10 01 EU PRE OPEN

INDICES
Yesterday, European stocks remained under pressure. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index edged down 0.11%, Germany's DAX 30 declined 0.51%, France's CAC 40 lost 0.59%, and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was down 0.53%.

EUROPE ADVANCE/DECLINE
49% of STOXX 600 constituents traded lower or unchanged yesterday.
42% of the shares trade above their 20D MA vs 43% Tuesday (below the 20D moving average).
55% of the shares trade above their 200D MA vs 54% Tuesday (below the 20D moving average).

The Euro Stoxx 50 Volatility index eased 0.84pt to 26.06, a new 52w high.

SECTORS vs STOXX 600
3mths relative high: none
3mths relative low: none

Europe Best 3 sectors
utilities, technology, industrial goods & services

Europe worst 3 sectors
banks, energy, insurance


INTEREST RATE
The 10yr Bund yield fell 2bps to -0.55% (below its 20D MA). The 2yr-10yr yield spread fell 1bp to -18bps (above its 20D MA).


ECONOMIC DATA
FR 08:50: Sep Markit Manufacturing PMI final, exp.: 49.8
GE 08:55: Sep Markit Manufacturing PMI final, exp.: 52.2
EC 09:00: Sep Markit Manufacturing PMI final, exp.: 51.7
UK 09:30: Sep Markit/CIPS Manufacturing PMI final, exp.: 55.2
EC 10:00: Aug Unemployment Rate, exp.: 7.9%
EC 10:00: Aug PPI MoM, exp.: 0.6%
EC 10:00: Aug PPI YoY, exp.: -3.3%
FR 10:00: 10-Year OAT auction, exp.: -0.19%
FR 10:00: Sep New Car Registrations YoY, exp.: -19.8%
EC 16:45: ECB Lane speech


MORNING TRADING
Both China and Hong Kong markets were closed for a holiday. In Japan, the Tokyo Stock Exchange announced that all stock trading for Thursday's session was halted due to a technical glitch. In Asian trading hours, EUR/USD advanced further to 1.1743 and GBP/USD charged higher to 1.2937. USD/JPY was steady at 105.45. The Bank of Japan Tankan Large Manufacturers Index posted -27 for the third quarter (-24 expected) and the Outlook Index was -17 (-16 expected). AUD/USD was higher at 0.7177. The Australian Industry Group Performance of Manufacturing Index decline to 46.7 in September from 49.3 in August.

Spot gold was little changed at $1,891 an ounce.


#UK - IRELAND#
Smith & Nephew, a medical technology business, said it expects 3Q underlying revenue to decline about 4% on year. The Company added: "All three franchises showed significant recovery following an overall underlying revenue decline of -29.3% for the second quarter. The improvement was strongest in our Orthopaedics franchise, as global levels of elective surgery continued to recover."

From a chartist point of view, the stock is bouncing back above the key support at 1435p (this threshold is present thanks to the basis of the April 7th bullish gap). In addition, the Relative Strength Index is holding above the horizontal support at 34.5%. Above 1435p, look for the horizontal resistance at 1590.5p and the previous top of June at 1742.5p.

Source: TradingView, GAIN Capital

#FRANCE#
Worldline, a France-based payment and transaction services firm, announced that the European Commission has granted conditional approval to its planned 7.8-billion-euro acquisition of rival Ingenico Group.


#ITALY#
STMicroelectronics, a semiconductor company, said it expects 3Q net revenues to increased 27.8% on quarter to 2.67 billion dollars, higher than its previous forecast of 2.45 billion dollars.


#SWITZERLAND#
Novartis, a global drug maker, reported that in a Phase 3 trial for Zolgensma (onasemnogene abeparvovec) patients with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) Type 1 continued to experience significant therapeutic benefit,


#SWEDEN#
Hennes & Mauritz, a Sweden-based fashion retailer, reported that 3Q net income fell to 1.75 billion Swedish krona from 3.86 billion Swedish krona in the prior-year period on net sales of 50.87 billion Swedish krona, down 18.7% on year. The Company said: "Sales were affected by the Covid-19 situation. At the beginning of the quarter approximately 900 of the groups more than 5,000 stores were temporarily closed."


EX-DIVIDEND
BAT:52.6p, Ericsson: SEK0.75, Smith & Nephew (SN/): $0.144, Volkswagen: E4.86