Before the bell: hope for a ceasefire?

Wall Street gained ground and is also pushing Asian markets higher this morning. That bodes well for the opening in Europe. Investors are wondering whether D’Ieteren will provide more information today about the possible IPO of Belron.

Yesterday the Euro Stoxx 50 fell 0.6% and the Bel20 lost 0.8%. In Brussels, real estate stocks in particular took a hit as investors fear that high energy costs could fuel inflation. Logistics real estate players Montea and WDP lost 4.4% and 3.4% respectively, while Cofinimmo and Aedifica also fell by more than 1%. UCB (+2.2%) and Argenx (+1.4%) stood out with their gains. After European stock markets closed, Donald Trump delivered a positive message. The US president claims the conflict in Iran will soon come to an end. According to Trump, this could happen without further military intervention. The war will not end immediately, but “soon,” according to him. In the final hour of trading, US stock indices moved sharply higher and turned their losses into gains. The S&P 500 closed the day 0.8% higher and the technology-heavy Nasdaq rose 1.4%. The oil price collapsed. A barrel of crude oil now costs just under 90 dollar.

This morning Asian indices are also benefiting from the positive remarks by the US president. In Hong Kong the Hang Seng Index is up 2% and in Japan the Topix is rising 2.3%. European markets are also expected to open higher. Today we will receive results from D’Ieteren, where investors hope to learn more about the potential IPO of Belron. In Germany, Volkswagen will host an investor day for shareholders, while in the United States results will be published by NIO, Kohl’s, BioNTech and Oracle.

EQT buys British water

The Swedish private equity fund EQT is acquiring a 42% stake in Yorkshire Water. The British water utility serves more than 5.7 million customers and earlier this year came under fire for polluting rivers and streams, for which the company was fined 733,000 pound. In addition, Yorkshire Water must repay a loan of more than 600 million pound this year. CEO Nicola Shaw has also been criticised for her remuneration package of more than 1.3 million pound. Problems everywhere, it seems, but according to EQT the challenges are well known and this is a good moment to invest in the sector. In addition to Yorkshire Water, the fund controlled by the Swedish billionaire Wallenberg family has previously taken stakes in the French drinking water company SAUR and the American Seven Seas Water Group. Investment holding companies such as Brederode and Investor AB hold positions in EQT.

Robotic hands

The robotics division of Swedish-Swiss company ABB, in which Investor AB is currently still a reference shareholder, is joining forces with chip designer Nvidia. The two companies are launching a partnership to develop a new generation of intelligent robots that can be trained in a virtual environment. This should make robots cheaper and more accessible for smaller companies. The robots are already being tested by Taiwanese consumer electronics manufacturer Foxconn. We could be proud of this promising European technology. But last year it was announced that ABB Robotics will be acquired by Japan’s SoftBank for 4.6 billion euro. Back in 2016, the German robotics manufacturer KUKA was also acquired by China’s Midea Group for 4.5 billion euro. At this rate, robot technology will soon no longer be in European hands.

Did you know…

that Koenigsegg Automotive AB, the maker of extremely fast and very expensive hypercars, is considering an IPO? The company says there is no rush, but the additional capital could be used to increase production of its latest models.

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