Newsquawk European Equity Opening News - 26th October 2026

APAC stocks were mixed with a mostly negative bias following last week's surge in oil and amid ongoing geopolitical risks, while participants await this week's tech earnings and several major central bank rate decisions. ASX 200 mildly outperformed, with the index kept afloat as strength in the local real estate, tech and the commodity-related sectors offset the losses in defensives, telecoms and financials. Nikkei 225 was lower amid tech headwinds and with SoftBank choppy after reports that its CEO Son is discussing a USD 50bln investment plan in Malaysia focused on AI and data centres. KOSPI retreated with some indecision seen in the tech heavyweights ahead of their Q3 earnings results this week, while SK Hynix clarified it is considering various shareholder‑return options, but added that nothing was decided and it will unveil additional plans after its Q3 earnings announcement, in response to reports that it plans a KRW 16.0tln special dividend from gains on its Kioxia investment. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp were mixed with price action range-bound amid several earnings releases, while trade frictions lingered with China firmly opposing a US Treasury proposal to expand the scope and severity of restrictions on US investment in China.

Chinese stocks - China National Team ETFs reportedly had the largest inflows since April 2025, with inflows totaling USD 19bln during last week alone. (Newswires)

SK Hynix (000660 KS) - Co. says it is considering various shareholder‑return options but nothing decided, while it will unveil additional plans after its Q3 earnings announcement. (SK Hynix)

Samsung Electronics (005930 KS) - Co. and SK Hynix (000660 KS) are to mass produce and ship 8-layer HBM4 next February, supplying to Nvidia (NVDA). (Samsung Electronics)

CLOSES: Euro Stoxx 50 -0.36% at 6,065, Dax 40 -0.86% at 25,152, FTSE 100 -0.40% at 10,682, CAC 40 -0.36% at 7,783, FTSE MIB +0.36% at 48,559, IBEX 35 +0.40% at 18,990, PSI +0.07% at 9,245, SMI -0.83% at 14,427, AEX +0.17% at 1,132

AstraZeneca (AZN LN) - Co. announced positive results from the SAFFRON Phase III trial showed Tagrisso plus Orpathys demonstrated a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in both progression-free survival and overall survival versus doublet platinum-based chemotherapy in patients with epidermal growth factor receptor-mutated non-small cell lung cancer. Elsewhere, AstraZeneca reported positive Phase III IMFINZI results in two cancer trials. DeLLphi-305 showed IMFINZI plus Amgen’s tarlatamab reduced death risk by 58% and progression risk by 66%, with median survival of 21.1 months versus 12.7. VOLGA showed IMFINZI plus enfortumab vedotin reduced death risk by 42% and disease progression, recurrence, failure to undergo surgery or death by 49%. (AstraZeneca)

BP (BP/ LN) - Co. and Louisiana agreed to resolve remaining Deepwater Horizon economic damage claims, including a USD 350mln early lump-sum payment to the state. Under the settlement, BP will pay USD 4.9bln over 18 years to settle economic and other claims from five Gulf Coast states. Remaining coastal-zone lawsuits involving Louisiana parishes will also be resolved. (BP)

GSK (GSK LN) - GSK reported positive results from two cancer trials. Phase II AZUR-1 showed Jemperli achieved a 76% complete response rate in locally advanced rectal cancer, with no recurrences among responders. Phase I BEHOLD-1 showed Mo-Rez achieved a 62% response rate in platinum-resistant ovarian cancer, with median response duration of 12.2 months and progression-free survival of 11.1 months. (GSK)

UK Budget - UK Chancellor Healey will use his budget this week to protect pensioners and those saving for their retirement as he announces plans to shield nearly one million people from paying income tax, according to The Times. Healey is expected to confirm on Wednesday that the full state pension will rise by GBP 489 to GBP 13,036, and that will be equivalent to a 3.9% rise. Elsewhere, UK Prime Minister's office says the UK is to spend an additional GBP 432mln to help curb homelessness. (Newswires)

UK-EU relations - UK PM Burnham opened the door to Britain readopting the EU's free-movement rules, according to The Sunday Times. It was separately reported that Burnham called for an 'honest discussion' on the free movement of people, which has sparked a furious debate over Britain readopting EU free movement rules, but rejected the idea that the UK could join the euro or the passport-free Schengen travel area, according to FT. (The Sunday Times / FT)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

Bayer (BAYN GY) - Reports interim analysis results from the Phase III DASL-HiCaP trial show a statistically significant 58% reduction in the risk of metastasis or death with NUBEQA versus placebo in addition to androgen deprivation therapy and radiation therapy. (Bayer)

Volkswagen (VOW3 GY) - Volkswagen’s Audi plans to invest approximately USD 4bln in its first US manufacturing plant in Georgia, creating around 4,500 jobs. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2027, with production starting in the early 2030s. The facility will have annual capacity of up to 200K vehicles, focusing on premium SUVs tailored to North American customers. (Volkswagen)

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

BioNTech (22UA GY) - Co. and Bristol Myers Squibb (BMY) reports encouraging data. Announced first data from the global Phase 2 ROSETTA Lung-107 clinical trial (NCT06841055) evaluating pumitamig, an investigational PD-L1xVEGF-A bispecific immunomodulator (BNT327/BMS986545), in combination with docetaxel in patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (“NSCLC”) whose disease progressed on or after first-line immunotherapy plus chemotherapy.

Hugo Boss (BOSS GY) / Frasers (FRAS LN) - Co. acquires an additional 0.29% stake in Hugo Boss for EUR 7.6mln; Hugo Boss now becomes a subsidiary of Frasers since stake is over 50%. (Frasers)

BROKER MOVES

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

Eurazeo (RF FP) - Co. appoints Baviere as the sole Chairman and CEO. (Eurazeo)

BROKER MOVES

PostNL (PNL NA) - Q3 2026 (EUR): Revenue 736mln (prev. 762mln Y/Y). Confirms 2026 outlook, with FCF to be at around 0. (PostNL)

BROKER MOVES

Eni (ENI IM) downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Santander

Telefonica (TEF SM) downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at JPMorgan

Novartis (NOVN SW) - Remibrutinib delivered comprehensive disease control in a Phase 3 RMS trial. The experimental multiple sclerosis pill met its primary endpoint but fell short of analyst expectations, Bloomberg said. Relapse rates fell 35% and 31% (exp. 50%), versus 51% and 59% for Roche’s (ROG SW) rival treatment. The drug also failed to significantly slow disability progression. (Novartis)

Roche (ROP SW) - Co. announces pivotal results from the phase III Krascendo 1 study, which demonstrated superior efficacy of investigational divarasib, a next-generation KRAS G12C inhibitor, compared with current standard of care KRAS G12C inhibitors in people with previously treated KRAS G12C-mutated non-small cell lung cancer. The study met primary and key secondary endpoints, and divarasib demonstrated statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvements in OS and progression-free survival over sotorasib or adagrasib. In other news, Roche announced late-breaking oral presentation data from the ongoing phase III IMAgINATION study in adults with primary IgA nephropathy receiving optimised standard of care, demonstrating that investigational sefaxersen achieved a statistically significant 43.1% reduction in proteinuria, relative to placebo at 37 weeks, as measured by 24-hour urine protein-to-creatinine ratio. (Roche)

Sika (SIKA SW) - Co. has acquired Duproof, a Dubai-based manufacturer of waterproofing membranes. The acquisition strengthens Sika’s position in the rapidly growing UAE construction market and supports Sika’s locally sourced product offering for projects in the region. (Sika)

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

Swiss Prime Site (SPSN SW) - Lifts 2026 (CHF): FFO I//shr 4.30-4.35 (prev. guided 4.25-4.30); AuM growth 1.2bln (prev. guided 1bln). (Swiss Prime Site)

BROKER MOVES

Genmab (GMAB DC) - Phase 3 Rina data in ovarian cancer shows PFS and OS endpoints were met. In other news, etosemtamab demonstrates encouraging objective response rates (ORRs), with promising depth and durability of response, in first- and second-line metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). Data reinforces the ongoing global Phase 3 trials of petosemtamab in mCRC, which are actively enrolling patients. Elsewhere, Incyte (INCY) and Genmab announced a clinical trial collaboration evaluating Incyte’s investigational KRAS G12D inhibitor INCB161734 alongside Genmab’s petosemtamab and standard chemotherapy as a first-line treatment for metastatic colorectal cancer patients with KRAS G12D mutations. (Genmab)

Kone (KNEBV FH) - Co. is reportedly planning EUR 4-5bln in asset sales, in an attempt to secure antitrust clearance with its TK Elevators deal, the FT reports citing sources. (FT)

BROKER MOVES

Genmab (GMAB DC) upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan

Norsk Hydro (NHY NO) upgraded to Hold from Sell at SEB

Norsk Hydro (NHY NO) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman Sachs

Orion (ORNBV FH) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Jefferies

SpaceX (SPCX), Nvidia (NVDA) - Elon Musk claims SpaceX closed USD 40bln in debt financing for Nvidia GPUs, although pricing negotiations remain ongoing, according to Bloomberg. Goldman Sachs (GS) is leading discussions with investors including Apollo Global Management (APO), while Pimco (ALIZY) has considered participating. Musk also warned that debt markets have almost entirely closed to neocloud operators lacking substantial revenues outside AI data centres, raising the prospect of widespread failures and consolidation; he predicted that few of the more than 200 neocloud companies would survive. SpaceX, by contrast, benefits from Starlink and launch revenues, although its own credit-default swaps reached a record 266bps, the article notes.

A pre-open wrap of this breadth functions less as a single catalyst than as a map of the session's fault lines, and the structure here is a familiar one for a heavy macro week: Asia trading with a negative bias ahead of stacked central bank decisions and megacap tech earnings, Europe digesting an unusually dense slate of Phase III readouts, and politics doing the work in the UK. The pharma cluster is the dominant single-sector driver, with trial hits and one notable miss across AstraZeneca, GSK, Bayer, Roche, Novartis and Genmab; episodes of concentrated readout days have historically produced sharp single-name dispersion within the sector while leaving the broader index direction to the macro calendar, and the pattern of a drug meeting its primary endpoint but missing elevated street expectations, as with the Novartis MS pill, has tended to be punished more than outright failures. The reported surge in inflows into Chinese National Team ETFs is the tell desks have used in past episodes of state-sponsored buying: large inflows of that kind have typically signalled official support being leaned on during bouts of trade-friction stress, putting a soft floor under onshore indices without resolving the underlying US-China investment-restriction dispute, which remains the live tail risk. The BP Deepwater settlement is a textbook case of long-dated litigation tail being converted into a quantified, extended payment schedule, a sequence that in comparable resolutions has removed a valuation overhang rather than moved near-term cash flow. On the policy side, the UK budget pre-briefing around state pension uprating and tax thresholds lands in a gilt market that has historically been sensitive to unfunded fiscal loosening, making the detail on funding rather than the giveaways the point of interest, while the free-movement noise is the kind of headline that has repeatedly moved sterling only when it signals actual negotiating intent rather than domestic political positioning. The Musk framing of a shakeout among neocloud operators, set against a large GPU-backed debt raise, is worth filing under the widening divergence in AI-infrastructure credit, where CDS on the weaker names has been the cleanest expression of stress in prior bouts.