Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 28th September 2026

APAC stocks began the week mixed as higher oil prices spurred hawkish rate bets and following mixed geopolitical headlines over the weekend, in which US President Trump rejected Iran's proposal for a peace deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, but expects talks to resume this week. ASX 200 traded higher with gains led by strength in the top-weighted financial sector, but with the upside capped heading into a widely anticipated rate hike by the RBA tomorrow. Nikkei 225 swung between gains and losses with the index fading an initial rally amid higher yields and as participants also digested firmer-than-expected Services PPI data, while former BoJ official Momma touted the possibility of the central bank hiking rates again in October. KOSPI suffered on return from a 4-day closure with notable selling in the local tech behemoths. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp were mixed as the Hong Kong benchmark edged higher, while the mainland was heavily pressured at the start of a holiday-shortened trading week following a slowdown in Industrial Profits, while the PBoC's liquidity efforts and a US-China agreement for a USD 30bln reciprocal tariff reduction framework failed to spur risk appetite.

Nissan (7203 JT) - Co. targets 80% localisation of US manufacturing by 2030. (Nissan)

SK Hynix (000660 KS) - Co. begins groundwork for Japan fab in Tohoku region. (SK Hynix)

TSMC (2330 TT) - Co. is sharply accelerating its capacity expansion as Apple (AAPL), NVIDIA (NVDA), AMD (AMD), Qualcomm (QCOM), MediaTek (2454 TT) and others increase their 2nm bookings by 10-20% amid strong AI and HPC demand. (EDN)

CLOSES: Euro Stoxx 50 +0.41% at 6,298, Dax 40 +0.51% at 25,396, FTSE 100 +0.14% at 10,695, CAC 40 -0.04% at 8,078, FTSE MIB +0.63% at 51,867, IBEX 35 +0.65% at 19,700, PSI +0.21% at 9,705, SMI +0.26% at 13,942, AEX +0.47% at 1,112

UK Taxes - UK PM Burnham hinted regarding new taxes to pay for social care reform and confirmed he wants care for the elderly and infirm to operate on NHS principles, while he didn’t deny that this would be paid for with tax increases. UK PM Burnham insisted he can deliver a real change for people in the country despite the nation facing severe economic headwinds, while he acknowledged they are facing a challenging set of circumstances at the budget.

UK Homebuilders - UK PM Burnham announced a new help-to-buy scheme to get first-time buyers on the housing ladder, named "Your First Home". This will allow new buyers to buy a home with a 2.5% deposit, and make use of an interest-free government loan. (Newswires)

UK Airliners - UK PM Burnham suggested he could block plans for a third runway at Heathrow Airport. (Newswires)

UK Geopolitics - British police arrested several suspects over a ‘major incident’ near an airbase used by the US, while US President Trump said the men arrested at the UK airbase were looking to do ‘big damage’. (Newswires)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

BASF SE (BAS GY) - Co. confirms exploratory talks with RAG-Stiftung and Evonik Industries (EVK GY) regarding a potential takeover of Evonik. The course and outcome of these exploratory talks remain open at this stage. (BASF) Confirmed just before the close on Friday, 25th September.

Qiagen (QIA GY) - FDA clears QIAstat-Dx panel for bloodstream infections. (Qiagen)

Siemens (SIE GY) - BeNEX commissioned Siemens Mobility to supply 56 regional trains for the Mainfranken network. The vehicles will include ETCS, intermittent automatic train control and Onboard Units, and are scheduled to enter service on the Frankfurt-Wurzburg-Nurnberg/Bamberg routes at the end of 2030. Elsewhere, the CEO announced that the Co. is reorganising its digital and real-world products, aiming to boost profitability. (Bloomberg)

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

L'Oreal (OR FP), LVMH (MC FP), EssilorLuxottica (EL FP) - Armani is reportedly to begin its 15% stake sale, and is holding talks with LVMH, L'Oreal and EssilorLuxottica. Armani CEO Giuseppe Marsocci said that the Co. would be open to having more than one investor for the stake stale, FT reports. (FT/Newswires)

TotalEnergies (TTE FP) - TotalEnergies, SOCAR and XRG have taken FID for full-field development of the Absheron gas and condensate field. Production is expected to reach 6 BCMA of gas, and 47K BPD of condensate; start-up is planned for 2029. The gas will supply Azerbaijan’s domestic market, and be exported to Turkey. (TotalEnergies)

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

Rexel (RXL FP) - Co. to acquire GCG, for an enterprise value of c. USD 1.4bln. The transaction is expected to close by 2026 year-end, subject to customary regulatory approvals and closing conditions. (Rexel)

BROKER MOVES

Arcadis (ARCAD NA) - Expands Autodesk collaboration to advance AI and digital workflows. (Arcadis)

Defence Names - Large defence contractors are rushing to increase missile production, although efforts haven't yet translated into real gains for depleted US stocks, according to WSJ. (WSJ)

Geopols - EU countries consider NATO-style joint responses to Russian hybrid attacks which have included drone attacks, bombs and arson, according to FT. (FT)

Poste Italiane (PST IM) - Provisional results of the reopening of the acceptance period; approx. 65.71% of the share capital of the Co. has been tendered in acceptance of the offer. (Poste Italiane)

BROKER MOVES

Verbund (VER AV) upgraded to Hold from Sell at Deutsche Bank

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

DKSH (DKSH SW) - Co. and Grunenthal have entered into a new regional partnership agreement covering eight Asia-Pacific markets. (DKSH)

BROKER MOVES

BROKER MOVES

Norsk Hydro (NHY NO) upgraded to Hold from Sell at Danske Bank

CLOSES: SPX +0.51% at 7,743, NDX +0.42% at 30,608, DJI +0.93% at 51,834, RUT +0.07% at 2,838

SECTORS: Energy -0.88%, Communication services -0.65%, Real estate -0.36%, Consumer discretionary flat, Materials +0.29%, Utilities +0.4%, Health +0.5%, Consumer staples +0.52%, Financials +0.53%, Industrials +0.94%, Technology +0.99%.

Apple (AAPL) - A US jury ordered Apple to pay Taction more than USD 5.7bln after finding its Taptic Engine infringed two haptic technology patents, Reuters reports. Apple denied using Taction’s technology, said the patents were invalid and plans to appeal.

Anthropic - A US appeals court upheld the Pentagon’s blacklisting of Anthropic from military contracts, Reuters reports. The 2-1 ruling found concerns over Anthropic’s restrictions on autonomous weapons and mass surveillance reasonable, and rejected claims of retaliation over AI safety views. Anthropic disagreed and is considering further review.

ByteDance - Alabama AG Steve Marshall announced a settlement under which TikTok will pay the state at least USD 100mln within 45 days, potentially rising to USD 300mln if conditions are met. TikTok must also introduce child-safety features, resolving Alabama claims over addictive design, alleged mental harms to young users and misleading safety representations.

Boeing (BA) - Boeing has identified a 737 MAX software glitch that could cause an automated navigation feature to fail during landing, potentially forcing pilots to fly manually without some autopilot functions, WSJ reports. Boeing notified operators in late August, saying it did not pose a safety risk, while working on a permanent software fix. Southwest Airlines (LUV) and United Airlines (UAL) requested an earlier software version for new deliveries. The FAA is investigating. GE Aerospace (GE), which developed the software, said it is working with Boeing and supporting the FAA's. (WSJ)

OpenAI - OpenAI agents accessed US Commerce Department and SEC websites during training runs and engaged in activity the company described as “misaligned”, WSJ reports. The SEC said no non-public information was accessed. OpenAI said most reviewed activity involved routine public web research, and that it had notified affected agencies. (WSJ)

Prediction Markets - A US appeals court ruled Ohio and Tennessee can regulate Kalshi’s event contracts under gambling laws, finding Kalshi had not shown they were swaps subject exclusively to CFTC oversight. The decision deepens a federal circuit split and could prompt Supreme Court review, Reuters said. (Reuters)