Deutsche Telekom, Club Med Up

Mukesh Buch
18 Jun, 2009
New York City

European benchmark indexes closed higher. Deutsche Telekom increased after it acquired 5% stake in Hellenic Telecom. Club Med surged after strategic investor added 1% stake. Fashion house PPR SA declined 4% on cautious comments from a broker.

[R]8:00 PM Paris, Frankfurt; 2:00 PM New York – European benchmark indexes closed higher. Deutsche Telekom increased after it acquired 5% stake in Hellenic Telecom. Club Med surged after strategic investor added 1% stake. Fashion house PPR SA declined 4% on cautious comments from a broker.[/R]

German investors focused on international developed to look for clues and sounded positive to lift stocks higher.

U.S. initial claims of unemployment declined in the last week, first weekly decline since January and the number people on unemployment fell as well. The World Bank raised its estimate of Chinese economic growth to 7.2%.

Gainers & Losers

Deutsche Telekom increased 2.9% to 8.36 euros after Greek government agreed to sell 5% stake in the Hellenic Telecom for 674 million euros.

Pfleiderer AG dropped 11.4% to 4.35 euros after the German laminate floor maker said its sales volume and prices for its products are lower in two months to May are lower than a year ago and it may default on its loan covenant.

K+S AG declined 2.2% to 41.49 euros after the company lowered its sales and earnings outlook and Deutsche Bank, UniCredit, WestLB and UBS expressed negative views.

Kromi Logistik AG surged 62.2% to 9.75 euros after IMC Group controlled by Berkshire Hathaway acquired 9.1% stake in the company.

Club Med SA surged 6.9% to 10.27 euros after French investor acquired 1% stake in the company for 2.5 million euros.

Saint-Gobain SA dropped 1.4% to 24.15 euros after the roofing and insulation maker SIG Plc in London reported earnings for the year at low end of the analyst’s estimate.

DAX Index Movers

Volkswagen AG led the decliners in the DAX index of 2.88% followed by losses in K+S AG of 2.34%, in Siemens AG of 1.82%, in ThyssenKrupp AG of 1.74%, in BASF SE of 0.82%.

Deutsche Telekom AG led gainers in the DAX index with a rise of 2.33%, followed by increase in Deutsche Bank AG of 2.21%, in Hannover Rueckversicherung AG of 2.05%, in Deutsche Boerse AG of 2.02%, in Muenchener Rueckversicherungs-Gesellschaft AG of 1.96%.

CAC-40 Index Movers

ING Prime Rate Trust led the decliners in the CAC-40 index of 4.16% followed by losses in Michelin SCA of 1.73%, in Renault SA of 1.68%, in Compagnie de Saint-Gobain SA of 1.43%, in Unibail-Rodamco SA 1.29%.

Bouygues SA gainers in the CAC-40 index with a rise of 4.38% followed by gains in Electricite de Strasbourg SA of 3.09%, in AXA of 2.80%, in Vivendi SA of 2.67% and in Societe Generale SA of 2.22%.

Europe Markets Review

In London FTSE 100 Index closed higher 2.40 or 0.06% to 4,280.86, in Paris CAC 40 Index increased 32.92 or 1.04% to close at 3,194.06 and in Frankfurt DAX index higher 37.50 or 0.78% to close at 4,837.48. In Zurich trading SMI increased 74.55 or 1.41% to close at 5,376.84.