[MARKET ANALYSIS] European bourses lower for a third consecutive day, NOKIA FH and ENGI FP to be added to Euro Stoxx 50

European bourses trade lower again on Wednesday, as the US and Iran exchange strikes for a second consecutive night. US CENTCOM said forces successfully completed a wave of strikes against Iranian military targets, while Iran's IRGC said it targeted US bases in Iraq and launched drone attacks on the US base in Bahrain. Sectors have a slight negative tilt. Banks top the sector pile, with Travel & Leisure and Telecoms rounding out the sector outperformers. To the downside is Autos, followed by Media and Retail. On the M&A front, Italian betting firm Lottomatica announced that it has agreed to buy Spanish rival Cirsa in an all-share deal worth around EUR 2.8bln. The merger will have a pro-forma EBITDA of c. EUR 2bln. As a result, Lottomatica shares are down 9.3% while Cirsa is printing gains in excess of 15%. For European banks, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley re-rated multiple firms. From Goldman Sachs: Societe Generale (-1.3%) downgraded to neutral, citing cautiousness on profitability; Deutsche Bank (+1.7%) upgraded to buy, citing higher profitability driven by improving revenue momentum and positive operating leverage. From Morgan Stanley: Barclays (-0.4%) downgraded to equal weight while NatWest (+1.4%) upgraded to overweight. An update from STOXX is lifting Nokia (+1.0%) this morning, after announcing that the Finnish telecom giant, alongside Engie (-0.3%), will join the Euro Stoxx 50. This will be effective September 21st, replacing Volkswagen (-2.7%) and Wolters Kluwer (-2.7%) in Europe's blue chip index. US equity futures are mixed, albeit trading either side of the unchanged mark. Shares of Dell are surging pre-market after the Co. beat quarterly estimates and sharply raised its FY outlook. This is also supporting HPE, who are expected to report earnings after-hours.