Europe Slips As Oil, Miners Decline

Ivaylo
24 Oct, 2001
New York City

European shares traded lower on Tuesday morning, as miners BHP Billiton and Anglo American fell and as chipmakers were under pressure from a profit warning from Texas Instruments, though oil large-cap BP gained as profit on an adjusted basis rose. Shares in BHP Billiton and miner Anglo-American dipped. The FTSE 100 in London was flat, Frankfurt Xetra Dax lost 0.2%, the CAC 40 in Paris slipped 0.4%.

[R]6:30AM European stocks decline Tuesday on weak oil and mining stocks.[/R]
European markets were lower by mid morning on Tuesday. The FTSE 100 in London was flat at 6,167.0, Frankfurt Xetra Dax lost 0.2% at 6,229.44, the CAC 40 in Paris slipped 0.4% to 5,392.92.

Advancers

Neste Oil outperformed in a generally flat oil sector, after reporting a 67% growth in third-quarter operating profit, easily beating market expectations thanks to a strong diesel market, the company stated. Shares in the Finnish refiner rallied 3.8%.

Banks gave some support to the markets, with gains for Erste Bank of Austria after Merrill Lynch upgraded the stock. Other high growth companies in the sector also performed well. Raiffeisen rose 1.2%, while Allied Irish Banks rose 2%.

Decliners

Other stocks in the energy sector, however, were falling as crude prices undermined most shares. Norsk Hydro fell 1.8% , after it reported a smaller-than-expected 18% rise in third-quarter operating profit. Statoil shed 0.6%.

London-listed miners were on the decrease too, as precious and base metals prices also retreated, while BHP Billiton announced quarterly copper output had fallen. BHP shares fell 2.5% and Anglo American shed 2.5%.

Oil and gold

Crude oil futures edged down Tuesday in electronic trading, as bargain-hunting trimmed earlier losses sparked by softening supply concerns. December contract on the NYME traded at $58.70 a barrel, down 11 cents from Monday.

Gold traded in London at $578.40 bid per troy ounce, down from $584.20 late Monday.

Currencies

The U.S. dollar was mostly higher against other major currencies in European trading Tuesday morning. The euro was quoted at $1.2540, down from $1.2546 late Monday in New York. The British pound traded at $1.8699, up from $1.8649. The dollar traded at 119.51 Japanese yen, up from 119.30.

[R]5:00AM Gold futures plunged due to stronger dollar and weaker oil.[/R]
December gold lost $13.50 to settle at $582.90 a troy ounce on the NYME. December silver sank 29.5 cents to end at $11.67 an ounce. January platinum fell $7.70 to $1,074.40 an ounce and December palladium fell $9.15 to $321.35 an ounce. The most-active December copper settled down 1.10 cent at $3.4510 a pound.

Light, sweet crude oil for December delivery dipped 52 cents to finish at $58.81 a barrel, near the middle of its trading range. November heating oil settled down 1.1 cent at $1.6690 a gallon. November unleaded gasoline slipped 0.43 cent to close at $1.4715 a gallon. November natural gas settled down 36.0 cents at $6.881 per million British thermal units.

On the New York Board of Trade, December Arabica coffee futures closed 4.80 cents higher at $1.0685 a pound, with March up 4.70 cents at $1.1070. Futures on raw sugar in foreign ports for March advanced 0.09 cent to settle at 11.80 cents a pound.