* European shares open higher
* KPN rallies on reported takeover interest
* Most sectors up, travel & leisure top fallers
* Nasdaq futures up over 1%
Welcome to the home for real-time coverage of European equity markets brought to you by Reuters
stocks reporters. You can share your thoughts with Joice Alves (joice.alves@thomsonreuters.com)
and Julien Ponthus (julien.ponthus@thomsonreuters.com) in London and Stefano Rebaudo
(stefano.rebaudo@thomsonreuters.com) and Danilo Masoni (danilo.masoni@thomsonreuters.com) in
Milan.
PLAYING "THE MOTHER OF ALL PROFIT TURNAROUNDS" IN EUROPE (0935 GMT)
The Q3 season is about to start and even though investors are cautions ahead of the U.S.
presidential elections and given ongoing macro uncertainty, Jefferies is particularly upbeat.
Its global equity strategist Sean Darby expects the quarter to mark the largest global
profit turn-around on record or, in other words, "the mother of all profit turnarounds".
That said, analyst at the U.S. investment bank have put their heads together, coming up with
10 names with an underestimated recovery potential: Aggreko, Anglo American,
ArcelorMittal, BNP Paribas, Continental, Daimler,
Deutsche Boerse, Maersk, Rentokil and Sanofi.
"... positive real-time data, unprecedented inventory restocking and a sharp recovery in
global trade will allow revenues to inflate while weak oil prices will help margins to expand.
Earnings are still being revised up and companies are surprising the market on the upside.
For a MS basket with stocks having a big catch-up potential:
(Danilo Masoni)
*****
BTP RALLY? VALUATIONS LOOK A BIT STRETCHED (0857 GMT)
EU and ECB action to fight the adverse impact of the pandemic has been supporting Europe’s
peripheral government bonds, including Italy’s, for months. But according to some analysts there
is not much room to rise from here on.
Momentum for BTPs is positive and we expect the supply/liquidity outlook into year-end to be
favourable, a UniCredit research note says.
“We see any rally below current levels as limited, as BTP yield and spread levels already
look quite stretched,” it adds.
The new 3-year January 2024 BTP will be sold tomorrow with a coupon rate set at 0% and it
“is likely to come to the market at a negative yield and at one of the lowest yield on record at
3Y auctions.”
More flattening of the short end of the curve would occur if BTP yields were to drop
further, according to UniCredit. But on the short term only a moderate drop would be possible.
Following the regional vote which dissipated worries about snap elections in Italy, “BTPs
have continued to rally, with the 10Y BTP-Bund spread reaching fresh lows, at 125bp.”
“While rating risk and political risk for Italy have receded, they have not disappeared, and
macro fundamentals will remain weak.”
(Stefano Rebaudo)
*****
OPENING SNAPSHOT: KPN LIFTS TELECOMS TO 3-WEEK HIGH (0735 GMT)
European shares are off to a mildly positive start this morning with speculation about
possible takeover interest for phone group KPN lifting its shares 9% to the top of the
STOXX and helping the telecoms index surge to its highest in more than three weeks.
Banks were also in demand while travel and leisure stocks were the biggest declines,
down 0.4%.
Among single stocks, Rolls-Royce continued its advance as sentiment looks to have
turned after the engine maker launched a much needed capital increase.
(Danilo Masoni)
*****
ON OUR RADAR: KPN TAKEOVER TALK, TRADE-SENSITIVE STOCKS (0651 GMT)
European shares are expected to rise slightly at the open following gains in Asia overnight
and positive signals for U.S. stock index futures, as it seems investors manage to shrug off
doubts over U.S. stimulus and growing COVID-19 infections.
On the corporate front, more M&A newsflow will keep telecoms in the spotlight. A Bloomberg
report late on Friday said European private equity firm EQT is considering a takeover of Dutch
phone company KPN. KPN shares are seen rising 3-10% at the open.
Eyes also on trade sensitive stocks after a FT report that the EU's new trade chief has told
the U.S. to withdraw tariffs on over $7 bln of EU products or face additional duties on exports
to Europe, as he urged a settlement to the dispute over Airbus and Boeing.
Meantime, according to the same newspaper, EU regulators are making a 'hit list' of up to 20
large internet companies, potentially including Facebook, Apple, Amazon and Alphabet's Google,
that will be facing new and tougher rules aimed at curbing their market power.
The U.S. has signed a deal with AstraZeneca for development and supply of its
COVID-19 antibody treatment, while New Zealand has signed a deal to buy 1.5 million COVID-19
vaccines from Pfizer and Germany's BioNTech, with delivery potentially as early as the
first quarter of 2021.
Back to M&A, a French court ruled on Friday that unions must be consulted on the sale of gas
utility Engie's 29.9% stake in waste and water group Suez to larger rival
Veolia before it can proceed.
In IPO world, HOME Reit begins trading today in London in what will be the biggest
REIT listing in the UK for 3 years.
Meantime in banks, the BoE asked banks for information about their readiness for the
possibility of zero or negative interest rates.
(Danilo Masoni)
*****
MORNING CALL: EUROPEAN SHARES SEEN HIGHER (0538 GMT)
European shares are seen rising at the open with euro zone index futures pointing to gains
of around 0.6-0.7%, although FTSE futures are lagging slightly behind, last up 0.2%.
U.S. futures are also in positive territory and shares in Asia were led higher by Chinese
stocks as investors bet on a steady recovery for the world's no. 2 economy, which offset doubt
over immediate fiscal stimulus in the United States.
While negotiations on a broader package ran into resistance, the Trump administration on
Sunday called on Congress to pass a stripped-down coronavirus relief bill.
(Danilo Masoni)
*****
