>>> TradeGate Pre-Market Indications

DAX:
  • Vonovia (VNA TH) +1.3%
  • Zalando (ZAL TH) -2.2%
MDAX:
  • TAG Immobilien (TEG TH) +2.7%
  • LEG Immobilien (LEG TH) +1.3%
  • HelloFresh (HFG TH) +1%
    • JPMorgan Chase & Co. Raised HelloFresh Voting Rights to 6.20%
  • TeamViewer (TMV TH) -1.1%
SDAX:
  • Thyssenkrupp Nucera AG & Co KGaa (NCH2 TH) +0.9%

>>> Europe : Brokers Upgrades & Downgrades - 27th of June 2024

>>> Up
* Brunello Cucinelli Raised to Buy at Stifel; PT 115 euros
* Givaudan PT Raised to 4,850 Swiss francs at Bank Vontobel
* Kering Raised to Buy at BofA; PT 450 euros
* Koninklijke BAM Groep NV Raised to Add at AlphaValue/Baader
* Safran Raised to Buy at Citi; PT 230 euros
* Sandnes Sparebank Raised to Buy at DNB Markets; PT 107 kroner
* SpareBank 1 Helgeland Raised to Buy at DNB Markets
* Unibail Raised to Neutral at JPMorgan; PT 72 euros

>>> Down
* Aker BioMarine ASA Cut to Hold at SEB Equities; PT 80 kroner
* Anglo American Cut to Sell at Berenberg; PT 2,000 pence
* Darktrace Cut to Neutral at Redburn; PT 610 pence
* Egetis Therapeutics AB Cut to Hold at Pareto Securities
* Energean Cut to Hold at Panmure Gordon; PT 1,054 pence
* Hochschild Mining Cut to Hold at Berenberg
* Rio Tinto Cut to Hold at Berenberg
* Rio Tinto ADRs Cut to Hold at Berenberg; PT $74
* SpareBank 1 SMN Cut to Hold at DNB Markets; PT 167 kroner

>>> Initiation
* Addnode Group AB Rated New Buy at Nordea; PT 139 kronor
* Cyber Folks SA Rated New Buy at Wood & Company; PT 177.20 zloty
* Disney Rated New Buy at Citic Securities; PT $115
* Orsted Rated New Buy at Arctic Securities; PT 460 kroner
* Permanent TSB Rated New Underweight at Barclays; PT 1.50 euros
* Scatec Reinstated Buy at Arctic Securities; PT 100 kroner
* Vercom Rated New Hold at Wood & Company; PT 139.80 zloty
* Viking Therapeutics Rated New Overweight at Morgan Stanley

>>> Call
* Anglo American Downgraded at Berenberg on Strategy Concerns
* Berenberg Now More Cautious on Bulk Commodities, Gold Preferred
* Novo Puts Temporary Hiring Freeze on Some Divisions, JP Says
* Safran Outlook and Valuation Attractive, Upgraded to Buy at Citi

>>> What to look at today - 27th of June 2024

Asian shares declined after the largest US tech companies dropped in late US trading. The yen stabilized following a Wednesday slide that triggered fresh speculation officials will step in to support the currency. Stocks in Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea and China all declined, putting the MSCI Asia Pacific gauge on course for its first loss in three days. US equity futures slipped after big tech was hit by Micron Technology Inc.’s outlook that failed to meet the lofty expectations for the industry that has powered the bull market in stocks. The yen gained as much as 0.3% after sliding 0.7% on Wednesday when it touched 160.87 per dollar, the weakest since 1986 and well past the level where officials intervened in April. The currency has lost about 12% against the greenback this year. An emerging-market currency gauge dropped to near its lowest in two months and a gauge of Asian currencies fell to levels last seen in 2022 as the dollar strengthened. Treasuries extended their recent declines on concern Friday’s US PCE data will show inflation remains elevated.  Micron Technology shares slumped after the maker of computer memory chips projected sales that trailed the estimates of some investors. The news dragged down some chipmakers including giant Nvidia Corp. Also after Wall Street’s close, the Federal Reserve said the biggest US banks passed the annual stress test, paving the way for higher shareholder payouts. The recent market attempt to broaden out of the megacap group was short-lived, with a bevy of measures still showing how market breadth remains weak — boosting uncertainty about the rally’s staying power. Bifurcation between S&P 500 performance and breadth has reached one of the worst levels in three decades, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. Elsewhere, Asia Pacific companies and governments’ sales of dollar bonds in the primary market hit a nine-month high this week, as issuers look to lock in historically tight spreads before they climb further. The Korean government and other issuers sold more than $5.5 billion of notes on Wednesday, pushing the week’s tally close to $14 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
In commodities, gold steadied after a two-day decline, while oil traded in a narrow range ahead of the next round of US economic data. US After Hours Fed Stress Tests came out, all 31 large banks have sufficient capital; LEVI -11.3%, MU -7.1%, AVAV -6.9% lower on earnings; IIIV jumps +26.3% on deal to sell merchant of record payments business; VRNA +22.4% on FDA approval.

Nikkei -0.94% Hang Seng -2.16% CSI -0.64% Shanghai -0.71% Shenzen -1.28%

Eur$ 1.0692 CNH 7.2989 CNY 7.2687 JPY 160.36 GBP 1.2632 CHF 0.8968 RUB 88.2500 TRY 32.8337 WTI$ 80.69 -0.26% Gold 2,300 +0.07% BTC 61,069 +0.20% ETH 3,380 -0.30%

S&P -0.22% Nasdaq -0.29% EuroStoxx +0.10% FTSE -0.09% Dax +0.00% SMI +0.12%

Macro :
- Traders Think Shift From Exchange to Alternative Venues Has Legs
- US Convertible Bond Boom to Near Covid-Era Peak, Barclays Says
- Andurand Ditches Famed Oil Trades for Copper and Cocoa
- Goldman’s ETF Platform Launches AI-Driven Fund in Europe
- Yuan in No-Win Situation Facing Tariff Threat: Macro Models

Keep an eye on :
- AIBG ID : *AIB GROUP OFFERING PRICES AT €4.90/SHARE: TERMS
- ASRNL NA : ASR Nederland Targets €525M in Buybacks Over 2024-2026
- B US : Barnes Group Is Said to Explore Options Including Sale
- BA US : Boeing Faces New Whistleblower Claims of Lapses on Some 787 Jets
- BIRK US : L Catterton Group Raises $756 Million in Birkenstock Share Sale ($54/share)
- CPR IM : Italy Probes Campari’s Lagfin for Alleged Unpaid Tax: Ansa
- CPR IM : Campari Says It Isn’t Under Investigation by Authorities
- EDP PL : EDP Agrees to Sell €100m of 2023 Electricity Tariff Adjustment
- FGR FP : Eiffage, SPIE, ABC to Provide Backup Generators for EDF
- ENI IM : ENI Sells Alaska Upstream Assets to US Hilcorp
- EAPI FP : Euroapi to Amend €415M RCF, Expects Sanofi Bond Investment
- G IM : Generali Changes Denomination of Share on Stock Exchange
- G IM : Italy’s Generali Mulls Investment in Singapore’s Bolttech: MF
- GMAB DC : Genmab Says Epkinly Gets US Approval for Lymphoma Treatment
- GSK LN : GSK May Fall After US Decision on Respiratory Vaccine: Jefferies
- HMB SS : H&M 2Q Gross Margin Beats Estimates
- Helsing : German AI defence start-up Helsing poised to triple valuation to $4.5bn
- IP US : Suzano Won’t Pursue Transaction to Acquire International Paper
- KN FP : Natixis CIB, Woori Bank Sign Pact on Global Private Debt Funds
- NKE US : Nike Investors Await Details of New 2025 Products: Preview
- NOVOB DC : Novo Kidney Drug Bust Has Little Long-Term Growth Impact: React
- NOVOB DC : Novo Puts Temporary Hiring Freeze on Some Divisions, JP Says
- OHLA SM : OHLA Says Board Approved €100m Capital Increase
- OVH FP : OVH 3Q Revenue EU250.8M Vs. EU227.9M Y/y
- RKT LN : Bluebell Says Reckitt Shares Poised to Double After Taking Stake
- RNO FP : Renault Open to Chinese Auto Partnerships: Brand CEO Cambolive
- RIO LN : How a shake-up could unlock $40b for Rio Tinto investors
- SGO FP : Saint-Gobain to Buy FOSROC for $1.03B in Cash
- SAN FP : Euroapi to Amend €415M RCF, Expects Sanofi Bond Investment
- 9984 JP : SoftBank to Back AI Startup Perplexity at $3 Billion Valuation
- SPACE X IPO : SpaceX Tender Offer Said to Value Company at Record $210 Billion
- SPIE FP : Eiffage, SPIE, ABC to Provide Backup Generators for EDF
- TEL2B SS : Tele2 Gets €140m Loan From the European Investment Bank
- TSLA US : Tesla ordered to stop releasing toxic emissions from San Francisco Bay Area plant
- TGS NO : TGS to Start Mutliclient Onshore Survey in US Appalachian Basin
- VRNA US : Verona Pharma Announces US FDA Approval of Ohtuvayre™ (ensifentrine), +26%

FT : US drives nascent rebound in global M&A

US drives nascent rebound in global M&A
Uptick in big deals offsets dwindling number of acquisitions

Global merger and acquisition deals hit $1.5tn in the first half of 2024 as a surge in US takeovers and an uptick in megamergers offset a declining number of acquisitions.

The value of deals struck was 22 per cent higher than a year earlier, according to mid-year data compiled by the London Stock Exchange Group, driven by a 70 per cent rise in big deals worth more than $10bn.

But the total number of deals fell 25 per cent to a four-year low, with acquisitions worth $500mn or less — the smaller takeovers that make up the backbone of the deal market — falling 13 per cent by value.

“This year for M&A is much better than last year,” said Anu Aiyengar, global head of mergers and acquisitions at JPMorgan. “But that’s a low bar, because last year was a tough year.”

The tentative recovery comes after M&A activity slid to a 10-year low in 2023 as interest rates rose from the ultra-low levels that stoked a pandemic-era deals boom. But it remains fragile.

One senior European banker said: “There’s concerns about the consumer, there’s concerns about elections, rates haven’t come down as fast as people had hoped. All of that introduces more volatility.”

The US was an engine of activity in the first half of this year, with the value of deals up 43 per cent to $796bn, more than half the global total and the country’s largest share of the global market since 2019.

European dealmaking kept pace to rise 43 per cent by value, while the Asia-Pacific region declined 21 per cent.

Top deals that advanced in the second quarter included US oil and gas producer ConocoPhillips’s move to buy its smaller rival Marathon Oil for $22.5bn, the latest in a series of tie-ups in the Permian Basin sparked by ExxonMobil’s acquisition of rival Hess.

Meanwhile, the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company is nearing a €14.4bn agreement to take over the German chemicals group Covestro after boosting its proposed offer this month.

Deals in energy rose 27 per cent this year to $254bn, according to the report, the best sector behind technology.

Still, an uptick in big deals has not been enough to completely shake M&A from its post Covid-19 doldrums, with deal volumes in the three months to the end of June on track to stay below $1tn for the eighth consecutive quarter.

While middle-market deals continued at a slower pace, financial services proved a bright spot for transactions, with deal volumes in the sector up 60 per cent on the same period last year, bolstered by Capital One’s February agreement to acquire rival Discover Financial for $35.3bn.

Investment bankers and lawyers advising on deals said large companies had been increasingly willing to approach potential targets now the macroeconomic environment had begun to stabilise and as they grew impatient to pursue their long-term plans.

Not every approach has been successful — Australian miner BHP’s £39bn effort to take over Anglo American, for example, collapsed in May after a frenzied six-week pursuit.

“Large strategics have been waiting to forge ahead with a long-term plan,” said Ben Wilson, a senior managing director in Guggenheim Securities’ mergers and acquisitions group. “And there are fewer trapdoors.”

Private equity-backed M&A, a focus for dealmakers, rose 40 per cent in the first half of the year as buyout investors sit on a record number of assets that they must sell down to generate returns for their backers.

Larger banks such as Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley increased their share of the M&A advisory fee market to about 35 per cent of the global total, although this remained slightly less than boutique banks led by New York’s Centerview Partners.

Goldman Sachs was the top financial adviser on mergers in the first half of the year, leading in the US and Europe.

>>> US After Hours Summary: Fed Stress Tests came out, all 31 large banks have s

After Hours Summary: Fed Stress Tests came out, all 31 large banks have sufficient capital; LEVI -11.3%, MU -7.1%, AVAV -6.9% lower on earnings; IIIV jumps +26.3% on deal to sell merchant of record payments business; VRNA +22.4% on FDA approval

After Hours Gainers:

Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to earnings/guidance: BB +8.1%, FUL +4.8%, CNXC +4.3%, WS +3.9%, FC +2.8%, JEF +0.8% (also increases dividend)

Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to news: IIIV +26.3% (to sell merchant of record payments business for $440 mln in cash), VRNA +22.4% (FDA approves Ohtuvayre), ATEX +16.5% (Oncor Electric to acquire 900 MHz broadband spectrum from ATEX; ATEX also reports earnings), TSVT +5.8% (TSVT sells certain gene editing technology to NVO for $40 mln), AMAT +1.8% (in sympathy with weak MU earnings), GROY +1.5% (stock offering by selling shareholder), LMT +0.6% (awarded $534 mln U.S. Navy contract modification), MARA +0.3% (announces Kaspa mining ops), NVO +0.2% (TSVT sells certain gene editing technology to NVO for $40 mln), BA +0.2% (resumes widebody deliveries to China, according to Reuters), CTGO +0.2% (stock offering by selling shareholders), BX +0.1% (several banks reacting to Fed Stress Test results), MO +0.1% (announces PMTA submission for on! PLUS Nicotine Pouches)

After Hours Losers:

Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to earnings/guidance: LEVI -11.3% (also increases dividend), MU -7.1%, AVAV -6.9%, MLKN -1%

Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to news: RXRX -7.9% ($200 mln stock offering), ADUS -5.5% (1.5 mln share offering), PVH -3.1% (in sympathy with weak LEVI earnings), KTB -3% (in sympathy with weak LEVI earnings), WDC -2.3% (in sympathy with weak MU earnings), CFG -2.3% (several banks reacting to Fed Stress Test results), BKE -1.9% (in sympathy with weak LEVI earnings), GS -1.8% (several banks reacting to Fed Stress Test results), CTRI -1.7% (CEO to step down to become CEO at AEP), AEO -1.5% (in sympathy with weak LEVI earnings), NVDA -1.4% (in sympathy with weak MU earnings), TER -1.3% (in sympathy with weak MU earnings), WFC -1.3% (several banks reacting to Fed Stress Test results), RKT -1.1% (names new COO), OXM -1% (in sympathy with weak LEVI earnings), GPS -1% (in sympathy with weak LEVI earnings), AVGO -0.7% (in sympathy with weak MU earnings), MS -0.7% (several banks reacting to Fed Stress Test results), USB -0.4% (several banks reacting to Fed Stress Test results), BAC -0.3% (several banks reacting to Fed Stress Test results), STX -0.1% (in sympathy with weak MU earnings)

FT : Boeing rejects claims that Nasa crew are ‘stranded’ on its spacecraft

Boeing rejects claims that Nasa crew are ‘stranded’ on its spacecraft
Delayed return of Starliner from International Space Station comes at worst possible time for US aerospace group

Boeing hit back on Wednesday at suggestions that two Nasa astronauts had become “stranded” on the International Space Station because of problems encountered by the company’s Starliner spacecraft on its long-delayed first crewed flight.

Nasa and Boeing decided last week to postpone, for the second time, the return flight of the spacecraft, which docked with the space station on June 6, until an unspecified date in July. 

Starliner was “performing well”, the company said, and astronauts Sunita “Suni” Williams and Barry “Butch” Wilmore could return to earth at any time, if necessary. 

The delay comes at the worst possible time for Boeing, which is still mired in controversy over the safety culture in its commercial aerospace division.

Earlier this month Dave Calhoun, Boeing’s outgoing chief executive, was hauled before the US Senate to answer questions about the company’s safety failures following a mid-air blowout of a door panel on one of its 737 Max aircraft in January.

The company has been locked in an almost permanent state of crisis since two fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people.

The defence and space business, meanwhile, has been struggling financially, incurring losses of $1.7bn last year. 

The Starliner programme itself is several years late and billions of dollars over budget. The spacecraft’s first crewed flight had been postponed twice before lifting off on June 5.

The company insisted however that the delayed return was not a failure. “It is a test flight,” the company said. “The mission is still going and it is going well.” 

Nasa is hoping Starliner will eventually be a viable competitor to Elon Musk’s SpaceX for cargo and crew to the ISS and eventually the Moon. 

The US agency had decided to delay the astronauts’ return to put some time between the flight and upcoming spacewalks by other astronauts on the space station. These had also been postponed because of issues with old space suits.

The delay would also allow engineers more time to review problems identified on Starliner’s flight to the ISS, Nasa said.

Starliner suffered helium leaks on its long-awaited first crewed flight, as well as problems with five of its thrusters. Boeing said the helium leaks had been fixed and all but one of the thrusters were now operational.

However, it was decided to spend more time assessing the causes, as they affected the service module which would not return to earth. This data would be lost on return so “we are taking time to understand the issues further,” Boeing said. 

Steve Stich, manager of Nasa’s commercial crew programme, said last Friday that the agency was “letting the data drive our decision making” around the helium leaks and thruster problems. Starliner was “performing well in orbit while docked to the space station,” he added.