Ryanair Lifts Europe

Ivaylo
06 Nov, 2001
New York City

European stocks traded higher in early trading on Monday, buoyed by earnings from companies including Irish low-cost airline Ryanair Holdings, oil prices staying below $60 a barrel and amid continued merger-and-acquisition moves. The early positive earnings and deal news helped investors neglect a lower end in the U.S. stock market last week. By mid morning, London FTSE 100 climbed 0.6%, while Frankfurt Xetra Dax gained 0.7%, the CAC 40 in Paris added 0.4%.

[R]6:30AM European markets trade higher in early session on earnings results.[/R]
European markets were higher on Monday. By mid morning, London FTSE 100 climbed 0.6% to 6,187.3, while Frankfurt Xetra Dax gained 0.7% to 6,286.26, the CAC 40 in Paris added 0.4% to 5,358.82.

Advancers

Ryanair gained 3.8% after the group announced a forecast-beating 23.7% rise in its second-quarter net profit and raised its outlook for the full year.

Merrill Lynch upgraded Anglo-Dutch consumer goods group Unilever from sell to neutral following its better-than-expected third-quarter results last week. Unilever shares rose 2.4%.

German sportswear maker Adidas gained 2.5% after Barrons, the weekly investment newspaper, said it expected the shares to rise to around 50 euros a share next year if the company can achieve cost savings following its Reebok purchase and increase its US market share.

Ferrovial, the Spanish construction group, said it was looking at offers for its property division, even though the unit was not officially for sale. Ferrovial shares added 2.7%.

Decliners

Vivendi shares traded down 0.5%. Vivendi noted over the weekend that it had received a friendly expression of interest from KKR following press speculation. Vivendi said that it reviewed the proposal - which reports put at 40 billion euros - but that the expression of interest did not result in a proposal.

Shares in steelmaker Arcelor Mittal declined 0.7% in Paris. It said its third-quarter sales declined 1.6% compared to the second quarter, with net income up 20% sequentially.

Oil and gold

Oil prices slipped Monday after threats late last week of disruptions to production in Nigeria and the United States failed to materialize. Light, sweet crude for December delivery dropped 46 cents to $58.68 a barrel in on the NYME. December Brent crude on London ICE futures exchange fell 45 cents to $58.70 a barrel.

Gold declined from an eight-week high after gains in the dollar reduced the appeal of the metal as an alternative investment. Gold for immediate delivery fell $1.10, or 0.2%, to $626.30 an ounce early trading in London after earlier rising to $629.90, the highest since Sept. 7.

Currencies

The euro fell against the U.S. dollar on Monday, retreating below the $1.27 mark before the American midterm elections on Tuesday. In morning trading, the euro bought $1.2694, down from $1.2773 on Friday. The dollar rose to purchase 118.38 Japanese yen, while the British pound dropped to $1.8952 from $1.9086.

[R]5:00 AM Gold futures ended the week 5% up on strong oil, dollar.[/R]
December gold advanced $1.40 to end at $629.20 an ounce, after reaching an eight-week high of $631.30 an ounce. December silver reached a new eight-week high of $12.68 an ounce before settling 1.5 cents lower at $12.635 an ounce. The most active platinum contract, for January delivery, rose $45.20 to settle at $1,209.40 an ounce. In copper trading, the most-active December contract went 3.1 cents higher to close at $3.3225 per pound.

The front-month December light, sweet crude oil contract gained $1.26, or 2.2%, higher at $59.14 a barrel. December heating oil rose 3.78 cents to $1.6775 a gallon, and front-month December unleaded gasoline moved up 5.38 cents to $1.5069 a gallon. Natural gas for December delivery settled 7 cents higher at $7.884 a million British thermal units.

On the New York Board of Trade, Arabica coffee futures climbed in a fund-led surge that was fueled by technical buying. December coffee closed 1.9 cents higher at $1.1245 a pound, while March coffee closed 1.9 cents stronger at $1.1655 a pound. March futures on raw sugar in foreign ports dipped 0.22 cents to finish at 11.31 cents a pound.