Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 8th September 2026

APAC stocks traded mixed in the absence of a lead from Wall Street and as attention turned to several data releases from the region, including Japanese GDP and Chinese trade data. ASX 200 underperformed with sentiment not helped by a deterioration in the Westpac Consumer Sentiment and NAB Business Confidence surveys. Nikkei 225 was choppy amid recent currency strength and as the latest data, including upward GDP revisions and hot Labour Cash Earnings, solidified the case for a BoJ rate hike next week. KOSPI outperformed on tech momentum and after South Korean GDP matched initial estimates. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp were mixed as the Hong Kong benchmark was dragged lower by weakness in the local tech and biopharma stocks, while the mainland was kept afloat as participants digested the ultimately mixed Chinese trade data, in which Exports and Imports accelerated and continued to show strong double-digit percentage growth, but missed estimates.

China Car Sales - Passenger car sales fell 23.7% YoY to 1.55 mln units in August, according to the China Passenger Car Association. (CPCA)

Chinese Trade Balance - Trade Balance (Aug) 119.1B vs. Exp. 119.1B (Prev. 112.5B); Exports (Aug YY) 25% vs. Exp. 25.9% (Prev. 23.9%); Imports (Aug YY) 28.2% vs. Exp. 30% (Prev. 27.5%).

China-Japan Trade - China's Commerce Ministry announces anti-dumping measures on imports from Japan of dichlorosilane, with Cos required to provide cash deposits of up to 99.2%. (Bloomberg)

Japanese Growth - GDP Growth Rate Final (Q2 QQ) 0.4% vs. Exp. 0.3% (Prev. 0.5%); GDP Growth Annualized Final (Q2) 1.4% vs. Exp. 1.1% (Prev. 1.8%)

CLOSES: Euro Stoxx 50 +0.17% at 6,404, Dax 40 -0.25% at 25,982, FTSE 100 -0.08% at 10,822, CAC 40 +0.33% at 8,306, FTSE MIB +0.25% at 52,230, IBEX 35 -0.14% at 20,022, PSI +0.32% at 9,419, SMI -0.77% at 14,284, AEX +0.17% at 1,115

SECTORS: IT 1.85%, Energy 1.35%, Industrials 0.24%, Utilities 0.07%, Materials 0.02%, Telecoms 0.00%, Consumer Disc -0.15%, Financials -0.26%, Consumer Stpl -0.57%, Healthcare -1.05%

Rio Tinto (RIO LN) - Co. signs an interim modernised agreement with the Ngarlawangga Aboriginal Corporation. In other news, the Co. has agreed to buy the Aurukun bauxite project from Glencore (GLEN LN) and Mitsubishi Development, no terms disclosed. Elsewhere, Bloomberg reports, citing sources, that China's CMRG has told some steel mills to pause purchases of Rio's Pilbara blend as negotiations between the two Cos are at a key stage. (Rio Tinto/Bloomberg)

UK Retail - BRC Retail Sales Monitor (Aug YY) 0.5% vs. Exp. 1.2% (Prev. 1.0%). "Summer spending started in May this year, as ⁠earlier higher temperatures pulled forward related purchases. And while the heat ​and holiday spending continued to drive food, drink, health and beauty ​sales into August, most other categories couldn't sustain another month of growth." (BRC)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

Auto Trader (AUTO LN) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Jefferies

Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK LN) upgraded to Equal Weight from Underweight at Barclays

Rightmove (RMV LN) upgraded to Hold from Underperform at Jefferies

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

KION Group (KGX GY) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Citi

Airbus (AIR FP) - Co. is reportedly close to signing a purchase order with Air Cairo, with 15 Airbus A320 family jets expected to be bought, Bloomberg reports. In other news, the Co. announced its April delivery figures: Deliveries 57, Orders 67, Deliveries to date 475 (prev. 434 Y/Y). (Bloomberg)

French Beverages - France's Agriculture Ministry announces that Champagne production is estimated to fall to 1.34mln hectolitres, -48% Y/Y, reflecting a reduction in vineyard area and weaker yield due to the extreme weather. 2026 wine production is estimated at 34mln hectolitres, -6% Y/Y. (Bloomberg)

Mistral AI - Co. announces that it has raised EUR 3bln at a valuation of over EUR 21bln, led by Samsung Electronics (005930 KS) and co-led by Scaleup Europe Fund and PSG Equity, which will help scale its compute capacity for training powerful models, expand infrastructure and accelerate its commercial growth and international footprint. (Mistral)

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

Rubis (RUI FP) - H1 2026 (EUR): Revenue 4.07bln (prev. 3.30bln Y/Y), EBITDA 434mln (prev. 369mln Y/Y). Raises FY26 EBITDA to between 775-825mln (prev. guided 740-790mln). (Rubis)

BROKER MOVES

Aeroports de Paris (ADP FP) upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan

Societe Generale (GLE FP) downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan

Deutsche Telekom (DTE GY), Orange (ORA FP), Vodafone (VOD LN), Telefonica (TEF SM) - Cos are reportedly in early talks to create a consortium to bid on satellite spectrum and offer direct-to-mobile service, Bloomberg reports. (Bloomberg)

EU Competitiveness - EU's head of the competition directorate says Cos should make the case for benefits of large corporate mergers as this can enable the creation of champions, which could boost investment, innovation or security of supply and help them compete with the US and China. (FT)

Stellantis (STLAM IM/STLAP FP) - Fiat Chrysler will stand trial before the Paris Criminal Court for aggravated fraud in connection with the vast "Dieselgate" scandal, AFP reports citing a source. (AFP)

BROKER MOVES

Erste Group Bank (EBS AV) initiated with Hold at HSBC

Novartis (NOVN SW) - Co. announces that the global Phase III HARBOR study evaluating del-desiran in people living with myotonic dystrophy type 1 did not demonstrate statistically significant improvement on the primary endpoint. (Novartis)

Sandoz (SDZ SW) - Co. says they remain committed to its mid-term outlook to 2028. Targets core EBITDA margin of 25-27% by 2030 and above 30% by 2035. Additionally, the Co. aims to more than double net sales from 2025-35 and to have over 100 biosimilars by 2040. In other news, the Co. plans to build a new biosimilar drug substance facility in Slovenia. (Sandoz)

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

Skanska (SKAB SS) - Co. is to rehabilitate the I-395 Northbound Bridge in the US for about SEK 1.1bln. (Skanska)

YIT Oyj (YIT FH) - Co. begins construction work at a residential project in Helsinki; contract valued at c. EUR 15mln. (YIT)

BROKER MOVES

SOBI (SOBI SS) initiated with Buy at Arctic Securities

US Markets were closed on Monday for Labor Day.

Anthropic, OpenAI - Morgan Stanley (MS) and Goldman Sachs (GS) have reportedly held talks with credit rating agencies on behalf of the two AI Cos as they look to gain access to the corporate bond market post-IPO, the FT reports. (FT)

US-Canada Trade - US President Trump announced that Bombardier aircrafts will not be sold in the US after Canada implemented retaliatory tariffs of USD 20bln worth of US goods, which take effect today. Of note for Airbus (AIR FP)