Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 18th May 2026

ASIA

APAC stocks were mostly in the red after last Friday's losses on Wall St, and with risk sentiment sapped as oil prices and yields extended higher after US President Trump warned the clock was ticking on Iran, heading into a meeting on Tuesday with his national security team to discuss possible options for military action, while participants in the region also digest disappointing Chinese activity data. ASX 200 was dragged lower amid losses across nearly all sectors aside from energy, and with sentiment not helped by disappointing data from Australia's largest trading partner. Nikkei 225 resumed its pullback from last week's record highs amid higher oil prices and the anticipation of the BoJ to resume rate normalisation next month. KOSPI was volatile as the index initially suffered heavy losses and the Korea Exchange triggered a sidecar after KOSPI 200 futures dropped 5.0% with jitters seen as Samsung Electronics faces an 18-day strike involving nearly 45,000 of Samsung’s unionised workers starting on May 21st. The index then staged a firm rebound alongside Samsung shares after the union said it would engage in government-mediated pay talks, and a court was said to partially accept an injunction request against the union's planned strike, although the union later announced that it would proceed with the strike as planned. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp were pressured following the disappointing activity data in which Industrial Production, Retail Sales and Fixed Assets Ex-Rural Investment all missed forecasts, with the latter showing a surprise contraction, while the stats bureau noted the external situation is complex and that China's economic foundation still needs to be consolidated.

Samsung Electronics (005930 KS) - A South Korean court has granted the Co. an injunction that could limit the scope of the planned strike. The union has recently said it will engage in government-mediated pay talks, ahead of its May 21st strike. (FT) Shares +4.2% in Korean trade.

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: Euro Stoxx 50 -1.74% at 5,824, Dax 40 -2.05% at 23,955, FTSE 100 -1.71% at 10,195, CAC 40 -1.60% at 7,953, FTSE MIB -1.87% at 49,116, IBEX 35 -1.22% at 17,593, PSI -1.00% at 9,033, SMI +0.05% at 13,220, AEX -1.09% at 1,010

SECTORS: Energy 0.86%, Consumer Stpl -0.13%, Healthcare -0.36%, Telecoms -1.12%, Financials -1.16%, Consumer Disc -1.17%, Industrials -2.43%, IT -2.70%, Materials -3.55%, Utilities -3.62%

FTSE 100

AstraZeneca (AZN LN) - Enhertu received FDA approval for two new HER2-positive early breast cancer indications. It was approved in the neoadjuvant setting with taxane, trastuzumab and pertuzumab for adult stage 2 or 3 patients, and in the adjuvant setting for adults with residual invasive disease after trastuzumab and taxane-based treatment. Daiichi Sankyo and AstraZeneca jointly develop it. (US FDA)

BP (BP/ LN) - Co. is reportedly planning to dismantle its pipeline gas trading team and lay off 20 people, with the co. shifting focus to LNG, sources say cited by Reuters. (Reuters)

IAG (IAG LN) - Co. to launch a new EUR 500mln share buyback programme. (IAG)

Pershing Square (PSH LN) - New buy: MSFT. Increases: AMZN. Cuts: GOOG, GOOGL, BN, UBER, QSR, META. Exits: HLT. (Pershing Square)

Shell (SHEL LN) - XRG and EIG are the frontrunners for the Co.'s 16.67% stake in the North West Shelf LNG project. (The Australian)

Standard Chartered (STAN LN) - Co. has appointed Manus Costello as CFO. Tanuj Kapilashrami is promoted to COO. (Standard Chartered)

UK Housing - Rightmove House Prices YY (May) -0.3% (Prev. -0.9%), UK Rightmove House Prices MM (May) 1.2% (Prev. 0.8%). "It's normal to see asking prices pick up as we move through the spring selling season. What's notable this month is that activity in the market is staying fairly steady, even with ongoing cost‐of‐living pressures and wider global uncertainty”. (Rightmove)

Vistry (VTY LN) - Co. has reportedly told subcontractors to stop working on new developments to preserve cash as at least GBP 130mln of its off-balance sheet investments have been red-flagged. (The Times)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

Burberry (BRBY LN) upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley

Shell (SHEL LN) upgraded to Buy from Hold at HSBC

Tate & Lyle (TATE LN) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Kepler Cheuvreux

DAX

Mercedes-Benz (MBG GY) - Mercedes-Benz CEO Kallenius said the company would be willing to enter defence production if it made “business sense”, WSJ reports. He said Europe needs to increase its defence profile and that Mercedes would be willing to play a positive role if possible. (Mercedes Benz)

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

Sartorius (SRT GY) - Elliott has built a sizeable stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories (BIO) and a large stake in Sartorius (SRT GY), the German lab-equipment supplier in which Bio-Rad has a strategic investment. (WSJ)

BROKER MOVES

Commerzbank (CBK GY) downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Keefe Bruyette

CAC

Publicis (PUB FP) - Co. confirms its 2026 guidance of between 4-5% revenue growth, raises its 2027 and 2028 constant currency growth objectives to between +7-8% (prev. +6-7%) and +8-10% (+7-9%) respectively. Co. also announces the acquisition of LiveRamp for an total enterprise value of USD 2.2bln. (Publicis)

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

Ipsen (IPN FP) - Ipsen presented first corabotase data for moderate-to-severe glabellar lines at the 2026 Scale Symposium. At Week 4, 66% of corabotase-treated patients had a statistically significant 2-grade or greater improvement versus 0% on placebo and 54.3% with Dysport. At Week 24, 60.8% maintained clinically significant effect, with 82.8% satisfied or very satisfied. (Ipsen)

BROKER MOVES

PAN EUROPE

Airlines/Jet Fuel - European airlines and oil refiners are growing more confident Europe can avoid jet fuel shortages this summer after plants maximised output, boosted imports and governments tapped strategic reserves, according to FT. (FT)

ASML (ASML NA) - Tata Electronics and ASML signed an MoU to advance India’s semiconductor manufacturing ecosystem. ASML will support the establishment and ramp-up of Tata Electronics’ planned 300mm semiconductor fab in Gujarat. The company said the collaboration reflects growing India-Netherlands strategic cooperation in critical technologies, including semiconductors. (ASML)

EU Trade - The EU is drawing up plans to force European companies to purchase critical components from at least three different suppliers, in an effort to lower the bloc’s reliance on China, according to FT. (FT)

Ryanair (RYA ID) - FY 2025/26 (EUR): Net income 2.26bln (exp. 2.17bln), Revenue 15.5bln (exp. 15.5bln), Customers 208.4mln (prev. 200.2mln Y/Y), guides 2027 customers at 216mln (exp. 216.06mln). States that it does not anticipate any cancellations or any fuel supply issues this summer and is increasingly confident that fuel supply will not be an issue beyond the summer. Commentary post-earnings: "Pricing in recent weeks have eased somewhat. July-Sep pricing is now trending broadly flat, which had earlier expected to post annual gains in low-single-digit percentage." (Ryanair)

BROKER MOVES

Repsol (REP SM) upgraded to Buy from Hold at HSBC

SMI

Novartis (NOVN SW) - Novartis announced PSMAddition data showing Pluvicto plus standard of care improved PSA responses versus standard of care alone in PSMA-positive mHSPC. Results presented at the American Urological Association Annual Meeting 2026 showed a 58% lower risk of PSA progression and deeper PSA reductions with Pluvicto plus standard of care. (Novartis)

Roche (ROP SW) - Co.'s Genentech announced that the US FDA has approved Tecentriq and Tecentriq Hybreza as an adjuvant treatment for adult patients with MIBC who have circulating tumour DNA molecular residual disease (ctDNA MRD) after cystectomy. (Genentech)

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

Sonova (SOON SW) - FY 2025/26 (CHF): Net income 546mln (prev. 565mln Y/Y), Adj. EBITDA 811mln (prev. 782mln Y/Y), Revenue 3.61bln (prev. 3.61bln Y/Y), guides initial FY26/27 revenue between +5-8%. (Sonova)

BROKER MOVES

SCANDINAVIA

Kesko (KESKOB FH) - Reports April Revenue EUR 1.15bln, +7.7% Y/Y. CEO: "In the grocery trade division, sales decreased by 1.5%, but this was primarily due to the fact that Easter-related wholesale mostly took place in March this year, versus April in 2025." (Kesko)

BROKER MOVES

US

CLOSES: SPX -1.24% at 7,408, NDX -1.54% at 29,125, DJI -1.07% at 49,531, RUT -2.44% at 2,793

SECTORS: Materials -2.74%, Utilities -2.40%, Consumer Discretionary -1.83%, Industrials -1.81%, Technology -1.61%, Real Estate -1.56%, Health -1.08%, Communication Services -0.98%, Financials -0.32%, Consumer Staples -0.32%, Energy +2.32%.