Traders circulating unverified rumours press chatter that a number of former generals and FSB (former KGB) officials are preparing to oust Russia Pres Putin and end the war in Ukraine - Source TradeTheNews.com
>>> Up
* Argenx ADRs Raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley; PT $375
* Auction Technology Group Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan
* Electrolux Raised to Buy at Kepler Cheuvreux; PT 200 kronor (+)
* Erste Raised to Outperform at Exane; PT 44 euros
* Linde Raised to Add at AlphaValue/Baader
* M&G Raised to Buy at HSBC; PT 260 pence
* Nemetschek Raised to Buy at Baader Helvea; PT 95 euros
* Petrofac Raised to Buy at Berenberg; PT 210 pence
* Remedy Entertainment Raised to Hold at Nordea
* St James's Place Raised to Buy at HSBC; PT 1,600 pence
* Shaftesbury Raised to Add at Peel Hunt
* Zignago Vetro Raised to Buy at Equita; PT 14.40 euros
>>> Down
* Adidas Cut to Underperform at Credit Suisse; PT 205 euros (+)
* AO World Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan; PT 63 pence
* AstraZeneca Cut to Hold at Handelsbanken
* EDP Renovaveis Cut to Neutral at JB Capital Markets (+)
* HUTCHMED China ADRs PT Cut to $45 from $52 at Jefferies
* Rieter Cut to Hold at Stifel; PT 135 Swiss francs
* Robit Cut to Hold at SEB Equities; PT 3 euros
* Salvatore Ferragamo Cut to Sell at SocGen; PT 13 euros
* Westwing Group SE Cut to Add at Baader Helvea; PT 13 euros
>>> Initiation
* Endur ASA Rated New Buy at Arctic Securities; PT 0.70 kroner
* Fiserv Rated New Buy at Loop Capital; PT $125
* J D Wetherspoon Reinstated Buy at Deutsche Bank; PT 875 pence
* Marston's Reinstated Sell at Deutsche Bank; PT 65 pence (+)
* Mitchells & Butlers Reinstated Buy at Deutsche Bank (+)
* Nvidia Resumed Equal-Weight at Morgan Stanley; PT $217
>>> Call
* Adidas Cut at Credit Suisse, Puma Upgraded on Guidance Outlook (+)
* Bayer’s 1Q Expected to Beat, Herald Earnings Momentum: Citi
* DSM Shares May See Small Positive Boost on 1Q, Jefferies Says
* Erste Raised to Outperform, Time to Revist the Stock, Exane Says (+)
* Ferragamo Cut to Sell at SocGen as Turnaround Is Challenged (+)
* Nvidia Resumed Equal-Weight at Morgan Stanley on High Valuation (+)
* Oerlikon Has Good Start to Year, Targets Conservative: Baader (+)
* Vestas Upgraded at Jefferies After ‘Major Reset’ on Guidance
- Deutsche Post (DPW TH) +4.4%
- Deutsche Post 1Q Ebit Beats Estimates
- Prosus (1TY TH) +2%
- BE Semiconductor (BSI TH) +1.9%
- Puma (PUM TH) +1.9%
- Verbund (OEWA TH) +1.7%
- K+S (SDF TH) +1.6
- ASML (ASME TH) +1.5%
- Adyen (1N8 TH) +1.4%
- Lanxess (LXS TH) -0.6%
- Tomra (TMR TH) -0.6%
- Adidas (ADS TH) -0.6%
- Rio Tinto (RIO1 TH) -0.7%
- Encouraging 1Q Shows Resilience Despite Macroeconomic Concerns
- Merck KGaA (MRK TH) -0.8%
- Unilever (UNVB TH) -1.4%
- Encouraging 1Q Shows Resilience Despite Macroeconomic Concerns
- BP (BPE5 TH) -1.5%
- BP Raises Buybacks as Cash Flow Surges on Higher Oil Price
- Covestro (1COV TH) -8.2%
- Covestro Cuts FY Ebitda Forecast, Misses Estimates
Chinese state media report on ‘Ma’ detention sparks Alibaba sell-off
Broadcaster CCTV later indicated it was not referring to billionaire founder Jack Ma
Alibaba shares sold off on Tuesday following a Chinese state media report that an individual surnamed “Ma” had been detained, pushing down Chinese technology stocks that had been expected to rally on the promise of support from Beijing.
Shares in the Chinese ecommerce giant fell as much as 9.4 per cent at the open in Hong Kong following the report. The shares later pulled back to be down about 1 per cent after China’s state broadcaster CCTV amended its one-sentence dispatch to indicate the individual was not Alibaba’s billionaire founder Jack Ma.
People familiar with the situation said Jack Ma was not the person referred to in the report. The Global Times, a Chinese state-run nationalist tabloid, said the suspect in question worked for an IT company and had started an online group seeking to “split up the country and subvert the state”.
But the initial CCTV report that authorities in Alibaba’s Hangzhou headquarters suspected an unnamed “Ma” of using the internet to endanger national security rattled traders in Hong Kong, who had been ready to snap up Chinese tech stocks following a pledge from top officials late last week that Beijing’s prolonged crackdown on the sector was drawing to a close.
“China imposed quite a lot of draconian policies on the tech companies and now everyone is on alert — if anything happens, they dump the stocks,” said Louis Tse, managing director at Hong Kong-based Wealthy Securities.
Tse said the CCTV report had undone a rally for tech shares anticipated in the wake of a statement from China’s politburo, which had pledged to wind down the unprecedented crackdown on the sector as policymakers sought to cushion the economic blow from an extended Covid-19 lockdown in Shanghai, the country’s financial capital.
Alibaba’s stock is down 54 per cent and has shed more than $340bn in market value since the end of June last year, when ride-sharing platform Didi Chuxing pushed ahead with an initial public offering in New York despite warnings from officials over data security concerns.
The ensuing crackdown at one point wiped about $2tn off the market capitalisation of Chinese tech groups and has frozen almost all offshore tech IPOs in New York and Hong Kong.
The politburo statement, released late on Friday, did provide a shot in the arm to Chinese tech stocks on Wall Street, where the Nasdaq Golden Dragon index rose 2.4 per cent on Monday. Alibaba’s New York-listed shares had closed 4.2 per cent higher.
But in Hong Kong on Tuesday the Hang Seng Tech index of large Chinese tech stocks traded in the territory was down 0.4 per cent, with traders shying away from the sector in the absence of more concrete evidence that the crackdown had truly ended. Added Tse: “After all, to see is to believe, right?”
DAX:
- Deutsche Post (DPW TH) +4.4%
- Deutsche Post 1Q Ebit Beats Estimates
- Delivery Hero (DHER TH) +1.5%
- Zalando (ZAL TH) +1.4%
- Deutsche Bank (DBK TH) +1.3%
- BMW (BMW TH) +1.1%
- Stellantis to Buy Mercedes and BMW’s Car-Sharing Joint Venture
- Covestro (1COV TH) -6.3%
- Covestro Cuts FY Ebitda Forecast, Misses Estimates
MDAX:
- Nemetschek (NEM TH) +2.1%
- Nemetschek Raised to Buy at Baader Helvea; PT 95 euros
- K+S (SDF TH) +1.9%
- Aixtron (AIXA TH) +1.5%
- ProSieben (PSM TH) +1.3%
- Commerzbank (CBK TH) +1.3%
- Duerr (DUE TH) -1.6%
- Duerr Cuts FY Profit After Tax Forecast
SDAX:
- Adler Group (ADJ TH) +3.1%
- Adler’s Efforts to Contain Crisis Backfire in Chaotic Weekend
- Hamborner REIT (HABA TH) +2.4%
- Bilfinger (GBF TH) +1.8%
- Fielmann (FIE TH) +1.8%
- Kloeckner (KCO TH) +1.7%
- SMA Solar (S92 TH) +1%
- Nordex (NDX1 TH) +0.9%
Activist Investor Ancora Has 1% Hasbro Stake
Toy maker is urged to explore options for Entertainment One unit in a letter sent to company’s board
An activist investor has a stake in Hasbro Inc. HAS 1.83% and is supporting another activist already waging a proxy fight at the toy maker while it pushes the company to make further changes.
Ancora Holdings Inc. has a roughly 1% stake in Hasbro and wants it to explore a full or partial sale of Entertainment One, its unit focused on creating television shows and other content, according to a letter the activist sent to the company’s board that was viewed by The Wall Street Journal. It also wants the company to replace longstanding directors on its board.
Pawtucket, R.I.-based Hasbro has a market value of roughly $12.5 billion and sells brands including Play-Doh and Monopoly. While it received a boost in the early days of the pandemic as lockdowns spurred parents to spend on toys, its shares are trading below where they were five years ago.
Ancora joins Alta Fox Capital Management LLC, a little-known activist that in February unveiled a 2.5% stake in Hasbro and nominated five directors to the company’s board. Alta Fox urged the company to explore a spinoff of its fast-growing Wizards of the Coast gaming unit, which includes games like Dungeons & Dragons. It also criticized the company’s roughly $4 billion 2019 purchase of Entertainment One, which is known for the children’s show “Peppa Pig.”
Ancora said in its letter Hasbro should replace longstanding directors with Alta Fox’s nominees. The activist also said Hasbro should review options for Entertainment One because it doesn’t fit well with the rest of the business and proceeds from a sale could be reinvested elsewhere. Ancora also said Hasbro should continually consider alternatives for the Wizards of the Coast unit, which it believes the market is overlooking.
Hasbro in early April rejected Alta Fox’s calls to spin off Wizards of the Coast, concluding that doing so would diminish benefits the division gets from the company’s long-standing strategy which focuses on telling stories around its brands. It also added two directors to its board, an executive from chat app-company Discord Inc. and a former executive of gaming company Electronic Arts Inc. EA 1.65% Chris Cocks took over as Hasbro chief executive in February following the death last year of longtime CEO Brian Goldner.
Hasbro said in a statement that Alta Fox’s campaign began shortly after Mr. Goldner’s death and “is a distraction at a time when our new CEO should be given a chance to focus solely on our business.”
Hasbro shareholders are set to vote on the competing director slates June 8, unless the two sides settle before then.
The activist pressure comes as Hasbro’s rival Mattel Inc. MAT 1.65% has held talks with private-equity firms about a potential sale, The Wall Street Journal reported last week. The two have been fierce competitors over the years and in 2017, Hasbro made an unsuccessful takeover offer for Mattel.
Cleveland, Ohio-based Ancora has recently run campaigns at companies including packaging-maker Berry Global Group Inc. BERY 1.05% It was also part of a trio of activists that have taken on retailers Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. BBBY 0.81% and Kohl’s Corp. KSS 1.57%
>>> Up
* Argenx ADRs Raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley; PT $375
* Auction Technology Group Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan
* Erste Raised to Outperform at Exane; PT 44 euros
* Linde Raised to Add at AlphaValue/Baader
* M&G Raised to Buy at HSBC; PT 260 pence
* Nemetschek Raised to Buy at Baader Helvea; PT 95 euros
* Petrofac Raised to Buy at Berenberg; PT 210 pence
* Remedy Entertainment Raised to Hold at Nordea
* St James's Place Raised to Buy at HSBC; PT 1,600 pence
* Shaftesbury Raised to Add at Peel Hunt
* Zignago Vetro Raised to Buy at Equita; PT 14.40 euros
>>> Down
* AO World Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan; PT 63 pence
* AstraZeneca Cut to Hold at Handelsbanken
* HUTCHMED China ADRs PT Cut to $45 from $52 at Jefferies
* Rieter Cut to Hold at Stifel; PT 135 Swiss francs
* Robit Cut to Hold at SEB Equities; PT 3 euros
* Salvatore Ferragamo Cut to Sell at SocGen; PT 13 euros
* Westwing Group SE Cut to Add at Baader Helvea; PT 13 euros
>>> Initiation
* Endur ASA Rated New Buy at Arctic Securities; PT 0.70 kroner
* Fiserv Rated New Buy at Loop Capital; PT $125
* Nvidia Resumed Equal-Weight at Morgan Stanley; PT $217
>>> Call
* Bayer’s 1Q Expected to Beat, Herald Earnings Momentum: Citi
* DSM Shares May See Small Positive Boost on 1Q, Jefferies Says
* Vestas Upgraded at Jefferies After ‘Major Reset’ on Guidance
U.S. and European equity futures rose Tuesday, while Asian stocks were steady, as investors evaluated the implications of a global wave of monetary tightening to tackle elevated inflation. The Asian session was whipsawed by wild swings in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. in Hong Kong on a brief bout of concern about the status of co-founder Jack Ma. The worries faded and the city’s stock market turned higher as officials stepped up plans to roll back Covid curbs. Markets in Japan and China are shut. The Alibaba episode did serve to underscore ongoing anxiety about Beijing’s regulatory crackdown on the technology sector, even after the nation’s top leaders last week vowed support for so-called platform firms. Australia’s central bank increased interest rates, implementing a 25 basis points move that was larger than many analysts had expected. It said tighter policy will be needed to meet its inflation goal. The local currency jumped and bonds slid. Treasuries fell Monday, taking the 10-year yield to 3% and sending real yields back above zero. A dollar gauge slipped while remaining in sight of a two-year high. Investors are bracing for the Federal Reserve’s biggest rate hike since 2000. There’s no cash Treasuries trading in Asia due to the Japan holiday. The key question for markets remains whether the global economy can weather the shift toward tighter financial conditions, including reduced central-bank balance sheets. Bouts of optimism have tended to fizzle rapidly this year. In China, authorities continue to fight a Covid outbreak with lockdowns that are hampering both the economy and global supply chains. Oil held at about $105 a barrel. Traders weighed higher demand for refined products against demand risks from China’s slowdown. Dip-buying in the technology sector led U.S. equities higher Monday after a bruising April for global markets. US After Hours HLIT +10.5%, CDLX +8.8%, CAR +7.3%, SANM +3.8%, SEDG +2.6% higher on earnings; CHGG -31%, EVER -15.4%, VRNS -10.7%, FN -8.3% lower on earnings
Nikkei -0.11% Hang Seng +0.32% CSI Closed Shanghai Closed Shenzen Closed
Eur$ 1.0505 CNH 6.6965 CNY 6.6085 JPY 130.18 GBP 1.2513 CHF 0.9784 RUB 70.97 TRY 14.9055 WTI$ 104.95 -0.21% Gold 1,859.23 -0.20% BTC 38,512 +0.51% ETH 2,843.90 +0.62%
S&P +0.37% Nasdaq +0.41% EuroStoxx +1.28% FTSE -0.65% Dax +1.18% SMI +0.29%
Macro :
- US regulatory scrutiny of ‘complex’ ETFs prompts fears of crackdown
- Citi Says Trader Made Error Behind Flash Crash in Europe Stocks
- JPMorgan’s Kolanovic Sees Rebound as Bearish ‘Fears Overblown’
- Italy Raises Windfall Tax on Energy Firms’ Profits to 25%
Keep an eye on :
- AKSO NO : Aker Solutions 1Q Adjusted Ebitda Beats Estimates
- AOX GY : Alstria Office 1Q FFO EU27.5M Vs. EU29.4M Y/y
- AMS SW : ams-OSRAM 1Q Revenue EU1.25B
- BNP FP : BNP Paribas 1Q FICC Sales & Trading Revenue Beats Estimates
- BRG NO : Borregaard 1Q Operating Revenue Beats Estimates
- CCL LN : Carnival Says Entire Fleet Has Resumed Guest Operations
- 1COV GY : Covestro Cuts FY Ebitda Forecast, Misses Estimates
- 05G GY : S Immo, CPI Property Reach Pact on Offer for Remaining Shares
- DBV FP : DBV Technologies, FDA to Discuss Viaskin Peanut Study Protocol
- DEMANT DC : Demant Sees FY Ebit DKK3.6B to DKK3.9B, Est. DKK3.65B
- DIE BB : Belgian April Car Registrations Sink 23.6%; D’Ieteren Has 22.8%
- DPW GY : Deutsche Post 1Q Ebit Beats Estimates
- DSM NA : DSM 1Q Adjusted Ebitda Beats Estimates
- DUE GY : Duerr Cuts FY Profit After Tax Forecast
- EUCAR FP : Avis Budget Soars as Quarterly Earnings Beat Highest Estimate (CAR +10% in After Hours)
- FCT IM : *NCL IN TALKS WITH FINCANTIERI FOR A NEW $4B ORDER: REUTERS
- IPN FP : Ipsen Says EU Commission Approves Cabometyx for Thyroid Cancer
- ISS DC : ISS 1Q Sales Beats Estimates
- LOGN SW : Logitech Cuts 2023 Adjusted Operating Income Forecast
- MCOVB SS : Medicover Buys Allenort and Laurus for ~EU16 Million in Cash
- NHY NO : Norsk Hydro 1Q Adjusted Ebitda Beats Estimates
- OERL SW : Oerlikon 1Q Sales Beats Estimates
- PSH NA : Pershing Square Holdings April Net Performance -8.1%
- PFV GY : Pfeiffer Vacuum Maintains FY Ebit Margin Forecast
- PSPN SW : PSP Swiss Sees FY Adjusted Ebitda Above CHF285M, Saw CHF285M
- G24 GY : Scout24 SE Sees FY Revenue High End of +11% to +12%
- SHUR BB : Shurgard Signs Long-Term Lease in the Amsterdam Region
- STLA IM : Stellantis Set to Buy Share Now, Repubblica Reports
- TEL NO : Telenor 1Q Ebitda Misses Estimates
- HO FP : Thales to Buy Ruag’s Simulation & Training Business: Le Figaro
- TWTR US : Musk’s Grand Vision for Twitter Faces Reality Check in Asia
- UCB BB : UCB Says Phase 3 Study of Fintepla Met Primary Endpoint
- UCG IM : UniCredit Could Sell Russia Assets to Local Buyer, Sole
- YAR NO : Intrepid Potash 1Q Adjusted EPS Beats Estimates