European Bourses Buck Downtrend

Ivaylo
19 May, 2006
Frankfurt

US stocks ended down Thursday as a last minute sell-off canceled out profits made earlier in the trading. Otherwise, for analysts, the weaker-than expected growth in job rates might end fears that the increase will continue. The FTSE 100 in London advanced 0.2% in early trade, as did the Xetra Dax up also 0.2% and the CAC-40 in Paris rising 0.4% higher.

[R]6:30AM Europe rises against expectations of continued decline.[/R]
European markets rose in early trade. The FTSE 100 in London advanced 0.2% to 5,683.1 in early session, as did the Xetra Dax up also 0.2% to 5,677.52 and the CAC-40 in Paris rising 0.4% higher to 4,926.69. Euronext shareholders have put a deadline to the NYSE until next Tuesday to make a final offer for the Paris-based bourse or they will vote to support a rival offer from Deutsche Börse. On the corporate front BNP Paribas will top analyst expectations with its first-quarter earnings results, allowing the French bank to add 2.5%. DNBNor also added 2.9% and Capitalia rose 1.9%, to wrap up a head start for the banking sector. Lufthansa advanced 1.3% and Ryanair put 1.4% up, following strong results from British Airways, which was up 5.3%.

Oil added up new gains Friday. Light, sweet crude for June delivery advanced 36 cents to $69.81 a barrel and July Brent crude futures increased 33 cents to $70.00 a barrel. Gold bullion opened Friday at a bid price of $686.75 a troy ounce, lower than $690.70 in U.S. trading session late Thursday. The dollar gained slightly against the European currency. The euro bought $1.2825 in morning European trading, just short of the $1.2829 it bought in New York late Thursday. The British pound dropped to $1.8889 from $1.8908. The dollar was virtually unchanged against the Japanese yen, buying 110.90 yen from 110.89 yen.

[R]5:00AM Gold and silver declined on U.S. economic data.[/R]
June gold futures finished $11 down at $687.80 an ounce on the NYME. Silver sank to a low of $12.50 an ounce Thursday, its lowest level sinceApril 27, before closing at $12.52 an ounce, 72 cents lower from a day earlier. Platinum closed below the key $1,300-an-ounce level for the first time since Monday. July platinum finished $18.60 lower at $1,297.80 an ounce. Palladium also settled down at $372.50 an ounce, losing $10.60 on the day. Base metals and energy prices, however, advanced on Thursday. July copper contract advanced 3.95 cents to finish at $3.7110 per pound.

June crude oil finished up 76 cents at $69.45 a barrel, falling on the day as low as $67.85. June gasoline closed up 4 cents at $2.0151 a gallon, up from its intraday low of $1.95 a gallon. July Arabica coffee closed 0.75 cent up at $1.0215 a pound. Raw sugar in foreign ports futures for July closed 0.59 cent lower at 16.34 cents a pound.