Tech Stocks Lead Europe Higher

Ivaylo
15 Nov, 2006
New York City

Techs and telecoms led the way higher after the US tech markets strong performance due to a tame inflation report. Strong gains from technology shares such as chip maker Infineon Technologies countered some weakness from stock exchange operators Euronext, Deutsche Boerse and the London Stock Exchange. By mid morning, the FTSE 100 in London climbed 0.5%, Frankfurt Xetra Dax was up 0.5%, and the CAC 40 in Paris added 0.4%.

[R]6:30AM European markets advanced Wednesday on tech and telecom stocks.[/R]
European markets were higher on Wednesday. By mid morning, the FTSE 100 in London climbed 0.5% to 6,214.9, Frankfurt Xetra Dax was up 0.5% to 6,419.88, and the CAC 40 in Paris added 0.4% to 5,499.94.

Advancers

Infineon of Germany, the semiconductor maker, gained 3.4% after Qimonda, its US-listed memory chip unit, reported better than expected fourth-quarter results.

STMicroelectronics, Franco-Italian chipmaker, gained 1.7%, while ASML, the Dutch maker of chip-manufacturing equipment, climbed 1.4%.

Ericsson, the Swedish mobile phone equipment group, gained 1.5% after it announced a trio of contract wins, including a $110 million deal to expand the mobile network of AIS of Thailand.

Alstom, the French heavy engineer, gained 3.2% after Morgan Stanley raised its price target on the company following its stronger than expected results on Monday.

Decliners

Euronext, the pan-European stock exchange operator, fell 4% after Deutsche Borse said it was withdrawing its bid, a rival offer to that of NYSE. The German operator said it could have only pursued a deal that was supported by both sides and felt this was no longer possible.

Shares in Deutsche Borse and the London Stock Exchange were hit after a group of international banks unveiled plans for a European trading platform. The shares of the German company fell 2%, while LSE shed 4.7%.

Oil and gold

Crude oil for December delivery gained 21 cents to $58.49 a barrel in electronic trading on the NYME. On London ICE Futures exchange, December Brent crude gained 31 cents to $59.15 a barrel ahead of its expiration later Wednesday.

Gold for immediate delivery rose $1.42, or 0.2%, to $622.30 an ounce in early trading in London. The metal dropped 2% the previous three sessions.

The euro bought $1.2825 in morning European trading, compared with $1.2823 in New York late Tuesday. The British pound slipped to $1.8956 from $1.8971. The dollar rose to 117.84 Japanese yen from 117.54 yen.

[R]5:30AM Gold and silver futures moved down Tuesday on unstable dollar.[/R]
The December gold contract ended 50 cents lower at $625.30 a troy ounce. December silver finished 0.05 cents higher at $12.89 an ounce. January platinum settled $30.70 lower at $1,173.20 an ounce and December palladium closed $7.25 lower at $319.50 per ounce. Most-active December copper settled up 1.4 cents at $3.0890 per pound.

December crude oil moved 30 cents lower to $58.28 a barrel. December heating oil settled up 0.32 cent to $1.6632 a gallon. December gasoline advanced 0.78 cent to $1.5448 a gallon while December natural gas settled up 8.3 cents at $7.977 a million British thermal units.

On the New York Board of Trade, speculative buying enabled Arabica coffee futures to post a gain. The December contract settled up 0.65 cent at $1.1580 per pound. Futures on raw sugar in foreign ports for March settled unchanged at 11.67 cents a pound.