Μικτά πρόσημα καταγράφουν σήμερα τα ευρωπαϊκά χρηματιστήρια μετά τις αρχικές τους απώλειες, με τους επενδυτές να αξιολογούν τις επιπτώσεις της στρατιωτικής σύγκρουσης στη Μέση Ανατολή, και της ανόδου της τιμής του πετρελαίου.
Η ισραηλινο-παλαιστινιακή σύγκρουση κλιμακώθηκε σε κανονικό πόλεμο το Σαββατοκύριακο, καθώς μέλη της ισλαμιστικής οργάνωσης Χαμάς επιτέθηκαν σε πολλές ισραηλινές πόλεις, σκοτώνοντας εκατοντάδες Ισραηλινούς και απαγάγοντας δεκάδες άλλους. Σε απάντηση, οι ισραηλινές αεροπορικές επιδρομές σφυροκόπησαν πολυάριθμους στόχους στη Γάζα, που είχαν ως αποτέλεσμα πολλές απώλειες.
Αυτή η νέα πηγή σύγκρουσης, με τον ουκρανικό πόλεμο να συνεχίζεται, οδήγησε σε εκτίναξη των τιμών του πετρελαίου. Οι υψηλότερες τιμές του πετρελαίου θα μπορούσαν να αυξήσουν τις πληθωριστικές πιέσεις, προκαλώντας μεγαλύτερη σύσφιξη της νομισματικής πολιτικής της ΕΚΤ, και επιβαρύνοντας ακόμη περισσότερο τα ευρωπαϊκά νοικοκυριά.
Τα συμβόλαια αναφοράς Brent και Nymex ενισχύθηκαν έως και 5%, προτού υποχωρήσουν ελαφρώς. Τα συμβόλαια μελλοντικής εκπλήρωσης (futures) του αμερικανικού αργού διαπραγματεύονταν 3,3% υψηλότερα στα 85,51 δολάρια το βαρέλι, ενώ το συμβόλαιο του Brent σημείωνε άνοδο 2,9% στα 87,00 δολάρια το βαρέλι.
Την προηγούμενη εβδομάδα οι τιμές του πετρελαίου σημείωσαν τις μεγαλύτερες εβδομαδιαίες απώλειες από τον Μάρτιο, καθώς το Brent πραγματοποίησε πτώση περίπου 11%, και το WTI πάνω από 8%, λόγω των ανησυχιών ότι τα υψηλά επιτόκια θα επιβραδύνουν την παγκόσμια ανάπτυξη και θα μειώσουν τη ζήτηση για καύσιμα.
Επιπλέον, τα συμβόλαια μελλοντικής εκπλήρωσης (futures) για τον χρυσό ενισχύονται κατά 1% στα 1.863,65 δολάρια/ουγγιά, ενώ το EUR/USD διαπραγματεύεται 0,5% χαμηλότερα στο 1,0537.
Στα μακροοικονομικά νέα, η βιομηχανική παραγωγή στην Γερμανία για τον μήνα Αύγουστο μειώθηκε κατά 0,2% σε σχέση με τον προηγούμενο μήνα.
Αν και αυτό αποτελεί βελτίωση σε σχέση με την αναθεωρημένη πτώση 0,6% του προηγούμενου μήνα, η Γερμανία, η μεγαλύτερη οικονομία της ευρωζώνης, έχει υψηλή έκθεση στο ενεργειακό κόστος και, συνεπώς, μια συνεχής άνοδος των τιμών του πετρελαίου θα αποτελούσε επιπλέον πλήγμα.
Επιπλέον, αυτός είναι ο τέταρτος συνεχόμενος μήνας που η βιομηχανική παραγωγή υποχωρεί, ενισχύοντας τους φόβους για ύφεση.
Recommendations
Roche: JP Morgan analyst reiterate his Sell rating on the stock. The target price is unchanged and still at CHF 260.
Hugo Boss: JP Morgan’s research confirms his advice and maintains his neutral opinion on the stock. The target price remains set at EUR 80.
Intesa SanPaolo: In a research note, JP Morgan analyst Delphine Lee has maintained his recommendation on the stock with a Buy rating. The target price is still set at EUR 3.30.
Lanxess: U.S. bank JPMorgan cut its price target for Lanxess to 26 euros from 32 euros, but kept its rating at “neutral.” However, the third quarter is likely to have been tough again for the specialty chemicals group and most of its peers, analyst Chetan Udeshi wrote in a research note issued Monday. As a result, he cut his estimates for adjusted operating profit (Ebitda) and even more significantly for cash flow (FCF). In the final quarter, however, Lanxess should achieve adjusted Ebitda at the level of the third quarter, contrary to the usual seasonality, thanks to one-time savings effects.
Unicredit: Already positive, the research from JP Morgan and its analyst Delphine Lee still consider the stock as a Buy opportunity. The target price has been raised from EUR 30 to EUR 32.
Telefonica: Fitch Ratings on Oct. 6 affirmed its long-term issuer default rating on Telefónica (TEF.MC) at BBB, with a stable outlook.
The rating action is backed by the Spanish telecommunications group’s strong market position in domestic and core international markets, which will help offset competitive pressure and declines in wholesale and legacy product revenue.
The company’s market position is expected to improve further on the back of major telecoms mergers in its three core markets, which will also reduce risks to its medium-term pre-dividend free cash flow generation, according to Fitch.
Heidelberg Materials: Analyst Glynis Johnson from Jefferies research considers the stock attractive and recommends it with a Buy rating. The target price is still set at EUR 97.60.
Εταιρικά νέα
Schaeffler is making an offer to buy all Vitesco Technologies Group’s shares in a public bid that values the target at 3.64 billion euros ($3.85 billion) and that seeks a combination of two of Germany’s largest auto suppliers. Schaeffler said Monday that it is offering EUR91 per Vitesco share in cash, and that this is intended as a first of three steps toward a combination of the two companies. The price represents a 21% premium to Vitesco’s closing price of EUR75.35 on Friday. Schaeffler has arranged a comprehensive financing package to fund the offer, it said. A combination would significantly improve competitiveness, especially in electrification, Schaeffler said. The bidder said it sees potential for EUR600 million in annual revenue and cost synergies, to be achieved fully in 2029.
Citigroup will sell its onshore consumer wealth portfolio in China to HSBC Holdings as the U.S. bank continues to leave consumer banking across parts of Asia. It will sell its China consumer wealth portfolio, including clients, assets under management and deposits, worth approximately $3.6 billion, to HSBC Bank China. “This transaction serves the interest of our clients, colleagues and all parties involved,” Christine Lam, Citi China Country Officer and President of Citibank (China) said in a statement on Monday. The transaction doesn’t include Citi’s institutional businesses in China, where it has a leading position, it said. The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2024 and terms were not disclosed. The U.S. investment bank announced it would wind down its consumer-banking operations in China last December, following a strategic shift since Chief Executive Jane Fraser got the top job. In April 2021, Citi told investors it would refocus its Asia strategy by pulling back from consumer banking and devoting resources to wealth management and corporate customers. It agreed to sell its consumer-banking franchises in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam to United Overseas Bank in January 2022.
Bristol-Myers Squibb is set to acquire cancer drugmaker Mirati Therapeutics for $58 per share in cash, representing $4.8 billion equity value. Bristol-Myers Squibb will finance the transaction with a combination of cash and debt. The transaction is expected to be dilutive to Bristol-Myers Squibb’s non-GAAP earnings per share by approximately 35 cents per share in the first 12 months after the transaction closes.
GSK said it has an exclusive agreement with Chongqing Zhifei Biological Products to co-promote its shingles vaccine Shingrix in China. The British pharmaceutical giant on Monday said that Zhifei will have exclusive rights to import and distribute Shingrix in the country for an initial three-year period starting from Jan. 1. The deal will significantly extend the availability of the vaccine to healthcare professionals and over 30,000 points of vaccination, it said. Zhifei is the largest Chinese vaccine company by revenue, GSK said. The partnership will also support potential future co-development and commercialization of GSK’s respiratory syncytial virus vaccine Arexvy in the country.
Croda International downgraded its profit expectations for the year after reporting that its third-quarter performance was weaker than expected. The London-listed specialty chemicals company said Monday that it currently expects 2023 adjusted pretax profit–the company’s preferred metric, which strips out exceptional and other one-off items–to be between 300 million and 320 million pounds ($367.2 million-$391.6 million). This compares with the previous target range of GBP370 million to GBP400 million.
The company said that during the third quarter, customers continued to reduce their ingredient inventories in consumer care, crop and industrial end markets due to a combination of destocking and a weaker demand environment. “This has continued to depress sales volumes and our overall performance for the period was therefore weaker than originally anticipated,” it said. Beauty-care business sales volumes were lower than expected in July and August but are expected to recover through the remainder of the year, albeit now from a lower base. The industrial specialties segment, however, continues to be affected by weak industrial demand globally and isn’t expected to be profitable in the second half of the year. Life sciences sales have also weakened, with improvement now expected in the first half of next year. Croda will report 2023 results on Feb. 27.
Chill Brands said that it will sell its nicotine-free vapour products into WH Smith stores. The cannabidiol-products company on Monday said a range will be for sale in an initial 150 of WH Smith’s 1,700 stores. “These first outlets are WH Smith U.K. travel stores located in airports, train stations and other high-traffic hubs including Heathrow, Gatwick and Kings Cross Station. These areas benefit from an estimated combined daily footfall of more than 500,000 passengers per day,” it said. Further to the agreement, it has now secured initial orders worth more than 350,000 Pounds ($428,365) from U.K. retailers, it added. Chill Brands said that it continues to work to expand its retail distribution network in the U.K. and the U.S.
Sirius Real Estate said it saw strong results for the first half and in line with market expectations, with a group rent roll growth of 7.7% compared to a year earlier. The London-listed operator of German business parks said on Monday that its BizSpace unit’s U.K. rent roll exceeded 50 million pounds ($61.2 million) for the first time, supported by improved occupancy and a record new business sales month in September. The group remained active on acquisitions and disposals with two U.K. acquisitions in the period running at a 9.6% net initial yield, or NIY, and a disposal in Germany at a 6.0% NIY. “Our performance in the first half, trading in line with expectations against the backdrop of challenging conditions in both our markets, demonstrates the strength of the Sirius platform and our people,” Chief Executive Officer Andrew Coombs said.
Rio Tinto said it backed its full-year guidance to cost and shipments for its Pilbara iron ore operations. The Anglo-Australian metals and mining giant said Monday that the iron ore operations in Pilbara, Western Australia, has produced 83.5 million metric tons in the third quarter, and that shipments from the network totalled 83.9 million. For 2023, Rio Tinto reiterated that it expects shipments to come in at the upper half of the 320 million-335 million ton range. This includes 45 million to 50 million tons of SP10–low grade iron ore–which represents 13% to 15% of total tons, up from a prior guidance of at least 10%. Unit cost guidance remains at $21.0 to $22.5 per wet ton. “As we head into the fourth quarter of 2023 we are in a strong and stable position,” Iron Ore Chief Executive Simon Trott said. Rio Tinto also set Pilbara guidance for 2024, for which it targets shipments between 323 million and 338 million tons, while SP10 levels are expected to remain elevated.
Vodafone stock rose 0.2% after the Spanish Expansion newspaper reported that U.S.-based buyout fund Apollo Global Management is readying a bid with local fund JB Capital for the Spanish unit of the U.K. telecom giant.
Στην Γερμανία, η βιομηχανική παραγωγή για τον μήνα Αύγουστο υποχώρησε 0,2% έναντι εκτιμήσεων για πτώση 0,1% και υποχώρησης 0,6% τον προηγούμενο μήνα.
στο Google News και μάθετε πρώτοι όλες τις ειδήσεις
