Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 21st April 2026

ASIA

APAC stocks were mixed with the region cautious amid uncertainty regarding US-Iran talks ahead of the ceasefire expiry, as there were numerous conflicting reports on when they will occur and if Iran will take part. Nonetheless, the latest relevant headlines provide some optimism, with sources stating that the US and Iran are expected to reach an agreement by Wednesday and that Pakistan's PM is to ask for a two-week ceasefire extension, while there remains no official confirmation from Tehran about attending talks. ASX 200 trades subdued with the index dragged lower by weakness in health care, energy, mining and financials, while a quarterly production update from Rio Tinto failed to meaningfully inspire. Nikkei 225 rallied to back above the 59,000 level with upside facilitated by tech strength and expectations for the BoJ to refrain from hiking rates at next week's meeting. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp were contained amid earnings releases and the mixed performance in the tech sector, while markets failed to benefit from the NDRC head's pledge that officials will help actively increase effective domestic demand and will further enhance supply chain resilience.

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: Euro Stoxx 50 -1.28% at 5,980, Dax 40 -1.04% at 24,444, FTSE 100 -0.55% at 10,609, CAC 40 -1.12% at 8,331, FTSE MIB -1.36% at 48,207, IBEX 35 -1.21% at 18,261, PSI -0.08% at 9,178, SMI -1.06% at 13,284, AEX -0.17% at 1,022.

SECTORS: Energy 2.42%, Utilities 0.71%, Telecoms 0.43%, IT -0.62%, Consumer Stpl -0.66%, Healthcare -0.72%, Materials -0.73%, Financials -1.23%, Consumer Disc -1.48%, Industrials -1.54%

FTSE 100

Rio Tinto (RIO LN) - Q1 Pilbara iron ore output 78.8mln tons (prev. 69.8mln tons Y/Y), Pilbara iron ore shipments 72.4mln tons (prev. 70.7mln tons Y/Y), affirms FY26 production and sales guidance and highlighted that the Middle East conflict has had limited impact on operations. (Rio Tinto)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

JD Wetherspoon (JDW LN) upgraded to Add from Hold at Peel Hunt

M&G (MNG LN) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman Sachs

Unilever (ULVR LN) upgraded to Sector Perform from Underperform at RBC

DAX

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

Allianz (ALV GY) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman Sachs

Commerzbank (CBK GY) upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays

Tag Immobilien (TEG GY) upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays

CAC

Thales (HO FP) - Q1 2026 (EUR): Revenue 5.32bln (exp. 5.19bln), order intake 4.7bln (prev. 3.78bln Y/Y), confirms its 2026 targets of organic sales growth between 6-7% and adj. EBIT margin between 12.6-12.8%. (Thales)

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

Atos (ATO FP) - Q1 2026 (EUR): Revenue 1.64bln (prev. 1.93bln Y/Y). Guides FY26 Organic Revenue -1 to -5% (prev. Guided “positive Organic Revenue, with a downside scenario limited to -5%”). (Atos)

Vivendi (VIV FP) - Q1 2026 (EUR): Revenue 69mln (prev. 69mln Y/Y), Organic Revenue +1.3% Y/Y. (Vivendi)

BROKER MOVES

Kering (KER FP) downgraded to Hold from Buy at HSBC

Safran (SAF FP) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies

PAN EUROPE

Bawag (BG AV) - Q1 2026 (EUR): EPS 3.00 (exp. 3.16), NII 480mln, +8% Y/Y. Confirms 2026 guidance. (Bawag)

Enagas (ENG SM) - Q1 2026 (EUR): Revenue 227mln (prev. 20mln Y/Y), EBITDA 148mln (prev. 164mln Y/Y), reaches an agreement to acquire a 31.5% stake in the share capital of the French TSO, Terega S.A.S. (Enagas)

Fincantieri (FCT IM) - Co., through its US subsidiary Fincantieri Marine Group (FMG), will build Spectre, a new class of high-speed, multi-mission unmanned surface vessel. (Fincantieri)

Poste Italiane (PST IM) - Italy’s data protection authority has fined Poste Italiane over EUR 12.5mln for illicitly processing personal data. (ANSA)

Puig (PUIG SM) - Estee Lauder (EL) has reportedly asked JPMorgan for financing worth around EUR 5bln for the takeover bid for Puig, Expansion reports. The piece suggests that there are mixed considerations between cash and shares. (Expansion)

BROKER MOVES

ArcelorMittal (MT NA) downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Santander

KGHM Polska Miedz (KGH PW) downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan

Leonardo (LDO IM) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies

SMI

Roche (ROP SW) - The US FDA accepts application for Co.’s Gazyva/Gazyvaro for the treatment of the most common form of lupus, based on phase III ALLEGORY data for Gazyva/Gazyvaro showing a significant reduction in disease activity compared with placebo in people with SLE. (Roche)

Sika (SIKA SW) - Co. is expanding its activities in Central Asia with a new national subsidiary in Kyrgyzstan, increasing customer proximity and create the basis for better market access in an attractive economic environment. (Sika)

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

Julius Baer (BAER SW) downgraded upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays

UBS (UBSG SW) upgraded to Equal Weight from Underweight at Barclays

SCANDINAVIA

Elisa (ELISA FH) - Q1 2026 (EUR): Adj. EBIT 128mln (exp. 127.1mln), Revenue 548mln (exp. 567mln), Adj. EBITDA 203mln (exp. 202.2mln). Confirms outlook. (Elisa)

SKF (SKFB SS) - Q1 2026 (SEK): Adj. EBIT 2.95bln (exp. 2.75bln), Sales 21.9bln (exp. 22.1bln). CEO: "In Q1, we delivered a strong margin despite volatile markets, significant currency headwind and a relatively weak Automotive demand”. Outlook: In Q2, expects market demand to remain at similar levels as in Q1 as a whole. (SKF)

Wihlborgs Fastigheter (WIHL SS) - Q1 2026 (SEK): EPS 1.78 (exp. 2.10), Rental Income 1.15bln (prev. 1.04bln Y/Y). “While a general sense of caution is prolonging decision-making processes, we are also noting good potential in ongoing tenant discussions”. (Wihlborgs Fastigheter)

BROKER MOVES

Norsk Hydro (NHY NO) upgraded to Hold from Sell at Norne Securities

Volvo Cars (VOLCARB SS) downgraded to Hold from Buy at SEB

US

CLOSES: SPX -0.22% at 7,110, NDX -0.31% at 26,590, DJI -0.01% at 49,443, RUT +0.58% at 2,793.

SECTORS: Materials +0.56%, Financials +0.34%, Real Estate +0.27%, Energy +0.21%, Industrials +0.18%, Technology +0.04%, Consumer Staples -0.22%, Consumer Discretionary -0.65%, Utilities -0.91%, Health -0.93%, Communication Services -1.41%.

Amazon (AMZN), Anthropic - Amazon and Anthropic are expanding their partnership, with Anthropic committing to spend more than USD 100bln on AWS over 10 years for Trainium, Graviton and up to 5 GW of capacity. Claude Platform will be available on AWS. Amazon will invest USD 5bln now, and up to USD 20bln later, in addition to its previous USD 8bln investment.

Apple (AAPL) - Apple announced Tim Cook will become Executive Chairman and John Ternus will become CEO on 1st September, after a board-approved succession plan. Arthur Levinson will become lead independent director, and Ternus will join the board the same day. Cook remains CEO through the summer. Ternus, Apple’s hardware engineering chief, joined the company in 2001. Analysts view Ternus’ appointment as a signal of continuity, leveraging his deep hardware expertise, however, the sudden timing has raised questions regarding Apple's AI strategy and upcoming earnings.

Lucid (LCID), Uber Technologies (UBER) - Lucid shares rose 2.4% in extended US trading after Uber disclosed an 11.52% passive stake in Lucid, representing more than 37.75mln shares, after expanding its partnership with the company. As part of Lucid’s USD 300mln capital raise on 14th April, Uber increased its commitment to at least 35,000 vehicles for its future global robotaxi service, and added USD 200mln, bringing total investment to USD 500mln.