Market Updates

Europe Amid M&A Activities

Ivaylo
21 Dec, 2006
New York City

    European markets slipped in thin trading on Thursday morning, with merger-and-acquisition news giving direction after Publicis agreed to buy a rival and amid reports around Vodafone Group and Suez. Vodafone was reported to be in talks with Hutchison Essar, its Indian peer. Other deal news centered on airlines Ryanair adn drug company Sanofi-Aventis. The FTSE 100 in London was 0.1% lower, Frankfurt Xetra Dax was down 0.1%, while the CAC 40 in Paris was fractionally higher.

[R]6:30AM European stocks retreated slightly Thursday in thin trading.[/R]
European markets declined slightly in early trade on Thursday. The FTSE 100 in London was 0.1% lower at 6,188.9, Frankfurt Xetra Dax was down 0.1% at 6,582.24, while the CAC 40 in Paris was up fractionally at 5,516.44.

Advancers

Publicis Groupe, the French advertising company, advanced 4.7% following its announcement after the close on Wednesday that it was buying Digitas, the US interactive advertising agency, valuing the company at $1.3 billion.

French utility Suez traded 2% higher as it said its Belgian subsidiary Electrabel had increased its stake in Societe Hydro-Electrique du Midi in france from 40% to 99.6%.

Richemont, luxury goods group, gained after Swiss watch exports rose 13% yearly in November. Richemont moved up 3%.

Ryanair Holdings advanced 0.3% after it said that it is withdrawing its offer to buy Aer Lingus as the European Commission competition body announced it would open an investigation into the takeover bid. Aer Lingus shares gave up 0.4%.

Decliners

Vodafone Group shares dipped 1.4% on reports that of tabling a bid for Hutchison Essar at $13.5 billion. Shares in Sanofi-Aventis slipped 0.2% after its CEO told the a newspaper that the company would like to buy a biotech if one was available.

Oil and gold

Crude oil declined from a three-month high on talks that warmer-than-usual weather will reduce demand for heating fuel amid rising inventories. Crude oil for February delivery fell 56 cents, or 0.9%, to $63.16 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude oil for February settlement fell as much as 62 cents to $62.61 a barrel in electronic trading on the ICE Futures exchange.

Gold gained in London as the dollar retreated against the euro, making some investors buy the metal as an alternative investment. Gold for immediate delivery in London rose $2.11, or 0.3%, to $622.55 an ounce.

Currencies

The U.S. dollar was mixed against other major currencies in European trading Thursday morning. The euro traded at $1.3172, down from $1.3178 late Wednesday. The British pound traded at $1.9682, up from $1.9644. The dollar bought 118.15 Japanese yen, down from 118.34.

[R]5:00AM Gold and silver fell Wednesday on short-covering before the holidays.[/R]
The top-traded February gold lost $1.10 to end at $624.30 an ounce while March silver moved 6.5 cents lower to close at $12.645 an ounce. January platinum gained $7.50 to finish at $1,126 an ounce while March palladium finished $1.50 lower at $327.75 an ounce. Most-active March copper declined 6.3 cents to end at $2.9545 per pound.

The front-month February crude oil contract advanced 26 cents to end at $63.72 a barrel. January heating oil gained 1.17 cents to finish at $1.7304 a gallon and January unleaded gasoline dipped 2.46 cents to end at $1.6759 a gallon. January natural gas slipped 31.4 cents to close at $6.769 a million British thermal units.

On the New York Board of Trade, December Arabica coffee futures gained 3.75 cents to end at $1.2675 a pound, with most active March up 3.70 cents at $1.2970. Futures on raw sugar in foreign ports for March declined 0.05 cent to finish at 11.99 cents a pound.

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