Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 1st October 2026

ASIA APAC stocks were mixed as the region takes its cue from the similar performance stateside, where participants digested a slew of data, and yields continued to climb despite softer PCE data, while markets in Mainland China and Hong Kong were shut for the National Day holiday. ASX 200 underperformed with all sectors in the red and the downside led by weakness in energy, real estate and defensives, while a return to growth in Australian Exports and Imports did little to inspire. Nikkei 225 rallied with chip-related stocks boosted following strong earnings from Micron, while participants also reflected on the BoJ Tankan survey, which showed sentiment among Large Manufacturers improved but missed forecasts, and coupled with recent weak activity data, supports the argument for a less aggressive BoJ rate normalisation. KOSPI shrugged off the initial weakness and climbed into the green as tech-related momentum began to pick up. Furthermore, US President Trump recently unveiled plans for South Korea to invest USD 200bln in energy projects in the US as part of South Korea's investment pledge that got auto tariffs reduced from 25% to 15%, while South Korean Exports surged. EUROPEAN CLOSES CLOSES: Euro Stoxx 50 -0.83% at 6,268, Dax 40 -0.74% at 25,211, FTSE 100 -0.29% at 10,606, CAC 40 -0.89% at 7,965, FTSE MIB -0.84% at 51,372, IBEX 35 -0.45% at 19,431, PSI +0.01% at 9,667, SMI -0.66% at 13,820, AEX -0.47% at 1,115 FTSE 100 BT Group (BT/A LN) - Co. is reportedly being pressed by Epiris to waive payments worth more than GBP 100mln owed by TalkTalk’s wholesale network PXC to Openreach, Sky News reports. (Sky News) Ex-Dividends - British American Tobacco (BATS LN), Weir Group (WEIR LN) and Smith & Nephew (SN/ LN) will trade without entitlement to their latest dividend. (dividenddata) Glencore (GLEN LN) - Co. is reportedly considering deals to produce coal in Venezuela, as it works with Peabody Energy (BTU) on a possible offer for assets in the Zulia state, Bloomberg reports. (Bloomberg) Rio Tinto (RIO LN) - Rio Tinto, the Tasmanian Government and Australian Government agreed arrangements to keep Bell Bay Aluminium operating through 31st December 2031. Hydro Tasmania will continue supplying electricity until then, while both governments will provide additional support intended to maintain the operation’s international competitiveness and contribution to Tasmania’s economy. (Rio Tinto) OTHER UK COMPANIES BROKER MOVES BP (BP/ LN) upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Wells Fargo DAX Fresenius SE (FRE GY) - Co. acquires the remaining 45% stake of mAbxience for up to EUR 750mln. (EQS) German Defence - KNDS CEO tells Handelsblatt that the IPO has been suspended but not cancelled, with the board asking to be prepared to go public at any time. The CEO added that the Co. is looking for two more industry partners. (Handelsblatt) Infineon (IFX GY) - Co. says they have inaugurated a new backend manufacturing hub in Thailand after a USD 1.44bln investment. Co. COO said the expansion into Thailand could be a first step toward setting up wafer fabrication, although such a move is unlikely in the next three years. The COO added that Bangkok will help strengthen the diversification of its strategic long-term investment. (Newswires) OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES Nordex (NDX1 GY) - Co. receives a 56 MW order from WEB Windenergie AG, which also includes a 25-year Premium Service agreement. (EQS) BROKER MOVES CAC BNP Paribas (BNP FP) - Co. announces the strategic expansion into the Nordic wealth management market with the appointment of Stina Norrhede as Head of BNP Paribas Wealth Management for the Nordic region. (BNP Paribas) Sanofi (SAN FP), Regeneron (REGN) - Cos announce an expansion of their longstanding antibody collaboration, adding multiple next-generation, long-acting antibodies. Under the agreement, the Cos will co-develop and co-commercialize four new long-acting, Regeneron-invented antibodies. Regeneron will receive an upfront payment of USD 1bln from Sanofi, with the potential for development, regulatory and commercial milestone payments of up to an additional USD 7bln. (Sanofi) OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES Remy Cointreau (RCO FP) - Co. announces its first hybrid issuance for an amount of EUR 250mln. (Remy Cointreau) BROKER MOVES Bouygues (EN FP) initiated with Buy at Berenberg PAN EUROPE BBVA (BBVA SM) - Co. announces it will pay shareholders EUR 0.37/shr in cash as a gross interim dividend against 2026 earnings. (BBVA) DSM-firmenich (DSFIR NA) - Co. completes its EUR 540mln share buyback programme. (DSM-firmenich) Lufthansa (LHA GY), Air France-KLM (AF FP) - Parpublica says it has received "two improved binding offers" from Lufthansa and Air France-KLM for airline TAP and will prepare a report to assess the merits of each offer. (Bloomberg) Wolters Kluwer (WKL NA) - Co. announces its return to the indirect auto lending forms market with retail installment sales contracts and lease agreements designed to help lenders, dealers, and borrowers navigate an increasingly complex lending environment. (Wolters Kluwer) BROKER MOVES Allegro (ALEP PW) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Citi Iberdrola (IBE SM) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman Sachs SMI Roche (ROP SW) - Co.'s giredestrant combination significantly improved progression-free survival in ER-positive advanced breast cancer in phase 3 evERA data. (Roche) Sika (SIKA SW) - Co. says its Fast Forward programme is on track to deliver CHF 80mln in benefits in 2026 and will drive a profit uplift of CHF 150-200mln through to 2028. (Sika) UBS (UBSG SW) - Co. shareholder Artisan Partners wrote a letter to the UBS board to urge the bank to leave Switzerland following the stricter capital rules, describing Switzerland as "no longer attractive or a desirable location." In response, UBS says they take note of Artisan's open letter to the board and affirms its goal to continue operating successfully as a global bank from Switzerland. (Bloomberg/UBS) OTHER SWISS COMPANIES BROKER MOVES SCANDINAVIA Pandora (PNDORA DC) - Co. opens its new USD 150mln crafting facility in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The site supports Pandora’s long-term growth ambitions and will produce up to 60mln pieces of jewellery per year, increasing the Co.’s manufacturing capacity by 50%. At the opening ceremony, the Co. CEO said they are seeing US demand stabilise at a low level but not seeing it degrade further, citing inflation, high gas prices and a lot of uncertainty. (Pandora) Novo Nordisk (NOVOB DC), Regeneron (REGN) - Data shows that Regeneron's trevogrumab, used in combination with Novo's semaglutide, reduces the loss of muscle mass by 50% compared with the loss seen with semaglutide alone. When measuring thigh muscle, the addition of a 75mg dose of trevogrumab preserved over 70% of muscle mass loss compared to semaglutide alone at 52 weeks. (Reuters) Skanska (SKAB SS) - Co. agrees to build and renovate academic buildings in Fredericksburg, for c. SEK 1.5bln. (Skanska) BROKER MOVES Tele2 (TEL2B SS) downgraded to Sell from Hold at Berenberg Telenor (TEL NO) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Berenberg Trelleborg (TRELB SS) downgraded to Hold from Buy at SEB US CLOSES: SPX -0.20% at 7,656, NDX +0.23% at 30,409, DJI -0.86% at 50,909, RUT -0.38% at 2,797. SECTORS: Technology +0.66%, Consumer Discretionary +0.15%, Energy +0.09%, Communication Services +0.02%, Utilities -0.69%, Materials -0.79%, Financials -1.13%, Industrials -1.25%, Health -1.26%, Real Estate -1.26%, Consumer Staples -1.63%. Alphabet (GOOG) - Alphabet unveiled Gemini 4 Argon, its most advanced AI model, with improvements in coding, cybersecurity and professional tasks. Google said Argon is already improving data centre memory efficiency and will roll out first to trusted cybersecurity partners while undergoing US government safety evaluations before a broader public launch. Bloomberg said Google is facing internal scepticism over the Gemini 4 Argon model, with some employees saying strong benchmark scores overstate its real world performance, particularly in coding. Some insiders believe OpenAI and Anthropic are improving faster, while others say Gemini 4 is at the frontier. Google disputes claims that the model underperforms. Micron Technology (MU) - Micron shares edged higher in afterhours trading as strong quarterly results and upbeat guidance underscored robust AI-driven memory demand, although expected margin compression and higher operating expenses limited the reaction. Q4 adj. EPS 33.42 (exp. 31.49), Q4 revenue USD 54.229bln (exp. 50.92bln). Adj. gross margin was 87.0% (exp. 86.2%), Cloud Memory revenue USD 16.28bln (exp. 15.14bln), Mobile & Client revenue USD 13.11bln (exp. 12.95bln) and Automotive & Embedded revenue USD 6.82bln (exp. 4.73bln). Customer commitments under long-term supply agreements rose to USD 32bln from USD 22bln in June, while remaining performance obligations increased to about USD 150bln from roughly USD 100bln last quarter. Management expects memory and storage supply-demand conditions to be materially tighter in FY27 and FY28, with most FY27 HBM output already covered by agreements. Sees Q1 adj. EPS 38.15 (exp. 35.40), Q1 revenue USD 61.5bln (exp. 57.024bln) and adj. gross margin 85.95% (exp. 87.0%). Sees Q1 capex around USD 11.5bln, and H1 FY27 capex of USD 25bln, with higher capex expected in H2 FY27; operating expenses are expected to increase by about USD 2.5bln in FY27. Oracle (ORCL), Tencent (0700 HK) - Tencent signed a 5yr Oracle data centre lease giving access to about 100K advanced AI chips, in a deal estimated at USD 7bln, FT reports. The agreement contributed to Tencent’s first negative quarterly free cash flow in over a decade, while Q2 CapEx rose 176% to CNY 53bln amid higher AI infrastructure spending, the article notes. (FT) Synopsys (SNPS) - FY27 adj. EPS seen between 19.04-19.12 (exp. 17.69), FY27 revenue between USD 11.1-11.2bln (exp. 10.8bln). Sees FY27 free cash flow USD 3.1bln, and capex of USD 500mln. Intends to repurchase approximately USD 1bln of shares over the coming months, subject to market conditions, and expects to return up to 50% of free cash flow to shareholders via buybacks. For FY26-FY30, targets revenue growth in the mid-teens, adj. EPS growth in the mid-20% range, and free cash flow growth in the mid-20% range.