Michelin, K+S Surge in European Trading

123jump.com Staff
20 May, 2009
New York City

Investors in Europe debated the fate of euro, future direction of German exports and health of banks in the U.S. and Europe. Air France surged 11% and eliminated 2,700 jobs. Michelin surged 5% after Goldman Sachs lifted its price target.

[R]7:00 PM Frankfurt, Paris – Investors in Europe debated the fate of euro, future direction of German exports and health of banks in the U.S. and Europe. Air France surged 11% and eliminated 2,700 jobs. Michelin surged 5% after Goldman Sachs lifted its price target.[/R]

Stocks in European markets traded mixed with a negative bias. Rising commodities prices helped the energy and mining related companies. Euro edged lower against dollar and pound.

Euro declined against pound to €1.13 and fetched $1.3764.

Gainers & Losers

Air France-KLM surged 11.4% to €11.30 after it reported lower than expected loss and also eliminated 2,700 jobs.

AND International Publishers NV surged 14% to €8.65 after it emerged from the chapter eleven bankruptcy and predicted sales to double and earnings to triple in the first four months of the year. The company in a press release guided earnings per share of €2 compared to 41 euro cents in 2008. AND is the third largest map provider in the Western European market and the only independent one.

Cafom SA, the appliance and household goods distributor based in French overseas territory surged 7.6% to €4.84 after it reported first quarter sales increase of 11% to €220.4 million. Internet sales jumped to €24 million from €10.2 million.

K+S, the potash maker surged 7% to €53.20 after HSBC analyst recommended the share and highlighted that the underlying demand is stronger than currently believed.

LVMH Moet Hennessy SA declined 1.7% to €60.07. Two days ago the Wall Street Journal said that company may acquire 50% stake in Ireland based apparel maker Edun Apparel Ltd.

Michelin & Cie jumped 5% to €43.14 after Goldman Sachs raised its target price to €46 from €36 and cited stability in the markets.

Total SA increased 0.8% to €41.20 and workers protested at its UK refinery on hiring foreign workers.

DAX Index Movers

MAN AG led the decliners in the DAX index of 3.44% followed by losses in Commerzbank AG of 2.39%, in Muenchener Rueckversicherungs-Gesellschaft AG of 2.15%, in Allianz SE of 2.00%, in SAP AG of 1.48%.

Bayer AG led gainers in the DAX index with a rise of 7.01% followed by gains in K+S AG of 6.54%, in Salzgitter AG of 5.60%, in BASF SE of 4.88% and Deutsche Lufthansa AG of 3.93%.

CAC-40 Index Movers

BNP Paribas SA led the decliners in the CAC-40 index of 2.90% followed by losses in Accor SA of 2.46%, in STMicroelectronics N.V. of 0.87%, in Schneider Electric SA of 0.63%, Unibail-Rodamco SA of 0.41%.

Air France-KLM gainers in the CAC-40 index with a rise of 11.44% followed by gains in ArcelorMittal of 5.64%, in Air Liquide of 4.96%, in Michelin SCA of 4.82% and in PSA Peugeot Citroen S.A. of 3.00%.

Europe Markets Review

In London FTSE 100 Index closed lower 13.84 or 0.31% to 4,468.41, in Paris CAC 40 Index increased 28.41 or 0.87% to close at 3,303.37 and in Frankfurt DAX index higher 79.32 or 1.60% to close at 5,038.94. In Zurich trading SMI increased 10.47 or 0.19% to close at 5,509.27.