Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 6th October 2026

APAC stocks mostly took impetus from the positive handover from Wall St, where all major indices gained and the Nasdaq led the advances to print a fresh record high, despite the continued upside in long-term Treasury yields. ASX 200 gained at the open with outperformance seen in real estate and utilities, while the top-weighted financials sector and mining stocks also contributed to the upside in the index. Nikkei 225 returned to above the 70,000 level but with the gains somewhat modest in comparison to the prior day's surge and in the absence of any major fresh catalysts, while it was recently reported that Japan’s GPIF did not discuss allocation at its September meeting. KOSPI underperformed on return from the long weekend with the index dragged lower by losses in its tech giants, while US President Trump had also previously threatened South Korea to sign on to the Alaska LNG deal or he will 'charge them more’. Hang Seng extended above the 24,000 level with tech and biopharmaceuticals spearheading the advances, while it was also reported that China's Moonshot is to close its pre-IPO funding round at a USD 50bln valuation and eyes a Hong Kong IPO in Q1 next year.

CLOSES: Euro Stoxx 50 +0.04% at 6,241, Dax 40 +0.06% at 25,246, FTSE 100 +0.34% at 10,498, CAC 40 -0.80% at 7,834, FTSE MIB +0.66% at 50,818, IBEX 35 +1.12% at 19,300, PSI -0.66% at 9,354, SMI +0.35% at 13,709, AEX +0.64% at 1,124

AstraZeneca (AZN LN) - Co. CEO says a major acquisition may not be needed to keep growing beyond 2030, citing a broad existing pipeline. Elsewhere, the Co. opens its new R&D centre in Massachusetts, with the USD 1bln investment growing the workforce in the area by over 50% and delivering next-gen medicines. (Bloomberg/AstraZeneca)

HSBC (HSBA LN) - The HKMA has reportedly questioned HSBC about its decision to set up a "global AI centre of excellence" in Singapore, the FT reports. (FT)

UK Defence – UK PM Burnham is reportedly mulling delaying a decision on defence spending until Autumn 2027, in the hope that the economy will improve, The Times reports. (The Times)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

Rio Tinto (RIO LN) upgraded to Sector Perform from Underperform at RBC

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

Nordex (NDX1 GY) - Co. received several orders for the supply and installation of 35 wind turbines across South, Central and Eastern Europe, providing a total capacity of around 228 MW. (EQS)

BROKER MOVES

Henkel (HEN3 GY) upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Goldman Sachs

L'Oreal (OR FP) - Co. is reportedly exploring options for rising US legal liabilities to address lawsuits from individuals alleging that talc and other chemical ingredients caused illness, WSJ reports. (WSJ)

Luxury Names - Chanel President says comparable revenue rose 16% Y/Y, outpacing broader luxury market, WWD reports. (WWD)

Renault (RNO FP) - Co. appoints Michelin's (ML FP) Carine Damois as CFO, effective November 14th. (Renault)

TotalEnergies (TTE FP) - Co. CEO says they are committed to the Middle East region more than ever. with more focus on export routes. Need to move from "just in time" to "just in case" planning. (Newswires)

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

GTT (GTT FP) - Co. receives an order from Samsung Heavy Industries (010140 KS) shipyard for the tank design of four new LNG carriers. Vessels to be delivered in 2029. (GTT)

Spie (SPIE FP) - Co. acquires 94% of CLAUSER. (Spie)

BROKER MOVES

Schneider Electric (SU FP) downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan, highlighting the fundamentally less attractive capital allocation into the Industrial Automation division from the Energy Management division.

CVC (CVC NA), GBL (GBLB BB), Recordati (REC IM) - CVC and GBL raise their offer for Recordati to EUR 53/shr (prev. EUR 51.27/shr), Bloomberg reports. (Bloomberg)

Neiner Homes (HOME SM) - Co. announces that it is increasing its shareholder payouts to EUR 280mln (prev. EUR 250mln) in 2026. Co. also raises its 2027 guidance: now sees EBITDA between EUR 260-280mln (prev. guided EUR 240-260mln) and Net Income EUR 160-170 (prev. guided 150-170mln). (Neiner Homes)

Raiffeisen Bank (RBI AV) - Co. CEO says an effort to exit Russia could be helped if the EUR 3.15bln windfall payment against Rasperia Trading materialises. (Bloomberg)

Sabadell (SAB SM) - BPCE acquires a 7% stake in the bank, with the intention to explore strategic cooperation. BPCE will not be looking to exceed 9.9% and plans to seek approval to appoint a director to the Sabadell board. (BPCE)

UniCredit (UCG IM) - Russian President Putin approves the reorganisation of UniCredit's Russian subsidiary and the subsequent sale of the newly created unit. (Newswires)

Wienerberger (WIE AV) - Trading Update: Expects Q3 revenue at c. EUR 1.2-1.3mln and operating EBITDA c. EUR 170-180mln, while adjusting its FY26 operating EBITDA between EUR 640-650mln. Co. highlights continued weak demand and further inflation-driven cost increases, with weakness particularly in the UK and North America. (EQS) Shares are indicated lower by 3.5% on Tradegate

BROKER MOVES

Ferrovial (FER SM) downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan

OMV (OMV AV) upgraded to Sector Perform from Underperform at RBC

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

Julius Baer (BAER SW) - Co. announces Caroline Kuhnert and Elaine Arden to the Board, with both joining at the 2027 AGM. (EQS)

BROKER MOVES

Genmab (GMAB DC), AbbVie (ABBV) - Cos announce that Epcoritamab, in combination with R-CHOP, demonstrates statistically significant improvement in PFS in Patients with newly diagnosed Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma. (Genmab) GMAB US ADR rose 10.8% in US trade

Kone (KNEBV FH) - Mitsubishi Electric (6503 JT) and Fujitec (6406 JT) are reportedly among the potential suitors to acquire TK Elevator's European operations, in a deal worth around EUR 5bln, Bloomberg reports. (Bloomberg)

Skanska (SKAB SS) - Co. signs an additional contract for construction of a tech facility in the US for about SEK 1.3bln. (Skanska)

BROKER MOVES

Gjensidige Forsikring (GJF NO) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies

Nordea Bank (NDA SS) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at SpareBank 1 Markets

SEB (SEBA SS) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at SpareBank 1 Markets

Storebrand (STB NO) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Jefferies

Wartsila (WRT1V FH) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman Sachs

CLOSES: SPX +0.71% at 7,777, NDX +0.87% at 31,076, DJI +0.18% at 51,268, RUT +0.64% at 2,851

SECTORS: Materials +1.22%, Communication Services +1.14%, Energy +0.89%, Health +0.75%, Financials +0.73%, Technology +0.72%, Consumer Staples +0.64%, Utilities +0.34%, Consumer Discretionary +0.33%, Industrials +0.05%, Real Estate -0.44%.

Big Banks - US regulators are increasing scrutiny of banks’ exposure to private credit firms, Semafor reports. Comes as bank loans to nonbank institutions have risen from USD 300bln in 2016 to more than USD 1.5tln now, representing 11% of outstanding bank loans. The Fed, ECB, SEC and BoE have raised concerns over leverage, valuations and resilience, the piece adds.

OpenAI - OpenAI is in talks with UAE investment funds including MGX and with BlackRock (BLK) to help anchor a USD 30bln financing round, Bloomberg reports. UAE funds have discussed investing up to USD 10bln collectively. OpenAI is seeking at least USD 30bln at about a USD 1.4tln valuation. Thrive Capital, Andreessen Horowitz and the University of California are also in talks with the AI company.

Seagate Technology (STX), Toshiba, TDK Corp (6762 JT) - Seagate and Toshiba are competing to acquire TDK’s hard drive magnetic heads business for as much as several billion dollars, Bloomberg reports. TDK is the only independent supplier of HDD magnetic heads, serving Seagate, Toshiba and Western Digital (WDC). The companies have also discussed supply arrangements, including a potential JV. Any deal would face antitrust scrutiny, the report adds.