ADVFN III Morning Euro Markets Bulletin
Daily world financial news from Thomson Financial News Supplied by advfn.com
30 Apr 2008 09:48:47
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London
London shares mixed early on ahead of Fed rates decision; BSkyB higher
At 9:06 a.m. the FTSE 100 was down 3.4 points at 6,086.0, while the FTSE 250 was up 44.1 at 10,051.5. On Tuesday, the FTSE 100 fell 1 point to close at 6,089.4. Wall Street turned in a mixed performance Tuesday as investors traded cautiously ahead of the Federal Reserve's Wednesday decision on interest rates.
The Fed, facing a faltering economy but also rising inflation, is expected to cut interest rates by another quarter point after its two-day meeting concludes Wednesday, after the UK market closes. Many investors believe policy makers will then signal that they are planning to hold rates steady at 2 percent for a while.
This expectation has boosted the dollar, which has helped push oils and metals prices lower. Brent has fallen back from recent record levels of above $117 a barrel and was trading at about $113.50 this morning.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 39.81, or 0.31 percent, to 12,831.94.
Back among UK equities, BSkyB was up 15 pence at 555-1/2 in early trade after the company said it added 56,000 net new customers in the third quarter and saw a year-on-year improvement in the number of customers defecting to rivals.
Nine-month sales rose 10 percent to 3.706 billion pounds, while operating profit fell as the company continued to shell out for its broadband investment.
Argos owner Home Retail Group was up 8-3/4 at 251 after it reported an expected 15 percent increase in full year underlying pretax profit, but said its home improvement business Homebase has made a "weaker than anticipated" start to the new year.
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Landsbanki retained its 'hold' rating. Standard Life was 2-1/4 higher at 250 after the Edinburgh-based insurer said total sales in the first quarter increased 8 percent, beating forecasts and boosted by growth in its core UK division.
Still with insurers, Admiral Group was the top FTSE 100 riser in early trade, up 33 at 853-1/2 after Citigroup upgraded to 'buy' from 'hold', largely on valuation grounds following recent weakness in the shares.
On the downside, gas producer BG Group fell back from yesterday's record closing high and was 35 pence lower at 1,273 pence after it reported a 76 percent rise in net profit in the first quarter, buoyed mainly by its robust liquefied natural gas business and higher oil and gas prices and production.
Overnight, BG made a 6 billion pounds takeover bid for Australia's Origin Energy Ltd. Miners were lower on weaker metals prices. Rio Tinto was 149 lower at 5,861; BHP Billiton was off 34 at 1,784. Vedanta was the biggest FTSE 100 faller, down 93 at 2,257.
Kazakhmys was 27 lower at 1,621 after it reported a fall in copper cathode production due to severe winter conditions. Antofagasta was 4-1/2 lower at 778-1/2 ahead of a copper production report.
Among the midcaps, Game Group rose 7 to a 12-month high of 271-1/2 on rumours of a bid form Texas-based Gamestop.
Bodycote International was up 31-3/4 at 243-1/4 after an upbeat trading statement, in which it it said it may sell its testing unit.
Partygaming was 1-1/2 lower at 25 after the world's biggest online gaming business reported a 21 percent rise in first quarter revenues and said it was confident about its prospects for 2008.
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PartyGaming benefited from a run of favourable results during the comparable quarter in 2007 but said the first quarter of 2008 was impacted by "exactly the opposite".
In economics, UK house prices were 1.0 percent lower during April compared with a year earlier, the first year-on-year fall for 12 years, according to building society Nationwide.
Higher mortgage rates and tighter lending criteria meant buyers stayed away from the property market during April, causing the average house price to fall 1.1 percent from March to 178,555 pounds.
Finally, UK consumer confidence fell to its lowest for nearly 16 years during April as fears about a major economic slowdown continued to mount, according to a pollster.
GfK NOP's monthly consumer confidence barometer fell sharply to -24 in April from -19 in March, its lowest level since November 1992 when the country was still reeling from the UK's exit from the European Exchange Rate Mechanism two months earlier.
The fall was driven by falling confidence in the UK economy as a whole, with the index measuring sentiment about the general economic situation over the past 12 months dropping 10 points since March to -53.
UK Diary of Events:
For a diary of key financial and corporate events in the UK today, Click here
US Summary:
For a summary of US stocks at yesterday's close of trade, Click here
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Milan
Milan shares TFN market data at 9.51 a.m.
Main indices:
Mibtel at 25,682, up 0.27 percent
S&P/Mib at 33,938, up 0.29 percent
Main S&P/Mib gainers
Luxottica up 2.89 percent at 18.31 euros on a firm luxury sector
Italcementi up 1.77 percent at 13.92 euros
Banco Popolare up 1.91 percent at 12.82 euros after it reached an agreement with Credit Agricole to create a consumer credit joint venture in Italy. The deal will allow the bank to increase its Tier 1 ratio by 70 basis points and its core Tier 1 by 50 basis points.
Bulgari up 0.94 percent at 7.44 euros
Impregilo up 1.17 percent at 3.92 euros after announcing a consortium it leads has been awarded a 630 million euros contract to build part of the Pedemontana Lombarda motorway A2A up 0.47 percent to 2.36 euros after Morgan Stanley cut its target to 3.3 euros from 3.5 euros but maintained 'overweight'. Reports said the group is close to acquiring small local utility Aspem Varese.
Fiat up 0.42 percent at 14.65 euros on reports it could conclude a production deal today with Serbia's Zastava Intesa Sanpaolo up 0.31 percent at 4.78 euros despite reports KBW has cutting its rating to 'underperform' L'Espresso up 0.61 percent at 2.22 euros after UBS cut its target to 2.35 euros from 2.85 euros
Main S&P/Mib losers
Tenaris down 1.29 percent at 16.37 euros on a soft utility sector
BPM down 1.16 percent at 8.06 euros
Saipem down 1.45 percent at 28.45 euros
STMicroelectronics down 0.72 percent at 7.59 euros after Lehman Brothers cut its target to 8 euros from 10 euros and kept its 'underweight'
Other stocks in the news
Saras down 2.19 percent at 3.16 euros after JP Morgan cut to 'neutral'. The company said it is ready to spend up to 1 billion euros for an acquisition. Edison up 0.78 percent at 1.56 euros after Morgan Stanley cut its target to 2.6 euros but kept its 'overweight'
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Madrid
Madrid shares market data at 10:10 a.m. - broad market flat; Telefonica, BME up
IBEX-35 index 13,718.4, up 7.30 points.
Major gainers:
Telefonica, up 0.12 euros at 18.57 on hopes for growth opportunities in Italy and Germany after the company appointed former spokesperson for Spain's conservative party Eduardo Zaplana as European delegate yesterday.
BME, up 1.40, or 4.61 percent, at 31.75, boosted by forecast-beating first-quarter results and a hefty dividend announcement.
Prosegur, up 0.18 at 27.64 after solid first-quarter results yesterday after the close, leading both Deutsche Bank and UBS to reiterate 'buy' recommendations on the stock.
Itinere, up 0.40 or 7.09 percent at 6.04, extending yesterday's almost 20 percent gain on relief that its public offering, which was feared to undercut the company's value, was pulled due to market conditions.
Major losers:
Repsol YPF, down 0.18 at 25.91, extending yesterday's losses on fears that Sacyr will have to sell its 20-percent stake as it struggles to refinance debt following the failed IPO of its Itinere unit.
Main banks, with Santander down 0.05 at 13.65 and BBVA off 0.06 at 14.64.
Selected domestically focused banks with Popular down 0.06 at 10.99, Sabadell off 0.02 at 6.38 and Bankinter down 0.05 at 9.79.
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Amsterdam
Amsterdam shares TFN market data at 10.21 am - slightly higher in holiday trade
MAJOR INDICES
AEX 472.65 points, up 1.43 points, or 0.30 percent
AMX 656.48 points, up 1.31 points, or 0.20 percent
Government bonds mainly higher
MAJOR GAINERS
Reed Elsevier up 1.28 percent at 11.87 euros
ING up 1.08 percent at 24.34 euros
Unibail-Rodamco up 0.91 percent at 165.65 euros
Heineken up 0.70 percent at 37.42 euros; reinstated at 'outperform' at Credit Suisse with a target of 47 euros KPN up 0.64 percent at 11.79 euros; kept at 'buy' at ING after first quarter results yesterday
AMG up 1.64 percent at 44.10 euros
Boskalis up 1.32 percent at 39.15 euros
MAJOR DECLINERS
ArcelorMittal down 0.95 percent at 56.06 euros
Randstad down 0.77 percent at 27.05 euros
Vedior down 0.34 percent at 17.74 euros
TNT down 0.16 percent at 24.88 euros; target cut to 31 euros from 37 at SNS after market close last night
ASMI down 1.84 percent at 14.94 euros
Ordina down 0.94 percent at 10.53 euros
Forex
London 0839 GMT Hong Kong 1:00 p.m. (0500 GMT)
U.S. dollar
yen 104.17 up from 103.97
Swiss franc 1.0395 up from 1.0364
Euro
U.S. dollar 1.5533 down from 1.5582
yen 161.75 down from 161.92
Swiss franc 1.6150 unchanged
pound 0.7903 down from 0.7917
Pound
U.S. dollar 1.9659 down from 1.9680
yen 204.77 up from 204.54
Swiss franc 2.0426 up from 2.0391
Australian dollar
U.S. dollar 0.9332 down from 0.9345
pound 0.4745 down from 0.4748
yen 97.21 up from 97.10
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