Greece Debt Sale; LVMH Up, Helvetia Down

Mayank Mehta
13 Apr, 2010
New York City

European markets closed lower. Greece completed the sale of Treasury bills that drew strong interest from investors however there is a growing doubt that the nation can complete bond sales of five years or longer maturity.

[R]7:00 PM Frankfurt, Paris; 1:00 PM New York – European markets closed lower. Greece completed the sale of Treasury bills that drew strong interest from investors however there is a growing doubt that the nation can complete bond sales of five years or longer maturity.[/R]

In London FTSE 100 Index closed lower 15.99 or 0.28% to 5,761.66, in Paris CAC 40 Index decreased 18.51 or 0.46% to close at 4,031.99, in Frankfurt DAX index lower 19.86 or 0.32% to close at 6,230.83. In Zurich trading SMI decreased 25.10 or 0.36% to close at 6,885.86.

Greek government sold 26-week bills worth 780 million euros at a yield of 4.55% and bid-to-cover ratio of 7.67 and 780 million euros of 52-week bills at a yield of 4.85% and bid-to-cover ratio of 6.54, according to the Public Debt Management Agency of the nation.

The yields on the 52-week bills have shot up from 2.2% in January as the concern for the default mount.

The 1.2 billion euros debt sale had a provision to sell 30% more which investors used and the auction was completed with the sale of 1.56 billion euros.

Gainers & Losers

Audika SA the hearing-aid distributor fell 2.7% to €25.50.

Delta Plus Group SA the maker of protective equipment including gloves and helmets closed unchanged at €23.52.

Deutsche Bank AG fell 0.8% to €57.82 after the bank today announced several key hires in Latin America and in New York.

HeidelbergCement AG rose 0.3% to €43.65.

Helvetia Holding AG declined 4% to Sfr365 after Munich Re lowered its holding to below 3% from 8.1%.

HF Company fell 0.7% to €15.82 after the maker of equipment for television and Internet communication said first quarter sales rose 9.1% to €35.9 million.

Le Carbone Lorraine SA rose 0.4% to €28.08 after the maker of industrial fuses agreed to acquire electronic component maker M. Schneider according to Dow Jones International News.

LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA the luxury-goods manufacturer rose 2.2% to €90.71 after it reported first quarter sales increased 11%.

Michelin SCA rose 1.0% to €53.76.

PSA Peugeot Citroen S.A added 1.3% to €22.16 after the carmaker said it is investing €175 million at a plant in northern France in the next three years to produce a new three-cylinder turbo gas engine.

Telecom Italia SpA added 3.2% to €1.13 after the telecommunications company said 2009 revenues fell 6% to €27.2 billion from €29.0 billion a year ago. Net profit for the year fell 27% to €1.58 billion compared to net profit of €2.18 million a year ago.

Tessi SA the data processing company rose 5.2% to €58.93.

Voestalpine AG decreased 4.7% to €29.75 after Unicredit SpA lowered its rating on the stock to “sell” from “hold” citing the recent iron ore price increase and the need to pass on some of the prices to customers.

DAX Index Movers

Siemens AG led the decliners in the DAX index of 1.70%, followed by RWE AG of 1.56%, in Allianz SE of 1.33, in Deutsche Post AG of 1.33%, and in E.ON AG of 1.26%.

MAN SE led gainers in the DAX index with a rise of 2.24%, followed by increase in DiamlerAG of 1.20%, in Beiersdorf AG of 1.17%, in Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA of 0.80%, and in Bayer AG of 0.72%.

CAC-40 Index Movers

Accor SA led the decliners in the CAC-40 index of 1.94%, in Schneider Electric SA of 1.69%, in EADS NV of 1.62%, in Vinci SA of 1.38% and in TOTAL S.A. of 1.06%.

Alcatel Lucent gainers in the CAC-40 index with a rise of 4.47%, in Pernod Ricard SA of 2.78%, in PSA Peugeot Citroen S.A of 2.63%, in Michelin SCA of 1.84% and in LVMH SA of 1.63%.