Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 17th August 2026

ASIA

APAC stocks began the week mixed, albeit with a mostly positive bias, following a quiet weekend of macro newsflow and amid geopolitical uncertainty as the 60-day US-Iran ceasefire is set to expire. Participants also digested a deluge of earnings and the latest data releases, while markets in South Korea are closed in observance of Liberation Day. ASX 200 was subdued as weakness in consumer discretionary, financials and real estate offset the gains in miners, resources and materials, while there is a slew of earnings releases, including 'big 4' bank NAB, which posted higher profits but noted cooling home loan demand. Nikkei 225 price action was choppy following disappointing GDP data, which could support the argument for the BoJ to refrain from hiking rates next month, although money markets are still leaning towards the central bank resuming rate increases at the September conclave. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp were positive amid a slew of earnings and with the advances in Hong Kong led by chipmaker SMIC, while platform companies such as JD.com and Alibaba were also underpinned, with the latter helped by the sale of its gaming arm and news its AI models hit 3bln downloads. The mainland was also positive, but with further upside contained as activity data for China is due for release at a revised time of 3pm local time (08:00 BST).

Geely Auto (0175 HK) - H1 2026 (CNY): Net Profit 9.09bln (exp. 7.1bln), Revenue 173.6bln (exp. 179.5bln). (Geely Auto)

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: Euro Stoxx 50 -0.13% at 6,537, Dax 40 +0.51% at 26,433, FTSE 100 -0.21% at 10,750, CAC 40 -0.16% at 8,637, FTSE MIB -0.20% at 53,584, IBEX 35 -0.06% at 20,157, PSI +0.00% at 9,255, SMI -0.64% at 14,382, AEX -0.16% at 1,118

SECTORS: Telecoms 1.02%, Energy 0.76%, Financials 0.33%, Industrials 0.21%, Consumer Disc -0.52%, Materials -0.58%, Consumer Stpl -0.60%, IT -0.74%, Utilities -1.03%, Healthcare -1.54%

FTSE 100

AstraZeneca (AZN LN), Hutchmed (0013 HK) - Hutchmed announces positive high-level results from the SAFFRON Phase III trial showed ORPATHYS plus TAGRISSO demonstrated a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in both progression-free survival and overall survival versus doublet platinum-based chemotherapy in patients with mutated EGFR non-small cell lung cancer. (Hutchmed)

Credit Rating - Fitch affirms UK at 'AA-'; outlook 'stable'. Fitch says the "UK's ratings are supported by its high-income, large, diversified and flexible economy, credible macroeconomic policy framework, and financing flexibility from deep capital markets and sterling's international ⁠reserve currency status." (Fitch)

Defence - The UK MoD is ramping up scrutiny of its supply chains, looking for other vulnerabilities in its defence industry, following a routine vulnerability assessment, Bloomberg reports citing sources. (Bloomberg)

Employment - CIPD survey shows British employers remain reluctant to hire. Confidence has stayed near its weakest levels, with net employment balance at +9 and private-sector hiring intentions at +11. (CIPD)

Ferrexpo (FXPO LN) - Co.'s interim executive chair told the FT that "We believe Ferrexpo is unfairly caught up in a dispute between Ukraine and our largest shareholder.” The Chair added that talks are still ongoing with the authorities. (FT)

Glencore (GLEN LN) - Korea Eximbank announces that it will lend USD 1bln to a Swiss subsidiary of Glencore for copper supply to South Korea companies. (Bloomberg)

Hospitality - UK Housing Minister Rayner is to announce changes to the national planning policy framework on Monday to make it hard for developers to close pubs unless there is no reasonable prospect of keeping them open. (FT)

Housing - UK Rightmove House Prices YY (Aug) -1.0% (Prev. -0.4%); MM (Aug) -2.0% (Prev. -1.0%).

Taxes - JPMorgan (JPM) CEO Dimon reportedly warned UK Chancellor Healey against creating a more hostile tax environment for banks, the FT reports. Dimon said that higher taxes drive jobs away, using the decline in financial roles in New York as an example, the report added. (FT)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

Aston Martin (AML LN) - Co. unveils a new supercar that will cost c. GBP 1.5mln. (Aston Martin)

BROKER MOVES

DAX

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

CAC

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

PAN EUROPE

Argenx (ARGX BB) - Co. announces positive topline results from the ALKIVIA Phase 3 study evaluating VYVGART Hytrulo in adults with autoimmune myositis, in which the study met its primary endpoint. (Argenx)

Ferrari (RACE IM) - Co. first all-EV sold for USD 40mln at auction. (Ferrari)

Stellantis (STLAM IM/STLAP FP) - Co. has notified Canadian union Unifor that they are considering closing its Ontario plant and putting it up for sale due to the impact of US tariffs. (Unifor)

BROKER MOVES

Ryanair (RYA ID) initiated with Overweight at Morgan Stanley, citing a strong balance sheet that gives significant optionality.

UMG (UMG NA) reinitiated with Buy at Citi

SMI

Nestle (NESN SW) - KS Logistics has reportedly asked Russian President Putin to impose temporary management over the Russian legal entities of Nestle, Kommersant reports. (Kommersant)

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

Sandoz (SDZ SW) - Co. announces a major development, manufacturing and commercialisation collaboration agreement with Shanghai Henlius Biotech (2696 HK). The two Cos will collaborate on up to 10 biosimilars, with an initial bundle of assets already agreed. (Sandoz)

SIG Group (SIGN SW) - Co. appoints Ann-Kristin Erkens as CEO, effective immediately. (SIG)

BROKER MOVES

Accelleron Industries (ACLN SW) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Berenberg, citing a stronger than expected and more durable growth cycle.

SCANDINAVIA

BROKER MOVES

US

CLOSES: SPX -0.18% at 7,785, NDX -0.13% at 30,046, DJI -0.20% at 53,733, RUT +0.56% at 3,070.

SECTORS: Energy +1.36%, Utilities +0.55%, Materials +0.48%, Real Estate +0.36%, Industrials +0.35%, Consumer Staples +0.10%, Communication Services -0.10%, Financials -0.14%, Consumer Discretionary -0.37%, Technology -0.43%, Health -0.60%.

Apple (AAPL) - Commerce Secretary Lutnick said the Trump administration opposes Apple using Chinese memory chips, WSJ reports. Apple has tested chips from CXMT and Yangtze Memory Technologies amid shortages and rising prices. Apple says it must consider all options to address supply constraints. Companies like Micron Technology (MU) have urged the administration to block such use.

OpenAI, Nvidia (NVDA) - Nvidia and OpenAI are nearing a deal to finance a large-scale data centre campus in Ohio, with Nvidia's financial guarantee reduced from USD 250bln to under USD 120bln to address investor concerns over risk exposure, WSJ reports. The revised structure covers the first phase of roughly 5 gigawatts, with Nvidia to decide later on financing the remainder of the 10-gigawatt site, which is being developed by SoftBank (SFTBY) subsidiary SB Energy.

PayPal (PYPL) - PayPal is in talks to sell itself to a group comprising Stripe and private-equity firm Advent International, WSJ reported late Friday. Stripe and Advent proposed USD 60.50/shr in July, valuing PayPal at approximately USD 53bln, which PayPal deemed insufficient; the two sides have since been negotiating a higher price. WSJ says that a deal could come together within weeks, though no agreement is guaranteed.