Astroc Leads Europe Lower

Ivaylo
24 Apr, 2007
New York City

European markets slumped on Tuesday, led by Spain Ibex index, as mounting fears over the financial stability of real estate company Astroc led to sharp falls in the property and construction sectors. Also, Alcatel-Lucent posted an operating loss and Yell Group said U.S. revenue growth will slow. In Paris, the CAC 40 fell 0.6%, Frankfurt Xetra Dax lost 0.9% and London FTSE 100 shed 0.7%.

[R]6:30AM European markets fall Tuesday led by Spanish index Ibex.[/R]
European markets were lower on Tuesday. In Paris, the CAC 40 fell 0.6% to 5,878.52, Frankfurt Xetra Dax lost 0.9% to 7,268.35 and London FTSE 100 shed 0.7% to 6,437.1. National benchmarks fell in all 18 western European markets.

Advancers

Akzo Nobel, the Dutch chemicals group, rose 3.7% after reporting an 18.4% rise in operating profit, on growth in its Chinese operations. The company announced a 1.6 billion euros share buyback for May.

Decliners

The real estate sector was under pressure. Spanish group Astroc fell 13.3%, having lost around 60% in the previous three sessions on rumours some of its major shareholders were about to sell. Other companies dipped in sympathy. Inmocaral fell 10.2% while Metrovacesa shed 4.4%.

Among the construction groups, Sacyr Vallehermoso slipped 8.3%, FCC lost 4.6%, Acciona slid 4.2% and ACS slipped 3.8%.

Alcatel-Lucent dropped 1.5%. The company had a first-quarter operating loss of about 260 million euros, or $353 million, as sales fell in the wireless and traditional network units.

Shares of Yell Group tumbled 19% after the publisher said its U.S. revenue growth will slow this year as competition intensifies.

AstraZeneca fell 2.6%. The maker of the Nexium ulcer treatment has lined up $15 billion of loans to fund the proposed acquisition of U.S. biotechnology company MedImmune Inc. ING cut its recommendation on the stock to reduce from hold.

Oil and precious metals

Crude oil was little changed, trading near a three-week high in New York. Crude oil for June fell 13 cents to $65.76 a barrel in after-hours electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange in early trade in London. Brent crude oil for June settlement gained 18 cents to $68.32 a barrel in electronic trading on the ICE Futures exchange in London.

Gold and silver rose, erasing earlier declines. Gold for immediate delivery advanced 95 cents to $690.10 an ounce, after falling to $3.45. Silver gained 4 cents to $14.06. Earlier, it dropped 10 cents. Palladium for immediate delivery fell $1.50 to $382.50 and platinum increased $5.75 to $1,330.

Currencies

The dollar was mixed against other major currencies in European trading Tuesday morning. The euro traded at $1.3560, down from $1.3573 late Monday in New York. The British pound traded at $1.9980, down from $2.0012. The dollar fetched 118.76 Japanese yen, up from 118.60.

[R]5:00AM Arabica coffee and raw sugar dip Monday, gold and silver finish mixed.[/R]
The May Arabica coffee contract closed down 1.35 cents at $1.0635 a pound, with July off 1.25 cents at $1.0940. The May raw sugar contract settled down 0.19 cent at 9.33 cents a pound, with July off 0.25 cent at 9.24 cents.

June gold fell $1.60 to $694.20 a troy ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while May silver gained 9.5 cents to $14.05 an ounce. July platinum shed $9.50 to $1,331.70 an ounce, while June palladium lost 85 cents to $387.40 an ounce. The most-active July copper contract added 2.45 cents to settle at $3.6455 per pound.

The front-month June crude oil ended up $1.78 at $65.89 a barrel, after hitting $65.96. Front-month May gasoline settled up 5.33 cents at $2.1907 a gallon, while May heating oil closed up 6.18 cents at $1.8943 a gallon. May natural gas finished up 18.1 cents at $7.562 per million British thermal units.