Europe Down, Oil Services In Focus

Ivaylo
05 Sep, 2006
Frankfurt

Europe is waiting for U.S. direction, though the oil-services sector drew attention after Compagnie Generale de Geophysique of France agreed to buy one company and after Wood Group said it will beat profit forecasts for the year. The U.K. FTSE 100 index edged down 0.2%, the German DAX Xetra 30 index declined 0.2% and the French CAC-40 index decreased 0.3%.

[R]6:30AM European markets are trading lower ahead of U.S. market starts again.[/R]
European markets were lower by mid-morning on Tuesday. The U.K. FTSE 100 index edged down 0.2% at 5,974, the German DAX Xetra 30 index declined 0.2% at 5,896 and the French CAC-40 index decreased 0.3% at 5,189. French car maker Peugeot declined 0.9% while peer Renault retreated 0.7%. Compagnie Generale de Geophysique, provider of equipment and services to the oil and gas industry agreed to pay $3.1 billion for Veritas DGC, provider of geophysical information and services.

London crude oil prices bounced back to around $68 a barrel on Tuesday after falling to a more than 10-week low the day before, with many dealers moving to the sidelines to await the next step in Iran''s atomic stand-off. Brent crude for October delivery traded up 29 cents at $68.00 a barrel by 0650 GMT, after dropping $1.44 on Monday.

The euro was down slightly Tuesday against the U.S. dollar after a light day of trading with markets in the United States closed for the Labor Day holiday. In morning trading the euro bought $1.2839, from $1.2863 the night before. The British pound fell to purchase $1.9036 from $1.9061 on Monday, while the dollar rose slightly to buy 115.94 Japanese yen from 115.89 the night before.