Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 16th September 2026

APAC stocks were mixed in choppy trade, albeit with sentiment gradually improving, following the declines on Wall St and recent upside in oil, while participants now await the major central bank rate decisions, beginning with the FOMC later. ASX 200 eked slight gains with strength seen in the commodity-related sectors and with sentiment also helped by M&A news after reports that Brookfield is to acquire Reliance Worldwide for USD 2.8bln, although gains are limited amid weakness in tech, real estate and consumer stocks. Nikkei 225 traded indecisively after mixed data from Japan, in which Exports and Imports topped forecasts, but Machinery Orders disappointed. KOSPI edged higher in two-way trade after swinging between gains and losses, while the tech heavyweights have shown some resilience with SK Hynix mildly underpinned after its union approved the tentative wage agreement in a re-vote. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp were mixed in range-bound trade, with the Hong Kong benchmark lacklustre as the special administrative region unveiled its first-ever Five-Year plan to align more closely with China, which some fear could be a step away from a free market, while the mainland pared initial losses with the PBoC upping its liquidity efforts.

SK Hynix (000660 KS), Intel (INTC) - SK Hynix is reportedly in talks with Intel about the production of memory chips in the US, according to sources. An option is that SK Hynix leases Intel's Ohio facility, while another option is a joint venture with Intel and other major cloud firms. (Newswires)

SK Hynix (000660 KS) - SK Hynix union members approved a revised wage agreement with 57.1% support, Yonhap reports. The deal raises the cash portion of performance-based incentives to 50% from 40%, while reducing the share-based portion to 50% from 60%. (Yonhap)

CLOSES: Euro Stoxx 50 -0.36% at 6,238, DAX 40 -0.07% at 25,423, FTSE 100 -0.37% at 10,658, CAC 40 -0.34% at 8,090, FTSE MIB -0.14% at 51,555, IBEX 35 -0.05% at 19,556, PSI +0.71% at 9,447, SMI -0.50% at 13,809, AEX -0.23% at 1,096.

Glencore (GLEN LN) - The Chairman of Sapphire Minmetals tells Bloomberg that they, and Radiant World, have filed a lawsuit in Singapore against Glencore for USD 2bln. This comes following claims by Glencore, accusing Radiant World and associated companies of sending falsified invoices to lenders, and stated that "We have incurred losses and been exposed to risks by Radiant World companies and will take appropriate action." (Bloomberg/Glencore)

GSK (GSK LN) - Co. says they are targeting 6 approved oncology medicines by the end of 2026 and 9 by 2029, with multiple new drugs expected to help support its over GBP 40bln 2031 sales ambition. (Newswires)

UK Gambling - UK Chancellor Healey is reportedly considering raising gambling taxes in the Autumn Budget, with officials looking at ways to increase machine gaming duty in a way that targets betting shops and AGCs, the FT reports. (FT) Of note for Entain (ENT LN)

Vodafone (VOD LN) - Co. will miss out on over EUR 1bln of potential earnings following Drahi's exit of OXG, the FT reports. (FT)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

Merck KGaA (MRK GY) - UK's NICE recommends Ezmekly for treating symptomatic and inoperable plexiform neurofibromas associated with neurofibromatosis type 1 in people 2 to 17 years. (NICE)

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

BMW (BMW GY) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Berenberg

Airbus (AIR FP) - Co. delivers the first aircraft from its new assembly line in China. (Xinhua)

Danone (BN FP) - Co.'s USA is issuing a voluntary recall of So Delicious Dairy Free Salted Caramel Cluster Non-Dairy Frozen Dessert pints due to the potential presence of foreign materials, such as small stones and other hard objects, within the cashew inclusions. (FDA)

French Economy - Bank of France survey cuts Q3 GDP expectation to +0.1% (prev. +0.2%). Sees 2026 HICP inflation at 2.3% (vs 2.5% in June), 1.9% in 2027 (vs. 1.7%) and 1.6% in 2028 (vs. 1.7%). (Bank of France)

Renault (RNO FP) - Renault and China's Geely (0175 HK) announces a new investment in Brazil, stating that Renault Geely do Brasil will invest BRL 2bln in Brazil to produce a new Renault vehicle based on the Global Intelligent Electric Architecture, starting in 2027. (Bloomberg)

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

Aeroports de Paris (ADP FP) - Reports August passenger traffic 37.5mln, +0.1% Y/Y. (Aeroports de Paris)

Vallourec (VK FP) - Co. announces that it has been awarded a major contract by Subsea7 for the supply of carbon steel seamless line pipe and thermal insulation coating for the Sepia 2 project, developed by Petrobras in the pre-salt Santos Basin, offshore Brazil; no terms disclosed. (Vallourec)

BROKER MOVES

Soitec (SOI FP) upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan

Intesa Sanpaolo (ISP IM), BMPS (BMPS IM) - Italy's competition authority says it has opened an investigation into the bid by Intesa Sanpaolo to take over BMPS, aiming "to assess the possible effects on competition across a large number of different local and national banking and insurance markets." (AGCM)

BROKER MOVES

Stellantis (STLAM IM/STLAP FP) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Berenberg

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

Galderma (GALD SW) - Co. announced positive topline results from a study of Restylane Volyme for the correction of moderate-to-severe temple hollowing in 162 patients in China. The study met its primary endpoint. (Galderma)

SFS Group (SFSN SW) - Co. confirms its FY26 outlook and continues to expect sales growth in local currencies, including consolidation effects, of 3–6% and an adjusted EBIT margin of 12–15%. (SFS Group)

BROKER MOVES

SIG Group (SIGN SW) initiated with Neutral at JPMorgan

Orsted (ORSTED DC) - Co. CEO tells the FT that Europe must act against Chinese wind turbine makers that benefit from large government subsidies. (FT)

BROKER MOVES

Norsk Hydro (NHY NO) downgraded to Sector Perform from Outperform at RBC

CLOSES: SPX -0.45% at 7,585, NDX -0.78% at 28,938, DJI -0.63% at 52,093, RUT -0.68% at 2,873.

SECTORS: Energy +2.26%, Materials +0.37%, Health -0.08%, Real Estate -0.24%, Technology -0.34%, Financials -0.35%, Industrials -0.64%, Communication Services -0.84%, Consumer Staples -0.85%, Utilities -1.20%, Consumer Discretionary -1.76%.

JPMorgan (JPM) - JPMorgan expects Q3 investment banking fees and markets revenue to rise mid-to-high teens, citing broad-based strength across products and geographies. Co-President Doug Petno also said inorganic M&A is unlikely to be a major CIB growth driver given strong organic opportunities, though JPMorgan remains ready for disciplined, opportunistic acquisitions at attractive valuations.

Nvidia (NVDA) - Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is expected to attend President Trump’s state dinner for Chinese President Xi Jinping next week, CNBC reports. AI is expected to feature prominently in Trump-Xi discussions. Huang previously travelled to China with Trump and has recently aligned with him in rejecting calls from other tech leaders to slow AI development.

OpenAI - OpenAI has held early talks with investors about a private funding round at a valuation of about USD 1.2tln before its IPO, FT reports. The company raised USD 122bln at an USD 852bln valuation in March. Its annualised revenue exceeded USD 40bln last month after GPT-5.6 boosted growth.