Before the bell: Cofinimmo wants more

Argenx and Solvay drag the Bel20 down. Container shipping giant Maersk lowers its outlook for 2025.

Yesterday, the average European stock gained 1.1%. But heavy losses from Argenx (-10.9%) and Solvay (-9.5%) kept the Brussels Bel20 (-1.3%) in the red. The United Kingdom signed a trade deal with the United States, and the Bank of England surprised markets by cutting interest rates by 25 basis points to 4.25%. Across the Atlantic, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq gained 0.6% and 1.1%, respectively.

This morning in Asia, Japan’s Topix rose 1.4%, while the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong remained flat. China released its trade balance figures, surprising markets with an 8.1% export growth in April—well above the expected 2.5%. Cofinimmo announced this morning that it considers Aedifica’s share-swap offer too low. Still in Belgium, we await earnings from Proximus and bpost. In Canada, pipeline and energy company Enbridge will report its results.

Argentina recovers

Latin American e-commerce giant MercadoLibre posted first-quarter revenue of 5.9 billion dollar, nearly 9% above the 5.5 billion dollar expected by analysts. Earnings also came in strong at 9.74 dollar per share, beating estimates. The company’s stock rose 6.5%. Sales in its home country Argentina surged by 126%, largely due to a recovery from last year’s economic turmoil. In 2024, sales in Argentina had fallen 22%, but now seem to be rebounding. With a market capitalisation of 122 billion dollar, MercadoLibre is one of the most valuable companies in Latin America and is often called the “Amazon of South America.”

In the eye of the storm

A.P. Moller-Maersk, one of the world’s largest container shipping companies, lowered its outlook for 2025. In February, the Danish firm had forecast a 4% increase in container volumes. It now sees growth between +4% and -1%. Global economic uncertainty remains high. According to Maersk, container trade between China and the United States has dropped by 30% to 40%. The company controls 14% of the global container fleet and has operations in 60 ports. However, Maersk is less exposed to the trade war than its peers, as most of its operations are focused on the Asia–Europe route.

Did you know…

that luxury brands are offering fewer discounts in China this year compared to 2023? For example, labels like Balenciaga (Kering) and Versace (Prada Group) barely offered any price cuts this year, whereas discounts previously reached over 40%. These brands are clearly focused on protecting their premium image.

This article was translated from Dutch and was originally published on Spaarvarkens.be.