Y/Y), Adj. EPS 4.97 (prev. 9.71 Q/Q), Profit 795mln (prev. 754mln Y/Y). (Avanza Bank)

DNB Bank (DNB NO) - Q2 2026 (NOK): NII 15.13bln (exp. 15.40bln), Pre-Tax Operating Profit 13.01bln (exp. 12.66bln), Net Profit 9.40bln (exp. 9.44bln), Total Income 22.32bln (prev. 22.49bln Y/Y), initiates a share buyback programme of up to 1% of its own shares. (DNB Bank)

Ericsson (ERICB SS) - Q2 2026 (SEK): Revenue 52.7bln (exp. 53.9bln, prev. 56.13bln Y/Y), EBIT 5.92bln (exp. 5.96bln), Adj. EBITA 6.88bln (exp. 6.82bln), Net Income 4.08bln (exp. 4.43bln, prev. 5.22bln Y/Y). Guides Q3 adj. gross margin between 48-50%. Expects some pressure on Networks adjusted gross margin in Q3 due to higher volumes of network rollout projects and increased uncertainty still remains in the outlook and broader macroeconomic and geopolitical environment. CFO: "There will be some restructuring, including layoffs, for the rest of the year", "AI buildout will put more pressure on prices of components in the second half of 2026". (Ericsson)

Kesko (KESKOB FH) - Co. reports June revenue EUR 1.17bln,+7.5% Y/Y. (Kesko)

Lifco (LIFCOB FH) - Q2 2026 (SEK): Revenue 7.7bln (exp. 7.64bln, prev. 6.94bln Y/Y), Net Income 1.04bln (prev. 869mln Y/Y). (Lifco)

Nokia (NOKIA FH) - Co. announces a 5G expansion agreement with Taiwan Mobile (3045 TT) to accelerate the evolution toward AI-native mobile networks across Taiwan. (Nokia)

BROKER MOVES

Finnair (FIA1S FH) downgraded to Sell from Hold at Nordea

Nokian Tyres (TYRES FH) downgraded to Hold from Buy at SEB

Sampo Oyj (SAMAS FH) initiated with Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley

Zealand Pharma (ZEAL DC) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies, citing the absence of key value-crystallising catalysts during the H2 2026.

CLOSES: SPX -0.78% at 7,517, NDX -1.88% at 29,264, DJI -0.26% at 52,499, RUT -0.78% at 2,955.

SECTORS: Energy +3.16%, Utilities +0.67%, Financials +0.61%, Consumer Staples +0.59%, Real Estate +0.50%, Health +0.25%, Consumer Discretionary -0.73%, Materials -0.79%, Industrials -0.89%, Communication Services -0.98%, Technology -2.07%.

Nvidia (NVDA) - Nvidia has more than halved the number of Asian customers authorised to buy its AI chips after introducing a stricter "white list" compliance process in Singapore, Malaysia and Japan, FT reports. The tightened vetting, conducted with Department of Commerce oversight, includes data centre visits and end-user interviews, and primarily affects neocloud providers. The crackdown follows a March indictment alleging a USD 2.5bln chip smuggling scheme through a Southeast Asian pass-through entity. (FT)