European defence stocks up as continent faces pressure to boost military spending
17/02/2025 08:09
** Shares of European defence firms rise as pressure grows
on Europe to take responsibility of its own security
** Shares in Germany's Rheinmetall RHMG.DE , Hensoldt
HAGG.DE and Renk R3NK.DE rise between 8% and 10%
** Saab SAABb.ST +6%, Kongsberg Gruppen KOG.OL +3.6%,
Thales +4% and Dassault Aviation +3.5%
** Italy's Leonardo fails to start trading at open after it
was indicated up 5.1%
** French President Emmanuel Macron will host an emergency
summit on Ukraine after U.S. officials suggested Europe would
have no role in any talks aimed at ending the conflict
** Stifel says in a note that new NATO targets and revised
EU deficit rules are expected to trigger a wave of new orders
** "We think the NATO will set a new spending target of
2.5-3% of GDP in June, which would trigger incremental defense
spending of US$85-176bn p.a. in Europe alone," Stifel adds
** German chancellor Olaf Scholz has proposed to activate an
escape clause to raise military expenditure from 2% to above 3%
of GDP, Stifel says
** On Saturday, Scholz also predicted the new German
government would create an exemption for spending on defence and
security when dealing with the nation's constitutional limit on
public debt
(Reporting by Anastasiia Kozlova)
((Anastasiia.Kozlova@thomsonreuters.com))