Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 15th May 2026

ASIA

APAC stocks were mostly subdued after failing to sustain the early momentum that was spurred by the gains on Wall Street, where tech outperformed, and sentiment was underpinned amid constructive headlines from the Trump-Xi summit, while the souring of risk sentiment coincided with higher oil prices and yields amid risk that the geopolitical situation in Iran could escalate when US President Trump returns from Beijing. ASX 200 lacked direction as strength in tech and financials was offset by losses in mining, materials, resources and utilities. Nikkei 225 swung between gains and losses but ultimately continued its pullback from the recent peak amid oil-related headwinds and after hot PPI data further supported the case for a rate hike at next month's BoJ meeting. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp were mixed despite the recent constructive headlines from the Trump-Xi summit, while the leaders are meeting again today in a restricted working lunch session prior to US President Trump's return to the US. Furthermore, sentiment was not helped by recent disappointing lending and aggregate financing data from China for April, which showed a surprise contraction in loans.

Samsung Electronics (005930 KS) - Samsung’ South Korean union will proceed with an 18-day strike from 21st May despite Samsung offering unconditional pay talks, Reuters reports. Shares fell sharply overnight due to the production and delivery concerns. JPMorgan has estimated that a strike could hit operating profit by between KRW 21tln-31tln, and sales by about KRW 4.5tln. (Reuters)

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: Euro Stoxx 50 +1.12% at 5,927, Dax 40 +1.31% at 24,453, FTSE 100 +0.46% at 10,373, CAC 40 +0.93% at 8,082, FTSE MIB +1.15% at 50,050, IBEX 35 +0.87% at 17,809, PSI +0.57% at 9,124, SMI +0.71% at 13,213, AEX +1.13% at 1,022

SECTORS: IT 2.95%, Financials 0.85%, Consumer Stpl 0.75%, Consumer Disc 0.70%, Telecoms 0.69%, Industrials 0.64%, Healthcare 0.21%, Energy 0.06%, Utilities -0.01%, Materials -0.07%

FTSE 100

BAE Systems (BA/ LN) - BAE was awarded a USD 535.6mln US Army contract for self-propelled howitzer systems, vehicles and total package fielding kits. (BAE Systems)

HSBC (HSBA LN) - Co. is reportedly yet to invest in its own private credit strategy, pausing its previously announced USD 4bln credit investment and has no plans to do so, the FT reports citing sources. (FT)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

Aberdeen (ABDN LN) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Citi

DAX

Volkswagen (VOW3 GY) - Volkswagen labour leaders have suggested that they would not be allowing the closure of some German plants, but remain open to proposals related to under-used production sites. (Reuters)

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

Fraport (FRA GY) - April 2026: Passengers 4.8mln, -11% Y/Y. Decrease primarily driven by strikes at Lufthansa (LHA GY), called by the pilots’ union, Vereinigung Cockpit, and the UFO union that represents cabin staff. The strikes took place over a total of six days, affecting approximately 500,000 passengers. (Fraport)

Freenet (FNTN GY) - Q1 2026 (EUR): Revenue 761.9mln (prev. 604.3mln Y/Y), Adj. EBITDA 122mln (prev. 126.6mln Y/Y). Guidance for the 2026 financial year confirmed. (Freenet)

BROKER MOVES

Fraport (FRA GY) upgraded to Neutral from Sell at UBS

CAC

Airbus (AIR FP) - US President Trump said China has agreed to order 200 Boeing (BA) jets. It was previously reported that China was to buy 500 Boeing aircrafts. (Bloomberg)

EssilorLuxottica (EL FP), Meta (META) - Meta’s Summer Sale cuts Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses to record-low prices, The Verge says. First-generation glasses start at USD 224.25, while second-generation models cost USD 322.25. (The Verge)

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

Societe Generale (GLE FP) upgraded to Hold from Reduce at Kepler Cheuvreux

PAN EUROPE

Dino Polska (DNP PW) - Q1 2026 (PLN): Net income 316.3mln (exp. 288mln), Revenue 8.4bln, +14.8% Y/Y. (Dino Polska)

PGE SA (PGE PW) - Q1 2026 (PLN): Net income 1.99bln (exp. 2.4bln), EBITDA 4.10bln (prev. 4.30bln Y/Y). (PGE)

Stellantis (STLAP FP / STLAM IM) - Co. and Dongfeng Group announced the signing of a strategic cooperation agreement to expand their 34-year partnership through shared production of Peugeot and Jeep vehicles in China for the Chinese market and for sales worldwide. (Stellantis)

Syensqo (SYENS BB) - Q1 2026 (EUR): Sales 1.4bln (exp. 1.4bln). FY Outlook: Adj. EBITDA 1.1bln (exp. 1.12bln). (Syensqo)

Telecom Italia (TIT IM)- Fitch raises the Co.'s credit rating to BB+ (prev. BB); outlook stable. (Fitch)

BROKER MOVES

SMI

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

SCANDINAVIA

BROKER MOVES

US

CLOSES: SPX +0.76% at 7,501, NDX +0.73% at 29,580, DJI +0.75% at 50,063, RUT +0.67% at 2,863

SECTORS: Technology +1.85%, Energy +0.77%, Utilities +0.55%, Financials +0.54%, Consumer Staples +0.50%, Industrials +0.50%, Health -0.06%, Communication Services -0.21%, Consumer Discretionary -0.31%, Real Estate -0.59%, Materials -0.79%.

Anthropic, Microsoft (MSFT) - Microsoft plans to remove most Claude Code licences and shift many developers to GitHub Copilot CLI, The Verge reports. The Experiences + Devices team is winding down Claude Code use by 30th June, partly to cut costs. Claude Code had become popular internally, but Microsoft wants Copilot CLI to become its main agentic command-line coding tool. (The Verge)

Applied Materials (AMAT) - AMAT shares initially rose over 5% in extended US trading after a Q2 beat and Q3 guidance which topped expectations, however, the stock eventually gave back the gains. It reported Q2 adj. EPS 2.86 (exp. 2.68), Q2 revenue USD 7.91bln (exp. 7.69bln). CEO cited rapid global AI computing infrastructure build-out and the company’s leadership positions in leading-edge logic, DRAM and advanced packaging as support for sustained multi-year revenue and profit growth. Now expects its semiconductor equipment business to grow more than 30% in FY26. Sees Q3 adj. EPS between 3.16-3.56 (exp. 2.90), with the outlook excluding known completed-acquisition charges of 0.01/shr, and including a normalised tax benefit from share-based compensation of 0.01/shr, plus a net income tax benefit related to intra-entity intangible asset transfers of 0.04/shr; sees Q3 revenue between USD 8.45-9.45bln (exp. 8.15bln). (Bloomberg)

GE Aerospace (GE) - GE Aerospace chief executive Larry Culp was seen leaving a meeting at China’s National Development and Reform Commission headquarters in Beijing, Reuters reports. The visit followed Trump’s claim that China agreed to order 200 Boeing (BA) jets. As Boeing’s primary engine supplier, GE Aerospace could benefit, though Reuters suggests that the order value was below market expectations. (Reuters)