European Indexes Climb; BMW U.S. Sales Rise 17%

Arthi Gupta
05 Jan, 2011
New York City

The European indexes climbed after euro-zone Services PMI and PPI rose. French service sector activity improved in December. Spanish industrial production grew and Hungarian PPI soared in November. Romanian central bank retained key rate at 6.25%.

[R]4:00 PM Frankfurt – The European indexes climbed after euro-zone Services PMI and PPI rose. French service sector activity improved in December. Spanish industrial production grew and Hungarian PPI soared in November. Romanian central bank retained key rate at 6.25%.[/R]

Portugal’s government debt agency, IGCP auctioned €500 million or $665 million of six-month Treasury bills today. The yield surged to 3.686% from 2.045% at a previously held auction in September. Bid-to-cover ratio for the auction increased to 2.6 from 2.4 in September.

In Paris CAC 40 Index declined 37.74 or 0.96% to close at 3,878.29 and in Frankfurt DAX Index edged lower 83.30 or 1.19% to close at 6,892.05.

Euro-zone Services PMI Rises

Euro-zone service sector activity slowed in December, new survey data showed on Wednesday. The Markit services purchasing managers'' index fell to a seasonally adjusted 54.2 in December from 55.4 in November, but was higher than the preliminary estimate of 53.7.

Euro-zone industrial new orders grew 1.4% in October, as against September''s 4.2% fall, the statistics office of the European Union, Eurostat said on Wednesday.

On an annual comparison, industrial new orders grew 14.8% in October, following a 13.5% rise in September.

Euro-zone producer price index for total industry excluding construction rose 4.5% annually in November, after a 4.4% increase in October, data from Eurostat showed on Wednesday.

On a monthly basis, producer prices grew 0.3% in November, versus October''s 0.4% gain.

In EU27, the PPI increased 4.8% annually in November, faster than October''s 4.5% increase. On a monthly basis, the increase was 0.5% in November, same as in October.

German Service Sector Activity Climbs

Germany''s service sector grew steadily in December, with the business activity index recording a score of 59.2, unchanged from the thirty-nine month high of November, a final report from Markit Economics showed on Wednesday.

French Service Sector Strengthens

French service sector activity rose at a robust pace in December despite poor weather conditions, new survey data showed on Wednesday.

The Markit services purchasing managers'' index fell to a seasonally adjusted 54.9 in December from 55.0 in November.

Spain Industrial Production Grows

Industrial production in Spain rebounded to grow 2.7% annually in November from a 1.9% fall in October, statistics office INE said on Wednesday.

Production of intermediate goods surged 4.5% from a year earlier, while energy output rose 7.8% in November. In contrast, production of durable goods plunged 9% in November.

Spanish consumer confidence slumped, a survey showed on Wednesday. The indicator fell to 64.6 in December, the lowest score since May 2009, from 70.0 in November, the Official Credit Institute said.

Activity in the Spanish service sector contracted at a sharper pace at the end of 2010, survey results from Markit Economics showed on Wednesday. The Purchasing Managers'' Index fell to 46.2 in December from 48.3 in November.

Hungary Producer Price Inflation Soars, Jobless Rate Drops

Hungary''s industrial producer price index rose 8.2% on a yearly basis in November, compared to the 7.1% increase in October, data from the Central Statistics Office showed. The index climbed for the seventh month in a row.

On a monthly basis, producer prices rose 1.5% in November. It was the first increase in four months.

Hungary''s jobless rate for the three months to November declined to 10.7% from 10.9% in the previous three months ended October, according to data from the Central Statistics Office released today.

Austria Trade Deficit Widens, Jobless Rate Falls, Inflation Accelerates

Austria trade deficit widened to €420.2 million in October 2010 from €53.7 million in October 2009, according to data from Statistics Austria.

During the month, the country''s exports surged 12.3% annually to €9.78 billion, while imports rose 16.4% to €10.2 billion.

Austria''s unemployment rate dropped to 4.1% in the fourth quarter last year from 4.4% in the third quarter, Statistics Austria said on Wednesday.

The number of unemployed declined 10.6% annually to 179,000 during the final quarter. In the third quarter, there were around 190,900 unemployed persons in the country.

Austria''s wholesale price annual inflation rose to 9.1% in December from 7.7% in November, data from Statistics Austria showed on Wednesday. The increase was largely due to the strong price increases in grain and oil products.

On a monthly basis, prices rose 1.4% in December, following a 0.8% rise in November.

Romania Central Bank Retains Key Rate

Romania central bank on Wednesday decided to keep its key policy rate steady at 6.25%. The monetary board of the National bank of Romania also decided to ensure adequate management of liquidity in the banking system and to maintain the existing levels of minimum reserve requirement ratios on both leu-denominated and foreign currency-denominated liabilities of credit institutions.

Gainers & Losers

Bayerische Motoren Werke AG declined 2.45% to €59.25 after the German automobile manufacturer said U.S. sales rose 16.9% in December from a year earlier.

Daimler AG edged higher 0.10% to €52.04 after the German car corporation reported that its Mercedes-Benz USA sales grew 0.3% in December from a year earlier.

Deutsche Bank AG rose 1.41% to €41.07 after the global investment bank and UBS AG are teaming up to issue as much as $2.5 billion in commercial mortgage-backed securities, the Bloomberg said, citing sources familiar with the deal.

Plaza Centers N.V. surged 3.96% to 105.00 pence after the developer of shopping and entertainment centers said it signed a new €52.5 million development loan for the construction of its shopping centre at Torun in Poland.

SeLoger.com S.A. dipped 0.11% to €34.78 after the online property ad company convened a special investor meeting on January 20 to propose a limitation of voting rights of minority shareholders.