ADVFN III Morning Euro Markets Bulletin
Daily world financial news from Thomson Financial News Supplied by advfn.com
11 Jul 2008 09:49:59
London
London shares open higher as NY closes firmer; commodity stocks gain
LONDON - Leading shares opened firmer on Friday after Wall Street closed higher overnight with commodity stocks the major gainers on the FTSE 100 as metal and oil prices rose.
At 8:45 a.m., the FTSE 100 index was 31.3 points higher at 5,438.1 after closing Thursday down 122.80 points at 5,406.80, while the FTSE 250 index was ahead 14.7 points at 8,535.2. "Its a quiet day on the market with the miners keeping the FTSE up.
There is no real news or companies reporting earnings to drive the market today," said Mark Priest, head of equity sales at Tradindex.
Overnight in the United States, Wall Street stumbled through another volatile session but ended with a respectable gain Thursday after a multi-billion-dollar deal between Dow Chemical Co. and rival Rohm and Haas Co. helped offset concerns about the financial sector and energy costs.
The DJIA index finished up 81.58 points at 11,229.02. Separately, the S&P 500 index gained 8.70 points to 1,253.39 and the Nasdaq composite rose 22.96, or 1.03 percent, to 2,257.85.
Friday in the United States will see the release of the latest U.S. trade figures and the University of Michigan preliminary consumer climate index for July.
Economists are expecting May's trade deficit to edge up to $62.1 billion, from $60.9 billion the previous month.
Elsewhere, the University of Michigan index is expected to ease slightly from 56.4 to 56.0 in July. The mood in Asia was mixed, the Nikkei 225 index closed down 27.52 points at 13,039.69, while the Hang Seng index ended the morning session 303.41 points higher at 22,125.19.
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Meanwhile, oil prices held steady on Friday following a sharp jump overnight driven by concerns about global crude supplies and tensions with Iran.
New York's main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for August delivery, rose 13 cents to $141.78 dollars a barrel after a jump of $5.60 to close at $141.65 Thursday at the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Brent North Sea oil futures for August delivery fell eight cents to $141.95. The contract leapt $5.45 to settle at $142.03 on Thursday in London.
Turning to the UK blue chips, miners and oil stocks were the major gainers on the FTSE 100 as metal and oil prices rose.
Out of the miners Kazakhmys was up 39 at 1,449, Vedanta Resources gained 52 at 2,059, Eurasian Natural Resources was 26 higher at 1,073, Antofagasta ticked up 12 at 591-1/2 and BHP Billiton firmed 35 at 1,763.
In the oil sector, BG Group gained 32 at 1,168, BP was up 9-1/4 at 549-1/2 and Royal Dutch Shell was 22 higher at 1,931, while exploration companies Cairn Energy was 63 firmer at 2,805 and Tullow Oil ticked up 20 at 862.
Away from commodities, Thomas Cook Group edged 3.4 higher at 187 after the group and Air Berlin informed the German Bundeskartellamt that they are withdrawing their current application for approval of the proposed merger of Condor Flugdienst GmbH and Air Berlin.
And, Lloyds TSB was up 4 at 296-1/2 following reports the group had abandoned its pursuit of a German banking deal after concluding that neither of the acquisitions it was considering would make sense for its shareholders. Turning to the downside, British Airways and Carnival continued to be hurt by the higher oil price.
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British Airways fell back 7 at 203-3/4 and Carnival lost 31 at 1,490.
Looking at the midcaps, house builders continued their rally following Barratt Developments positive trading update Thursday.
Barratt Developments was up 4-1/2 at 71-1/2, Taylor Wimpey gained 2-1/2 at 37-1/2 and Bovis Homes was 11-1/4 higher at 341-1/4.
After a broker upgrade, Mitchells & Butlers edged up 7-1/2 at 197 as UBS upgraded the group to 'buy' from 'neutral' ahead of its trading statement on 25 July.
And, Domino's Pizza gained 7-1/4 at 187 as Investec Securities initiated the group with a 'buy' stance with a price target set at 228 pence.
Turning to the downside, Tate & Lyle fell back 5-1/4 at 390-1/4 after Morgan Stanley reiterated its 'underweight' stance on the group.
And Sports Direct continued to fall, down 2-3/4 at 60-3/4 after Thursday's disappointing trading update.
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Paris
Paris shares TFN market data at 10:07 a.m.; oil rises hit auto, aviation stocks
Major indices:
CAC-40 up 13.96 points or 0.33 percent at 4,245.52
SBF-80 up 27.88 or 0.59 percent at 4,765.03
SBF-120 up 9.26 or 0.30 percent at 3,065.21
Major gainers:
Carrefour, up 0.57 or 1.81 percent at 32.07, recouping some of yesterday's losses Total, up 1.185 or 2.38 percent at 51.03, benefitting from an increase in oil price Casino up 1.30 or 1.91 percent at 69.20, after solid first half sales reassured investors
Major losers:
Michelin, down 1.29 or 2.70 percent at 44.65, and Peugeot, down 0.66 or 2.09 percent at 30.91, hit by rising crude prices Air France-KLM, down 0.48 or 3.23 percent at 14.39 percent on fuel price fears
Most active stocks:
Alcatel-Lucent, down 0.05 or 1.22 percent at 3.65; 2.8 million shares traded France Telecom, down 0.225 or 1.13 percent at 19.63
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Frankfurt
German shares TFN market data at 10.14 a.m.
DAX, down 10.95 points, or 0.17 percent, at 6,294.05
MDAX, up 13.43 points, or 0.16 percent, at 8,602.31
TecDAX, up 2.86 points, or 0.40 percent, at 724.18
DAX futures, down 33.00 points, or 0.52 percent, at 6,344.50
MAJOR DECLINERS
Continental, down 1.74 euros, or 2.98 percent, at 56.66, after Merrill Lynch lowered its stance on the stock to 'neutral' from 'outperform' Lufthansa, down 0.35 euros, or 2.48 percent, at 13.78, as a large-scale wage dispute with union ver.di during the upcoming holiday season looms, and as the oil price bounced.
TUI, down 0.22 euros, or 1.47 percent, at 14.70
Volkswagen, down 2.42 euros, or 1.42 percent, at 167.52
BMW, down 0.40 euros, or 1.34 percent, at 29.46
MAJOR ADVANCERS
Postbank, up 1.50 euros, or 3.03 percent, at 50.97, as Deutsche Bank can now concentrate on its bid for the bank, after it walked away empty-handed from its bid for Citigroup's German retail banking unit, that was sold to France's Credit Mutuel instead
Adidas, up 0.66 euros, or 1.77 percent, at 38.00 ThyssenKrupp, up 0.48 euros, or 1.41 percent, at 34.46, after Lehman Brothers raised their steel prices target
Bayer, up 0.64 euros, or 1.16 percent, at 55.90
Commerzbank, up 0.19 euros, or 0.98 percent, at 19.62
OTHER STOCK IN THE NEWS
MDAX-listed Norddeutsche Affinerie, down 1.29 euros, or 3.67 percent, as traders cited media reports saying Salzgitter is not interested in acquiring a stake in the company as previously speculated
MDAX-listed Heidelberger Druck, down 1.10 euros, or 9.05 percent, at 11.06, burdened by negative broker notes on the stock by JP Morgan and Cheuvreux following the company's weak first-quarter earnings released Thursday.
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Forex
London 0835 GMT London 0415 GMT
U.S. dollar
yen 107.17 unchanged 107.17
Swiss franc 1.0289 up from 1.0286
Euro
U.S. dollar 1.5773 down from 1.5778
pound 0.7982 up from 0.7979
Swiss franc 1.6229 down from 1.6232
yen 169.04 down from 169.05
Pound
U.S. dollar 1.9762 down from 1.9770
yen 211.81 down from 211.93
Swiss franc 2.0328 down from 2.0346
Australian dollar
U.S. dollar 0.9616 up from 0.9607
pound 0.4866 up from 0.4858
yen 103.05 up from 102.88
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