Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 4th June 2026
ASIA
APAC stocks were lower following the negative handover from the US, where risk sentiment was weighed on by the recent retaliatory attacks between the US and Iran, as well as weakness in tech stocks. ASX 200 was pressured by underperformance in the mining and materials industries, while most sectors were subdued aside from the resilience in defensives. Nikkei 225 retreated from record levels and briefly tested the 67,000 level to the downside amid intervention risks following FX comments from Japanese PM Takaichi, while comments from BoJ Governor Ueda signalled the central bank could resume rate normalisation this month. On that front, hawkish BoJ sources noted the central bank is to mull a hike this month, with another possible in 2026. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp conformed to the downbeat mood amid tech-related headwinds and with the PBoC refraining from open market operations for a second consecutive day.
TSMC (2330 TT) - CEO C.C. Wei said at the company's annual shareholder meeting that customers remain positive on the AI outlook, and demand for advanced semiconductors continues to grow. Wei signalled interest in raising chip prices, though cautioned against sudden increases, and said it will take a "very long time" to fully satisfy US customer demand from its USD 165bln Arizona manufacturing investment. Employee profit sharing is expected to rise approximately 30% in 2026, continuing a trend of 30% annual increases.
EUROPEAN CLOSES
CLOSES: Euro Stoxx 50 -0.93% at 6,051, Dax 40 -1.24% at 24,812, FTSE 100 -0.40% at 10,332, CAC 40 -0.71% at 8,150, FTSE MIB -1.07% at 50,038, IBEX 35 -0.53% at 18,176, PSI +0.46% at 8,999, SMI -0.66% at 13,218, AEX -0.49% at 1,044.
SECTORS: Energy 1.55%, Utilities 0.88%, IT 0.20%, Healthcare -0.04%, Consumer Stpl -0.47%, Industrials -0.69%, Telecoms -0.92%, Materials -1.38%, Financials -1.71%, Consumer Disc -1.86%
FTSE 100
easyJet (EZJ LN) - Castlelake is reportedly considering MSC as its partner for its GBP 3bln bid for easyJet. This comes following reports that Castlelake is looking for partners to navigate through the EU ownership rules. (Corriere della Sera)
Ex-Dividends - Sainsbury (SBRY LN), Vodafone (VOD LN), Marks and Spencer (MKS LN), LondonMetric (LMP LN) and Sage group (SGE LN) will trade without entitlement to their latest dividend. (dividenddata)
GSK (GSK LN) - Co. says they see no fixed ideal internal/external R&D mix but have emphasised that no large pharma can realistically source innovation purely internally. Remains open to assets and platforms from the US, Europe, Asia, and increasingly China. (Newswires)
Index Changes - Aberdeen Group (ABDN LN), Computacenter (CCC LN) and Investec (INVP LN) to join the FTSE 100 while Berkeley Group (BKG LN), Mondi (MNDI LN) and Rightmove (RMV LN) to move to the FTSE 250. (FTSE Russell) To take effect on June 22nd.
UK Defence - UK PM Starmer is considering watering down plans to boost defence spending by GBP 18ln over concerns that they are unaffordable, according to The Times. In other news, the UK Treasury is preparing to take control from the Ministry of Defence of spending on a multibillion-pound fighter jet programme. PM Starmer is reportedly expected to inject about GBP15bln into the military up until 2030, the FT reports. (The Times/FT)
OTHER UK COMPANIES
BROKER MOVES
DAX
OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES
BROKER MOVES
Scout24 (G24 GY) initiated with Buy at Goldman Sachs
CAC
Air Liquide (AI FP) - Co. announces EUR 115mln in investments in startup Quobly. (Air Liquide)
OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES
Elis (ELIS FP)- Co. appoints Xavier Martire as Chair, effective September 5th. (Elis)
Remy Cointreau (RCO FP) - FY 2025/26 final (EUR): Sales 935.3mln (prev. 984.6mln Y/Y), Current Operating Profit 165.4mln (prev. 217mln Y/Y), to propose an ordinary dividend of EUR 0.75/shr. Announces the launch of RC Forward, a three-year transformation plan. Anticipates a return to sustainable organic sales growth in FY 2026/27. Will present medium-term objectives in November 2026. (Remy Cointreau)
BROKER MOVES
PAN EUROPE
ASML (ASML NA) - TSMC's CEO says they are not using the co.'s high-NA EUV for production due to high costs and are working to reduce costs and maximise benefits of high-NA EUV before deploying it in production. (Newswires)
ING Group (INGA NA) - Co. is reportedly preparing a EUR 200mln bid for Singular, a Spanish bank, according to CincoDias (CincoDias)
BROKER MOVES
SMI
Novartis (NOVN SW) - Cosentyx PMR data in New England Journal of Medicine showed clinically meaningful and statistically significant efficacy achieved in primary and all secondary endpoints, including reduced steroid use. (Novartis)
Partners Group (PGHN SW) - Co. affirms FY26 gross new client demand of between USD 26-32bln and sees solid net AuM growth for 2026. Evergreen platform fundraising is expected to exceed outflows in H1 but slow H2 net AuM growth by 1-2%. (Partners Group)
OTHER SWISS COMPANIES
BROKER MOVES
Barry Callebaut (BARN SW) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman Sachs
PSP Swiss Property (PSPN SW) downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Kempen
SCANDINAVIA
BROKER MOVES
Rockwool (ROCKB SS) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Danske Bank
Trelleborg (TRELB SS) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Danske Bank
Wartsila (WRT1V FH) upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Goldman Sachs
US
CLOSES: SPX -0.71% at 7,556, NDX -0.29% at 30,571, DJI -1.21% at 50,688, RUT -1.31% at 2,894.
SECTORS: Energy +1.42%, Consumer Staples +0.78%, Health +0.76%, Materials +0.24%, Real Estate +0.09%, Industrials -0.10%, Communication Services -0.17%, Utilities -0.53%, Consumer Discretionary -1.07%, Financials -1.21%, Technology -1.52%.
Autodesk (ADSK), Amazon (AMZN) - Autodesk signed a strategic collaboration agreement with Amazon Web Services to advance cloud-based customer solutions. Autodesk products will be available through AWS Marketplace from Q2 of Autodesk’s FY, starting with Fusion for Product Design and Fusion Manage, while the companies will collaborate on AWS cloud and AI capabilities for design and make workflows.
Broadcom (AVGO) - Shares fell almost 12% in extended trading after weaker software sales and a revenue miss were compounded by disappointment that the company did not raise its full-year AI chip sales forecast. Q2 adj. EPS 2.44 (exp. 2.40), Q2 revenue USD 22.187bln (exp. 22.12bln). Q2 AI semiconductor revenue grew 143% Y/Y to USD 10.8bln, driven by custom AI accelerators and AI networking. Cash from operations USD 10.49bln, free cash flow USD 10.426bln. CEO said AI semiconductor momentum continued into Q3. Sees Q3 revenue USD 29.4bln (exp. 28.3bln), sees Q3 adj. EBITDA approximately 68% of projected revenue, sees Q3 gross margin 74%, sees Q3 software revenue about USD 8.9bln, and sees Q3 semiconductor revenue from AI grow over 200% Y/Y to USD 16.0bln. On call, the company said Q2 AI semiconductor bookings were over USD 30bln, sees FY26 AI chip sales of USD 56bln, and backed its 2027 AI revenue target of more than USD 100bln, while noting it accepts Google (GOOG) will use a variety of chip sources.
CrowdStrike Holdings (CRWD) - CrowdStrike shares fell 11% in extended trading as a narrow beat and AI momentum failed to offset investor disappointment on guidance, that was only roughly in line with expectations after a strong rally. Q1 adj. EPS 1.10 (exp. 1.07), Q1 revenue USD 1.39bln (exp. 1.36bln). The company approved a 4-for-1 stock split. CEO said cybersecurity and frontier AI had collided in a “Mythos moment”, positioning CrowdStrike as AI security infrastructure critical to AI adoption. He cited record Q1 net new ARR, the QuiltWorks coalition and AIDR innovation as signs of an AI inflection point, with platform adoption from existing customers, new-logo wins and increased partner engagement supporting higher FY27 expectations. Sees Q2 adj. EPS between 1.16-1.17 (exp. 1.16), sees Q2 revenue between USD 1.436-1.442bln (exp. 1.43bln). Raised FY27 guidance, sees adj. EPS between 4.88-4.96 (exp. 4.84; prev. saw 4.78-4.90), and revenue between USD 5.914-5.958bln (exp. 5.87bln; prev. saw 5.868-5.928bln).
Nvidia (NVDA) - Nvidia acquired enterprise predictive AI software maker Kumo AI for more than USD 400mln, according to The Information. The deal should expand Nvidia's roster of AI models that can be optimised for its hardware and offered to enterprises for further customisation.