Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 9th July 2026
ASIA
Asia-Pac stocks initially proved resilient to the recent US-Iran strikes, with the majority of indices opening with decent gains. However, as the session progressed, market reversed, with the Nikkei 225 the only index printed gains. The reversal came without a clear driver, which highlights the extreme volatility in equity markets. ASX 200 began trade with losses and continued to trade in the red, however stabilised above 8,700. Energy was the sector outperformer, while Metals & Mining lagged for a fourth straight session. Nikkei 225 was the only index printing gains, helped by gains in Kioxia, after Bain Capital announced the sale of its entire stake, and Tokyo Election, as it highlighted the ability to cut chip gear delivery times by 50%. KOSPI initially surged at the open, following on from the tech-led gains stateside, with Samsung and SK Hynix printing gains of over 5% at one point. However, the index reversed, driven by the losses in the two tech giants, highlighting the extreme volatility in the South Korean benchmark. The KOSPI volatility index currently stands at 87.41, compared to Nasdaq’s 27.86. Shanghai Comp. and Hang Seng. opened with modest gains but gave back slightly. It was another day of IPOs for the Hang Seng, with the introduction of Luxshare Precision Industry, which didn't start as hoped.
Chinese Data - Chinese Inflation Rate MoM (Jun) M/M -0.3% vs. Exp. -0.2% (Prev. -0.1%, Low. -0.6%, High. 0%); Y/Y 1.0% vs. Exp. 1.2% (Prev. 1.2%, Low. 0.8%, High. 1.5%). PPI YoY (Jun) Y/Y 4.1% vs. Exp. 4.1% (Prev. 3.9%, Low. 2.6%, High. 4.5%). (Newswires)
Chinese Activity - China announces issuance of guidelines to promote the retail sector. (Newswires)
South Korea / Tech - South Korean brokerages are aggressively raising margin requirements for major equities including Samsung Electronics (005930 KS) and SK Hynix (000660 KS) to curb high-leverage trading and mitigate the risk of forced liquidations, SE Daily reports. (SE Daily)
SK Hynix (000660 KS) - SK Hynix's US ADR is reportedly more than 7x oversubscribed, Bloomberg reports. (Bloomberg)
EUROPEAN CLOSES
CLOSES: Euro Stoxx 50 -1.79% at 6,207, Dax 40 -2.35% at 24,866, FTSE 100 -1.66% at 10,489, CAC 40 -2.18% at 8,253, FTSE MIB -1.22% at 51,817, IBEX 35 -3.01% at 19,049, PSI -1.77% at 9,085, SMI -1.30% at 14,174, AEX -0.26% at 1,076
SECTORS: Energy 2.90%, Financials -0.01%, IT -0.01%, Telecoms -0.01%, Utilities -0.36%, Healthcare -1.29%, Consumer Stpl -1.32%, Industrials -2.31%, Consumer Disc -2.62%, Materials -3.52%
FTSE 100
UK Economy - Likely PM Burnham’s economic blueprint focuses on small business and cost of living, FT reports. The paper was drawn up by key Burnham adviser Miatta Fahnbulleh, a former minister and economist, as the prime minister-in-waiting rushes to pull together a plan for government ahead of his expected arrival in Downing Street on July 20. Those briefed on Fahnbulleh’s economic plan said a key focus was to “immediately” get money into voters’ pockets to help with the cost of living, targeting energy bills and transport in particular. Small and medium-sized companies would also be targeted for support. One idea floated by Fahnbulleh is a cut in the national insurance bill for SME employers, although she accepts that would be a matter for the next chancellor. (FT)
UK Politics - Andy Burnham is reportedly discussing plans to give the next deputy PM control of his new Downing Street outpost in Manchester, the FT reports citing sources. Elsewhere, Andy Burnham has pledged to rebuild the country's hard power by ensuring that billions of pounds of additional defence spending is focused on the UK rather than given to American or European companies, according to the Times' Swinford. (FT / The Times)
UK RICS - UK RICS House Price Balance (Jun) -33% vs. Exp. -32% (Prev. -35%, Revised to -34%). New buyer enquiries -29% (prev. -34%). "Until there is greater clarity over both the political backdrop and the path of interest rates, housing market activity is likely to remain relatively subdued in the near term". (RICS)
UK Nuclear / EDF - Sizewell B nuclear power plant has reportedly been granted a 20-year life extension by the UK Government. (The Guardian)
OTHER UK COMPANIES
BROKER MOVES
Admiral (ADM LN) upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Goldman Sachs
Saga (SAGA LN) initiated with Buy at Berenberg
Segro (SGRO LN) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies
DAX
Mercedes-Benz (MBG GY) - Co. reports US Q2 sales: 84.5k units, -3.2% Y/Y. (Mercedes-Benz)
Rheinmetall (RHM GY), TKMS (TKMS GY) - German lawmakers approved several defence orders including a EUR 12bln warship order for TKMS, and a EUR 462mln order for a Rheinmetall laser deal. Elsewhere, Rheinmetall offers Croatia a long-term strategic industrial partnership. Croatia is set to become one of Europe's key hubs for the development, production and export of advanced defence technologies in the field of unmanned systems (Newswires / Rheinmetall)
Volkswagen (VOW3 GY) - Co. is set to meet to make a judgement of its restructuring plan, which aims to address high costs, excess capacity, and increased competition from China. Recent source reports have suggested some measures that the CEO was considering was the closure of several German plants, which would put jobs cuts in the hundreds of thousands.
OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES
Nordex Group (NDX1 GY) - Co. announces 3.1 GW of order intake in the second quarter 2026. Stable pricing environment continued. Order intake mainly driven by Germany, the US and Turkey. (Nordex)
Suedzucker (SZU GY) - Q1 2026 (EUR): Revenue 2.06bln (exp. 2.06bln), Op. EBITDA 135mln (prev. 96mln Y/Y). Commentary: Revenues declined significantly in the sugar segment, dropped moderately in the CropEnergies and starch segments and remained stable in the special products and fruit segments. (Suedzucker)
BROKER MOVES
CAC
Airbus (AIR FP) - June deliveries 89 (prev 81 M/M), gross orders 71. YTD (January to June) Deliveries: 351 Gross Aircraft orders (prev. 306 Y/Y). Booked 887. Net Aircraft orders: Booked 822. (Airbus)
TotalEnergies (TTE FP) - Ships first ECA LNG Phase 1 cargo to Asia. (Newswires)
OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES
Ipsen (IPN FP) - Co. announced positive topline results from its Phase III BEOND migraine program evaluating Dysport for the prevention of episodic and chronic migraine in adults. Dysport achieved statistically significant results, meeting primary endpoints in both episodic and chronic migraine. (Ipsen)
BROKER MOVES
Arkema (ARK FP) downgraded to Add from Buy at AlphaValue
PAN EUROPE
Acciona (ANA SM) - Co. has reached an agreement to acquire 80% of Vertical Earth, a Georgia-based infrastructure contractor. (Acciona)
Geopolitics - Continued flare-ups between US and Iran overnight. For the Strait, some war insurers advise shipowners to pause Hormuz voyages after attacks, according to Reuters citing sources. (Newswires / Reuters)
OMV (OMV AV) - Q2 Production 291k kboepd (exp. 262k kboepd). (OMV)
US-Spain relations - US President Trump says Spain was very generous today as they honoured a request for lots of payment. (Newswires)
BROKER MOVES
Stellantis (STLAM IM/STLAP FP) downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan
Wolters Kluwer (WKL NA) upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan
SMI
Nestle (NESN SW) - Thailand approves USD 668mln investment in a coffee factory. (Newswires)
Roche (ROP SW) - Co. receives CE Mark for blood test to identify tuberculosis infection. The Elecsys IGRA TB test expands global access to tuberculosis infection testing, advancing progress toward the World Health Organization's elimination targets. (Roche)
OTHER SWISS COMPANIES
Barry Callebaut (BARN SW) - 9M 2026 (CHF): Sales Revenue 9.55bln, -9.5% Y/Y; due to lower volume and negative cocoa bean-linked pricing. Sales Volume -2.8% Y/Y, Global Chocolate -2.3% Y/Y. Market share gains in China, continued momentum in India and customer wins in Australia were partly offset by market pressure in Japan and South Korea.
BROKER MOVES
Partners (PGHN SW) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at UBS
SCANDINAVIA
Novo Nordisk (NOVOB DC) - Dr Reddy's (DRREDDY ID) said that it will be delaying commercial supplies of semaglutide due to active ingredient issues, Reuters reports. (Reuters)
SalMar (SALM NO) - Co. enters into agreement to acquire 70% of the shares in Masoval. Deal valued at NOK 4.84bln. (SalMar)
BROKER MOVES
Bavarian Nordic (BAVAB DC) resumed with Buy at Nordea
Nokian Tyres (TYRES FH) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Danske Bank
Sampo (SAMAS FH) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman Sachs
US
CLOSES: SPX -0.28% at 7,483, NDX +0.27% at 29,253, DJI -1.09% at 52,353, RUT -0.88% at 2,956
SECTORS: Materials -2.49%, Financials -1.91%, Real Estate -1.62%, Consumer Discretionary -1.60%, Communication Services -1.41%, Health -1.32%, Industrials -1.08%, Utilities -0.73%, Consumer Staples -0.44%, Energy +1.41%, Technology +1.44%.
Meta (META) - Co. says it will build a 1-GW USD 9.17bln data centre in Alberta, Canada. New data centre will be powered by natural gas, although the environmental impact will be offset by the company's investments in renewable energy. (Meta)