Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 15th July 2026

APAC stocks traded with a positive bias as most major indices took impetus from the gains on Wall St, where sentiment was underpinned, and Fed rate hike bets were trimmed following softer-than-expected CPI data, while US President Trump also abandoned plans for a 20% Hormuz fee. ASX 200 eked out marginal gains with outperformance in miners following Rio Tinto's quarterly update, although the upside in the index was capped as defensives lag. Nikkei 225 rallied amid tech strength, but with further upside limited following weak Machinery Orders. KOSPI was boosted by the tech-related momentum and with SK Hynix shares up by a double-digit percentage as it played catch-up to the 27% surge in its ADRs. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp diverged with the mainland lagging after a slew of mixed data releases, including Chinese GDP and activity data.

Chinese Economy - GDP Growth Rate QQ (Q2) 0.9% vs. Exp. 0.9% (Prev. 1.3%); GDP Growth Rate YY (Q2) 4.3% vs. Exp. 4.4% (Prev. 5%); Industrial Production YY (Jun) 5.3% vs. Exp. 4.7% (Prev. 4.5%); Fixed Asset Investment YTD YY (Jun) -5.7% vs. Exp. -5.0% (Prev. -4.1%)

CLOSES: Euro Stoxx 50 +0.12% at 6,279, Dax 40 +0.12% at 25,144, FTSE 100 +0.30% at 10,529, CAC 40 +0.03% at 8,367, FTSE MIB +0.10% at 52,863, IBEX 35 +0.11% at 19,357, PSI -0.08% at 9,127, SMI -0.17% at 14,242, AEX +0.41% at 1,090.

Airtel Africa (AAF LN) - Co. is reportedly hiring more investment banks to work on a London listing for its mobile money business, with Citi (C) leading work on the deal that could value the unit at c. GBP 7.5bln, the FT reports. (FT)

Rio Tinto (RIO LN) - Q2 Production Update: Pilbara iron ore production 83.5mln tonnes, unchanged Y/Y; Pilbara iron ore shipments 85.3mln tonnes (exp. 83.1mln tonnes), +7% Y/Y; Copper output 213k tonnes, -7% Y/Y, due to unplanned shutdowns at its Kennecott copper operation in the US. Guidance: Maintains FY Pilbara iron ore shipment guidance at 323mln-338mln tonnes and sales guidance at 343mln-366mln tonnes, reaffirmed 2026 production and sales guidance. Co. says Simandou’s SimFer mine and port infrastructure is more than 75% complete, is actively testing the market for its Borates business, and is evaluating options for its Iron & Titanium business. On the Middle East, the Co. says the US-Iran conflict raised current costs and would continue to affect FY results. (Rio Tinto)

Shell (SHEL LN)- ARC Resources says its shareholders have voted in favour of it being acquired by Shell in a USD 16.4bln deal. (ARC Resources)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

Savills (SVS LN) initiated with Buy at Berenberg

Economy - Germany's government is to approve a new package of measures on Wednesday, aiming to save businesses and citizens EUR 600mln/yr. The planned measures include replacing some in-person appointments with video calls, digitalising healthcare processes and exempting EVs from displaying environmental stickers. (Reuters)

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

Delivery Hero (DHER GY) - Co. confirms advanced negotiations with Uber Technologies (UBER) in respect to potential takeover offer. (Delivery Hero)

BROKER MOVES

Rheinmetall (RHM GY) PT cut to EUR 1,300 from EUR 1,700 at BofA

Bollore (BOL FP), Lionsgate (LION) - Lionsgate Studios is exploring a sale after attracting interest from Bollore and Banijay, Reuters reports. Lionsgate is valued at about USD 3.8bln, and is assessing approaches with advisors; no deal is certain. Bollore is seeking to strengthen Canal+ production capabilities, while Banijay remains focused on integrating All3Media. (Reuters)

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

ASML (ASML NA) - Q2 2026 (EUR): EPS 7.59 (exp. 6.97bln), Revenue 9.33bln (exp. 8.80bln, guided 8.4-9.0bln, prev. 7.69bln Y/Y), Gross Profit Margin 54% (exp. 52%, guided 51-52%, prev. 53.7% Y/Y), Net Income 2.92bln (exp. 2.62bln), Net Profit 2.92bln (exp. 2.63bln). Guidance: Raises FY revenue outlook to between 43-45bln (exp. 39.4bln, prev. guided 36-40bln) and FY gross margin to between 54-56% (prev. guided 51-53%). Sees Q3 Revenue between 11-12bln (exp. 10.4bln). CEO: "AI -related investments and continued progress in AI technologies are driving demand, Customers continue to accelerate their capacity expansion plans. Order intake remained extremely strong in H1. Planning to add 30% to our 2026 NA EUV capacity of around 65 for 2027 and investigating to increase capacity by another 30% in 2028. Planning to add 30% to our 2026 DUB Immersion Capacity of around 130 for 2027 and investigating to increase capacity with another 30% in 2028. The end market demand has motivated customers to increase capex but also accelerate all their plans and we expect to continue to return significant amounts of cash to shareholders through growing dividends and share buybacks.". Announcements: Enters high-volume production of Intel (INTC) 18A logic products using High NA EUV. (ASML) Shares indicated higher by 4%, investor call to be held at 14:00BST/09:00EDT

TomTom (TOM2 NA) - Q2 2026 (EUR): Revenue 135mln (exp. 135mln), guides FY revenue outlook between 495-555mln (exp. 546.5mln). (TomTom)

BROKER MOVES

Richemont (CFR SW) - Q1 2027 (EUR): Revenue 6.33bln (exp. 5.81bln), Sales at constant FX +20% (exp. +11.2%). By Region (Y/Y): Strength across all regions led by local demand, with double-digit increases in the Americas, Asia Pacific, Japan and Europe at both constant and actual rates; return to growth in Middle East & Africa. Europe 1.42bln, +11%. APAC 2.06bln, +21%. Americas 1.67bln, +27%. By business area (Y/Y): Jewellery Maisons 4.73bln, +24% (exp. 4.35bln). Specialist Watchmakers 873mln, +24% (exp. 834.1mln). (Richemont)

Roche (ROP SW) - Co. unveils plans for a key trial of its Alzheimer's disease antibody. PrevenTRON will recruit 1,600 people and use its experimental trontinemab antibody. In other news, the Co. announces that the US FDA has given priority review for Gazyva for primary membranous nephropathy. (Roche)

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

Sandoz (SDZ SW) - Co. appoints Pascal Bouye as President of Generics Manufacturing. (Sandoz)

BROKER MOVES

Aker BP (AKRBP NO) - Q2 2026 (USD): Revenue 3.68bln (exp. 3.65bln, prev. 2.58bln Y/Y), EBITDA 3.35bn (prev. 2.22bln Y/Y). (Aker BP)

Axfood (AXFO SS) - Q2 2026 (SEK): Revenue 23.2bln (exp. 23.67bln, prev. 23.0bln Y/Y), Operating profit 964mln (prev. 934mln Y/Y), Net profit 647mln (prev. 622mln Y/Y). (Axfood)

Elisa (ELISA FH) - Q2 2026 (EUR): Revenue 551mln (exp. 557.1mln, prev. 552.4mln Y/Y), Adj. EBITDA 201mln (prev. 198mln Y/Y). (Elisa)

Handelsbanken (SHBA SS) - Q2 2026 (SEK): Operating profit 6.68bln (prev. 8.20bln Q/Q), Total Income 13.46bln (prev. 14.78bln Q/Q), NII 10bln (prev. 10.82bln Y/Y). (Handelsbanken)

SEB (SEBA SS) - Q2 2026 (SEK): NII 10.69bln (exp. 10.49bln), Net Profit 8.66bln (exp. 7.62bln), announces a new SEK 1.25bln share buyback programme. (SEB)

Skanska (SKAB SS) - Co. has been commissioned to build a new university campus in Kristianstad for c. SEK 1bln. (Skanska)

Storebrand (STB NO) - Q2 2026 (NOK): Adj. EPS 3.43 (prev. 2.87 Y/Y), Group profit 1.80bln (prev. 1.43bln Y/Y), Profit after tax 1.38bln (prev. 1.16bln Y/Y). (Storebrand)

BROKER MOVES

Mycronic (MYCR SS) upgraded to Buy from Hold at SEB

CLOSES: SPX +0.38% at 7,544, NDX +1.10% at 29,586, DJI +0.02% at 52,513, RUT +0.39% at 2,965

SECTORS: Health -1.91%, Consumer Staples -1.38%, Real Estate -0.42%, Utilities -0.05%, Consumer Discretionary -0.03%, Industrials +0.04%, Financials +0.21%, Materials +0.25%, Energy +0.37%, Communication Services +1.13%, Technology +1.25%.

PayPal (PYPL) - Stripe and Advent International have submitted a joint offer to acquire PayPal at USD 60.50/shr, valuing the company at over USD 53bln (a 28% premium to Tuesday's close), according to sources cited by Reuters. The bid is backed by approximately USD 50bln in committed bank financing, with Stripe and Advent each holding equal stakes under the proposal. PayPal has not yet responded to the approach, which was first made in early April. (Reuters)