Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 18th August 2026

ASIA APAC stocks mostly declined following the weak lead from Wall Street, where all major indices declined amid higher oil prices and yields due to ongoing geopolitical uncertainty following the expiry of the US-Iran MoU and with Trump rejecting a truce extension, while he also threatened to bomb US ally Oman. ASX 200 eked out slight gains amid a slew of earnings, as results from BHP and CSL helped keep the index afloat, although gains were capped by weakness in telecoms, financials and the consumer sectors. Nikkei 225 retreated beneath the 68,000 level with underperformance in Japan amid upside in yields, higher oil prices, fears of a faster pace of BoJ rate hikes, and the recent weak GDP data. KOSPI initially rallied on return from the long weekend, but then faltered as the early tech resilience waned, and with some suggesting that US President Trump's decision to reduce military drills with South Korea could partly be due to frustration regarding the pace of South Korea's investment pledge. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp were subdued following the recent disappointing economic data, in which Industrial Production and Retail Sales missed forecasts, although the downside in the mainland was somewhat cushioned after China's MOFCOM and eight other ministries announced measures to boost consumption in lower-tier cities and counties. BHP (BHP AT) - FY 2026 (USD): Net Income 9.83bln (exp. 10.95bln), Underlying Profit 13.2bln (exp. 12.7bln), announces FY26 dividend of 1.72/shr. Sees the potential to unlock up to additional USD 3.5bln through active capital portfolio and asset management. Says they are targeting 3-4% copper equivalent growth per year up to 2035. Expects copper demand to grow more than 50mln metric tonnes per year by 2050. (BHP) South Korea-US Investment - South Korea has denied reports that the government is discussing a semiconductor project as the first investment under the USD 350bln commitment to the US. EUROPEAN CLOSES CLOSES: Euro Stoxx 50 -0.19% at 6,527, Dax 40 -0.27% at 26,370, FTSE 100 -0.28% at 10,720, CAC 40 -0.66% at 8,580, FTSE MIB +0.01% at 53,587, IBEX 35 -0.87% at 19,982, PSI -0.38% at 9,220, SMI -0.61% at 14,302, AEX -0.27% at 1,115 FTSE 100 North Sea Oil and Gas - The UK Government is reportedly expected to delay its decision on 2 projects due to concerns about the "optics" of making the announcement after successive heatwaves, the Times reports. (The Times) OTHER UK COMPANIES BROKER MOVES Kingspan (KGP LN) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Jefferies Land Securities (LAND LN) downgraded to Add from Buy at Peel Hunt Segro (SGRO LN) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Berenberg Whitbread (WTB LN) upgraded to Market Perform from Underperform at Societe Generale DAX Bayer (BAYN GY) - Co. announces that Health Canada has issued a Notice of Compliance expanding the indication of LYNKUET to include the treatment of moderate to severe vasomotor symptoms (VMS) caused by adjuvant endocrine therapy related to breast cancer. (Bayer) Henkel (HEN3 GY) - US FTC says court has granted the FTC’s request for a permanent injunction to block Henkel’s proposed USD 725mln acquisition of Liquid Nails from American Industrial Partners. (US FTC) Rheinmetall (RHM GY) - Politico Berlin playbook/podcast outlines a view that if China was to take action as part of a trade dispute, then the Co. would be the first to be impacted. (Politico) OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES BROKER MOVES CAC OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES Aeroports de Paris (ADP FP) - Reports July passenger traffic 36.6mln, +0.3% Y/Y. (ADP) BROKER MOVES Hermes (RMS FP) downgraded to Sector Perform from Outperform at RBC, stating that the Co. can no longer expect to book growth in revenue and earnings so far ahead of its rivals. SCOR (SCR FP) downgraded to Sell from Neutral at UBS PAN EUROPE DSM-Firmenich (DSFIR NA) - Co. unanimously proposes Richard Ridinger as Chair, replacing Leysen, who has decided to retire. (DSM-Firmenich) Gambling Names - Australia's government has put in place additional measures on gambling advertising and marketing, restricting betting inducements for gamblers and commissions for staff. The government will also set up an opt-out register for gambling ads. (Bloomberg) ING Groep (INGA NA), ABN AMRO (ABN NA), Santander (SAN SM) - DataVita has secured GBP 300mln of financing from European banks to expand its existing data centre in Scotland and build another. (Bloomberg) BROKER MOVES SMI OTHER SWISS COMPANIES Huber & Suhner (HUBN SW) - H1 2026 (CHF): Net Income 34.9mln (prev. 36.6mln Y/Y), Revenue 457.4mln (prev. 445.9mln Y/Y). Affirms FY26 guidance. (Huber & Suhner) PSP Swiss Property (PSPN SW) - H1 2026 (CHF): Adj. Net Income 149.7mln (prev. 106.9mln Y/Y), Adj. EBITDA 187.4mln (prev. 148.8mln Y/Y), Rental Income 174mln (prev. 173.9mln Y/Y). Expects the Swiss property market to perform well in the 2026 business year, raises its FY26 Adj. EBITDA guidance to 335mln (prev. guided 310mln). (PSP Swiss Property) BROKER MOVES SCANDINAVIA Coloplast (COLOB DC) - Q3 2025/26 (DKK): Revenue 7.36bln (exp. 7.26bln), EBIT Margin 26% (prev. 27% Y/Y). EBIT Margin reflects around 90bps negative impact from currencies and around 50bps negative impact from Kerecis. FY 2025/26 guidance unchanged. (Coloplast) Mowi (MOWI NO) - Q2 2026 (EUR): Revenue 1.6bln (exp. 1.6bln), Operational EBIT 231mln (prev. 187.8mln Y/Y). CEO: "Growth is strongest in Asia, led by China, but developments are also positive in Europe, followed by the USA. We expect market growth to continue through 2026 and beyond, driven by megatrends such as healthier lifestyles, increasing demand for sustainable protein sources, and not least salmon’s unique and broad appeal.” (Mowi) BROKER MOVES US CLOSES: SPX -0.52% at 7,745, NDX -0.17% at 29,995, DJI -0.51% at 53,465, RUT -0.35% at 3,058 SECTORS: Communication services -1.47%, Consumer staples -1.46%, Financials -1.04%, Consumer discretionary -1.03%, Real estate -0.89%, Materials -0.5%, Utilities -0.38%, Health -0.21%, Industrials -0.16%, Technology -0.16%, Energy +0.87% Anthropic - The Co.'s run rate reportedly hit USD 65bln by the end of July, Bloomberg reports citing sources. This would put Anthropic on track to generate an annualised revenue of over USD 65bln, which would be more than sevenfold Y/Y, the report added. Tesla (TSLA) - Tesla is preparing to launch its Cybercab in Austin, Texas, as soon as August, initially offering employee rides on public roads before adding vehicles to its robotaxi service days later, The Information reports. The company has conducted testing, private road employee rides, and first-responder training. Production is expected to ramp up later this year.