Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 20th October 2026

APAC stocks were mostly lower despite the rebound on Wall Street, as the region failed to sustain the AI-led recovery, with chip-heavy markets in South Korea and Japan underperforming but macro newsflow rather light. ASX 200 declined, with gold miners pressured following Monday's pullback in the precious metal, while financials were in focus after S&P downgraded Bank of Queensland's long-term rating to BBB+ from A-, and Westpac flagged an AUD 41mln notable item related to RAMS litigation. Nikkei 225 was subdued as tech names failed to benefit from the AI-led rebound stateside, although the index pared some of its earlier losses of over 1%. SoftBank was in focus following reports that it is in discussions to participate in OpenAI's private funding round ahead of Anthropic's IPO. KOSPI was the regional laggard, extending its October rout, with Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix pressured amid reports that US big tech firms are pushing for lower memory prices by citing Chinese suppliers as alternatives. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp diverged, with Hong Kong lower as it returned from Monday's Chung Yeung holiday, while the mainland was flat as Chinese LPRs were maintained, as expected.

BHP Group (BHP AT) - BHP Group reported Q1 copper production -19% Y/Y at 400.7K tonnes, citing lower grades, maintenance and disruptions. Iron ore output rose +4% Y/Y to 68.5mln tonnes, while energy coal increased +26% Y/Y to 4.4mln tonnes. BHP reaffirmed its FY27 guidance of 1.65-1.8mln tonnes copper, 260-272mln tonnes iron ore and 14-16mln tonnes energy coal. (BHP)

CLOSES: Euro Stoxx 50 -0.92% at 6,147, DAX 40 -1.24% at 25,304, FTSE 100 -1.08% at 10,765, CAC 40 -1.11% at 7,868, FTSE MIB -1.55% at 49,086, IBEX 35 -1.49% at 19,039, PSI -0.78% at 9,394, SMI -0.21% at 14,361, AEX -0.13% at 1,141

AstraZeneca (AZN LN) - Co. announces with Oracle (ORCL) launch global AI collaboration to advance clinical trial optimisation and support better patient outcomes. The partnership aims to advance solutions to improve care pathways, clinical trial matching, safety monitoring, and guideline-directed care. (AstraZeneca)

GSK (GSK LN) - Co.'s Jemperli has been approved by the US FDA as the first and only immunotherapy for adults within MSI-H/dMMR rectal cancer. (GSK)

UK Budget - UK Chancellor Healey has reportedly ruled out raising capital gains tax in the October 28th Budget amid concerns over growth and investment, The Times reports. (The Times)

Unilever (ULVR LN) - Co. agrees to sell Welly Health to Forward Consumer Partners, no terms disclosed. (Unilever)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

Imperial Brands (IMB LN) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies

Weir (WEIR LN) downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley

Volkswagen (VOW3 GY) - Volkswagen and Xpeng (9868 HK)-developed ID. UNYX 08 SUV averaged 267 monthly sales in China between April and August 2026 (vs. initial target of 3,622), according to Reuters reports citing ThinkerCar data and internal planning documents. The report added that the Co. has cut its FY26 UNYX 08 sales forecast by more than 60% to 12,300 vehicles (prev. 32,600) and its FY27 projection to 64,000 (prev. 70,400), while internal planning documents project monthly sales of nearly 4,900 vehicles for its upcoming Xpeng-developed UNYX 09 sedan, with annual volumes expected to exceed 90,000 by 2034. Further in the report, sources cited stated that Volkswagen explored partnerships with BYD in 2022, including potentially using its Dolphin platform for the Jetta brand, and with Leapmotor in 2023, but neither resulted in an agreement. Further, in an internal memo, Co. China CEO warned that China's passenger-car market could contract by 20% in 2026, with industry profit margins falling to 1.5% and called for urgent production-capacity adjustments and reduced duplication across Chinese operations. (Reuters)

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

Tag Immobilien (TEG GY) initiated with Buy at Goldman Sachs

Publicis (PUB FP) - Co. reaches an agreement with the US FTC regarding the acquisition of Liveramp. Continues to expect the deal to close before the end of 2026. (Publicis)

Schneider Electric (SU FP) - Co. launches a EUR 6bln capital increase to fund the acquisition of PTC. (Schneider Electric)

Vinci (DG FP) - Reports September airports passenger traffic -1.5% Y/Y. (Vinci)

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

Ahold Delhaize (AD NA) - Co. reports a cybersecurity incident to the Dutch police after it detected suspicious activity in its infrastructure. (Newswires)

EU-UK - The UK Treasury is expected to be asked to assess the economic benefits of closer ties with the EU, including a potential customs union, single market return or full EU membership, ahead of the November 20th Brussels summit, the FT reports. (FT)

Intesa Sanpaolo (ISP IM) - Co.'s Board of Directors approves capital increase functional to the public tender and exchange offer on all the shares of BMPS (BMPS IM). (Intesa Sanpaolo)

Solvay (SOLB BB) - Prelim. Q3 2026 (EUR): Adj. EBITDA 173mln (exp. 183mln). Sees FY26 Underlying EBITDA between 720-740mln (exp. 772.9mln). Performance was affected by the Middle East conflict and the shutdown of the peroxide plant at the Sadara complex in Jubail, Saudi Arabia. (Solvay)

Stellantis (STLAM IM/STLAP FP) - Unionised workers at the Co.'s Canadian plants have voted in favour of strike action if necessary. (Unifor)

BROKER MOVES

ABB (ABBN SW) - Q3 2026 (USD): Basic EPS 0.65 (exp. 0.79), Revenue 9.70 (exp. 9.77bln), Operating Income 1.85bln (exp. 1.93bln), Operational EBITA 2.03bln (exp. 2.0bln), Orders 12.1bln (exp. 11.4bln). Expects Q4 comparable revenue growth to be similar to Q3 and Operational EBITA margin to sequentially soften. Guides FY26 comparable revenue growth in the "low teens" range Y/Y (prev. guided "low double-digit to low-teens" range). Says data centre orders saw triple-digit increase and that capex is trending to a higher capex level of USD 1bln and does not expect it to rise further in the mid-term. Additionally, ABB announces a JV with Mitsubishi Electric (6503 JT), in which ABB will acquire a controlling 51% stake for around USD 495mln. (ABB)

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

Comet (COTN SW) - Q3 2026 (EUR): Revenue 155.6mln (exp. 145mln), Incoming Orders 275.6mln (prev. 102.1mln Y/Y. Lifts its FY26 guidance, now sees Net Sales between 570-590mln (exp. 565.7mln) and EBITDA margin of 17-19%. (Comet)

Huber+Suhner (HUBN SW) - 9M 2026 (CHF): Net Sales 734.1mln, +11.3% Y/Y; Order Intake 811.9mln, -0.8% Y/Y. Maintains its FY26 targets. (Huber+Suhner)

BROKER MOVES

Tele2 (TEL2B SS) - Q3 2026 (SEK): EPS 2.03 (exp. 2.05), Revenue 7.6bln (exp. 7.56bln), Adj. EBITDAaL 3.15bln (prev. 3.16bln Y/Y), Services Revenue 5.73bln (prev. 5.60bln Y/Y). Updates its FY26 guidance, now sees underlying EBITDAaL between 4-5% organic growth (prev. guided "low to mid-single digit") and capex to sales below 10% (prev. guided 10-11%). (Tele2)

BROKER MOVES

CLOSES: SPX +0.63% at 7,708, NDX +1.17% at 29,529, DJI +0.07% at 52,041, RUT +0.37% at 2,731

SECTORS: Utilities -1.98%, Real estate -1.18%, Financials -0.79%, Industrials -0.65%, Energy -0.63%, Health -0.61%, Consumer staples -0.42%, Materials flat, Communication services +0.28%, Technology +1.19%, Consumer discretionary +2.73%.

Meta Platforms (META), Snap Inc. (SNAP), Alphabet (GOOG) ByteDance - Australia is preparing legal action against Meta’s Facebook and Instagram, TikTok, Snap’s Snapchat and Google’s YouTube over alleged breaches of its under-16 social media ban, Bloomberg reports. The eSafety regulator is gathering evidence after finding widespread failures in age verification.

Steel Dynamics (STLD) - Steel Dynamics shares fell 4.5% in extended trading after quarterly earnings missed expectations, outweighing record steel shipments and improved steel operating profitability. Q3 EPS 5.26 (exp. 5.41), Q3 revenue USD 6.5bln (exp. 6.55bln). Consolidated operating income increased 44% sequentially as stronger steel pricing and solid execution lifted steel operations, while steel fabrication shipments +18% Q/Q. CEO said domestic steel demand remained strong, supported by low customer inventories, historically low imports and continued investment, while long-product demand was particularly strong in structural steel and rail. All three cold mills at the aluminium flat-rolled products mill are operational, with the first CASH line expected to ship finished automotive products before year-end, and the second expected to become operational in early Q1 2027. Management remains optimistic on domestic steel and aluminium demand into 2027.

This is the standard daily European opening bulletin rather than a single event: a digest of APAC session handoff, prior closes, overnight corporate newsflow and broker moves, and its value is in the cross-section rather than any one line. The dominant thread across the session is fatigue in the AI complex: chip-heavy Korean and Japanese benchmarks underperformed despite a tech-led Wall Street rebound, with the KOSPI extending a monthly slide on reports that US hyperscalers are pressing memory makers on pricing by citing Chinese suppliers as alternatives, a negotiating pattern that has historically compressed memory margins before it dents volumes. On the corporate side the tape carries a heavy M&A and capital-markets load: Schneider is funding the PTC acquisition with a sizeable rights issue, Intesa's board has approved the capital increase underpinning its tender for BMPS, and Publicis has cleared its FTC hurdle on Liveramp, all episodes where the established sequence is an arb-spread widening on financing detail followed by convergence as closing conditions fall away. ABB's print fits the now-familiar industrial pattern of an earnings miss against expectations offset by an orders beat, with triple-digit data centre order growth reinforcing the capex-transmission channel from hyperscaler spending into electrification names. Political items worth tracking as follow-ons are the reported removal of capital gains tax from the UK Budget menu and the FT-reported Treasury assessment of closer EU ties ahead of the Brussels summit, both of which have tended to matter for sterling and domestically-exposed UK equities only once formalised. Strikes authorisations at Stellantis' Canadian plants and the Ahold Delhaize cyber incident round out a bulletin whose aggregate signal is rotation risk within the AI trade rather than a macro regime shift.