EU-IMF Offer

Mayank Mehta
12 Apr, 2010
New York City

European markets recovered from the lows of the day to close up after the EU and IMF offered details of emergency bailout to Greece. UBS AG added more than 3% after it estimated first quarter profit and assets outflow declined in the period. Greek benchmark stock index surged more than 6%.

[R]7:00 PM Frankfurt, Paris; 1:00 PM New York – European markets recovered from the lows of the day to close up after the EU and IMF offered details of emergency bailout to Greece. UBS AG added more than 3% after it estimated first quarter profit and assets outflow declined in the period. Greek benchmark stock index surged more than 6%.[/R]

The euro rebounded after Euro zone finance ministers agreed to offer €30 billion in an emergency assistance at a rate near 5%, substantially lower than the market rate and the IMF will provide additional €15 billion.

The details of debt terms are still not clear but the loan is for three years and additional loans may be provided in 2011 and 2012.

Greece has €11.6 billion of debt maturing by the end of May. The benchmark stock index the ASE Index in Athens surged 5.2%

Greek bonds jumped in trading in Frankfurt and the yield on 2-year bonds declined to 5.807% from 7.158%.

In London FTSE 100 Index closed higher 6.67 or 0.12% to 5,777.65, in Paris CAC 40 Index decreased 0.04 or 0.00% to close at 4,050.50, in Frankfurt DAX index higher 0.99 or 0.02% to close at 6,250.69. In Zurich trading SMI increased 21.99 or 0.32% to close at 6,910.96.

Gainers & Losers

BASF SE fell 0.9% to €46.53 after the chemical producer is preparing a bid for Cognis GmbH, a maker of lotions, cleaning products and shampoos that may value the closely held company at about €3 billion or $4 billion according to report from Dow Jones News

BNP Paribas SA rose 1.3% to €57.50.

Deutsche Telekom AG the telecommunications provider rose 0.1% to €10.06.

Essilor International SA decreased 2.0% to €46.56 after the maker of eyeglass lenses was downgraded to “neutral” from “outperform” at Exane BNP Paribas.

Eurazeo SA the investment company declined 4.8% to €52.13 after the investment company is planning to raise €500 million through a rights offering according to French daily Les Echos.

Eutelsat Communications SA added 2.3% to €26.46 after the shares were upgraded to “outperform” from “neutral” at Credit Suisse group AG.

Groupe SEB SA the maker of countertop kitchen appliances climbed 0.7% to €51.72.

Infineon Technologies AG fell 1.4% to €5.09 after the semiconductor maker was downgraded to “underperform” from “neutral” at Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Research.

Alpha Bank SA added 5.2% to €6.94, National Bank of Greece soared 5.2% to €14.50 and EFG Eurobank Ergasias SA surged 11% to €6.80.

SAP AG rose 0.5% to €36.18 and the software maker has given its software developers a job guarantee until the end of 2014, a spokesman company said Sunday.

Societe Generale SA rose 1.2% to €46.46.

UBS AG, the Swiss financial services company advanced 3.1% to €18.23 after it said it expects first quarter pre-tax profit around CHF2.5 billion.

Net asset outflows in the wealth management declined to CHF 8 billion in the quarter from CHF 45.2 billion in the fourth quarter and out flows in the asset management group were CHF 3 billion in the quarter. The bank has suffered total of CHF373 billion in asset outflows during two years of financial crisis to 2009.

UBS first quarter will be published on May 4th 2010.

Vallourec SA the steelmaker dropped 1.6% to €153.50.

DAX Index Movers

Infineon Technologies AG led the decliners in the DAX index of 2.90%, followed by Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA of 1.11%, in Merck KGaA of 1.03, in Fresenius SE of 0.98%, and in K+S AG of 0.97%.

Deutsche Bank AG led gainers in the DAX index with a rise of 1.02%, followed by increase in BMW AG of 0.88%, in E.ON AG of 0.85%, in Commerzbank AG of 0.79%, and in Allianz SE of 0.71%.

CAC-40 Index Movers

Essilor International SA led the decliners in the CAC-40 index of 2.46%, in Vallourec SA of 1.95%, in Renault SA of 1.47%, in Bouygues SA of 1.37% and in Vivendi SA of 1.07%.

L''Oreal SA gainers in the CAC-40 index with a rise of 1.76%, in Michelin SCA of 1.64%, in AXA of 1.47%, in Societe Generale SA of 1.33% and in BNP Paribas SA of 1.04%.