Pharma Stocks Weigh FTSE down

Ivaylo
26 Oct, 2006
New York City

GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca suffered setbacks with their most-advanced experimental treatments. Their shares had their steepest declines in almost two years. Banks also traded in the red. Northern Rock, Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds TSB in trouble, while miners gave back early gains. Anglo American, Lonmin and Rio Tinto are lower, although, Vedanta Resources is still in the blue. The FTSE 100 in London is almost flat in the afternoon, at 6,217, or 0.03% higher.

[R]9:30AM The FTSE 100 erases earlier gains Thursday as pharma stocks decline.[/R]
The FTSE 100 in London is almost flat in the afternoon, at 6,217, or 0.03% higher.

Decliners

AstraZeneca tumbled on news it has stopped the development of its experimental stroke drug NXY-059 as it failed to reduce significant disability in patients. The shares lost 7.48%.

GlaxoSmithKline also slipped despite raising earnings guidance for the year to mid-teens EPS growth from 12% previously, hiked its dividend and increased its share buyback programme. The company shed 3.57%.

British American Tobacco also fell despite lifting nine month earnings by 13%, adding it is on track for a good year. Underlying profits rose 8% on revenues up 5%. The company stock declined 1.47%.

Cadbury Schweppes melted away as it said UK confectionery has been weaker than expected. Its shares moved back 1.10%. Medical product sterilisation firm Isotron has rejected an offer from Synergy Healthcare, saying it had no hesitation in doing so. Synergy Healthcare lost 5.04%. Discount retailer Instore has warned profits for the full year will be below expectations due to hefty stock clearance and restructuring measures. Its shares fell 10.17%.

Advancers

Third quarter results from Royal Dutch Shell were well received though as the oil titan reported a better than expected 33% increase in third quarter earnings per share before asset disposals. The company rose 3.91%.

Isotron has surged 7.17% after it rejected a bid offer. BP and BG rose, 0.57% and 0.08%, respectively. Vodafone meanwhile continues to rally from its recent lows. Vedanta Resources has gained 3.07%.

Other news

Independent News & Media, the media company, has launched a bid for APN News & Media, the Australian media group, valuing it at about 1.1billion pounds.

[R]7:30AM HK, Japan surge, lead Asian markets higher on FOMC, oil stocks.[/R]
Asian markets finished higher on Thursday. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 Stock Average advanced 0.7% to 16811.60. As oil futures pulled back above the $60 mark overnight in U.S. trading, Inpex rallied 4.9%.

Exporters gained too. Honda closed up 2.2% after stating record first-half profits yesterday and Toyota finished 0.6% higher after hitting an all-time high in intraday trading. Nissan, which reported earnings after the market close, posted a 0.9% gain. There was a a mixed performance from consumer-electronic companies. Sharp finished down 0.2% despite reporting a 28% rise in its fiscal first-half net profit.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index set a record closing high, gaining 1.1% to 18353.74. China Mobile led the advance, the second-biggest stock in the index, which advanced 3.8%.Shares of CNOOC rose 1.7%. Australia S&P/ASX 200 finished 0.7% higher and New Zealand NZSX-50 advanced 1% and Taiwan Weighted Price Index gained 0.3%.

Telecommunication and tech stocks also led South Korean shares higher on expectations for more positive fourth-quarter earnings. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index, or Kospi, rose 0.2% to 1373.65. Hynix Semiconductor gained 0.6% despite reporting lower-than-expected numbers for the third quarter. SK Telecom shares rose 1%, despite posting a net profit decline of 22%.

[R]6:30AM European markets advance Thursday morning on earnings and oil.[/R]
European markets were higher in early morning on Thursday. The FTSE 100 in London climbed 0.4% to 6,239.2, Frankfurt Xetra Dax added 0.4% to 6,291.6, and the CAC 40 in Paris gained 0.5% to 5,448.52.

Advancers

Early advancers included Telenor, the Norwegian telecom operator, reporting forecast-topping earnings and announcing its agreement to sell its satellite services unit for a profit. Its shares added 5.9%.

Renault led European carmakers higher. Its 1.2% decline in nine-month sales was better than expected. Its shares gained 1.2%. The German carmaker US Chrysler unit made losses on the company, but these were counterbalanced by strong performances at Mercedes and its truck division. DaimlerChrysler shares added a further 0.8%.

Takeover talks gave German steelmaker ThyssenKrupp a boost after rumours that Nucor, the US steel manufacturer, was on the point of making an offer. Thyssen declined to comment, but the shares gained 3.2%.

Decliners

Chocolate and soda maker Cadbury Schweppes announced that the situation in Nigeria influenced its performance in the third quarter. Its shares dropped 1.3%

Another decliner was British drug company AstraZeneca, trading down 3.7%, following its statement that it no longer plans to develop NXY-059 in acute ischemic stroke.

Oil and gold

Light, sweet crude oil for December delivery was up 13 cents to $61.53 a barrel on the NYME. Prices at London ICE Futures exchange also moved modestly higher. Brent crude rose 18 cents to $62.23 a barrel.

Gold opened Thursday at a bid price of $592.60 a troy ounce, up from $587.40 late Wednesday.

Currencies

The euro rose slightly against the U.S. dollar Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged and the president of the European Central Bank warned that the bank would adjust its own rates if needed. The euro bought $1.2657 in morning European trading, compared with $1.2615 in New York late Tuesday. The British pound advanced to $1.8839, up from $1.8793. The dollar was lower against the Japanese yen, falling to 118.71 yen from 118.98 yen.

[R]5:00AM Gold and silver futures climbed Wednesday, buoyed by oil price surge.[/R]
December gold jumped $3.20 to setlle at $590.80 a troy ounce on the NYME, while December silver added 4 cents to $11.89. January platinum was higher even before oil and gold surged and went on to finish with a gain of $5.90 to $1,069 an ounce. December palladium, was initially softer but then recovered with crude, finishing with a 10-cent gain to $323.10. December copper lost 1.35 cents to end at $3.4045 per pound.

December crude oil gained $2.05 to close at $61.40 a barrel. November heating oil advanced 4.38 cents to finish at $1.7390 a gallon. November unleaded gasoline settled up 5.43 cents at $1.5923 a gallon. November natural gas rose 60.2 cents to end at $7.693 a million British thermal units.

On the New York Board of Trade, December Arabica coffee futures settled 0.30 cent lower at $1.0685 a pound. Futures on raw sugar in foreign ports for March gained 0.21 cent to settle at 11.90 cents a pound.