German Inflation Picks Up; Credit Agricole Rises

Mayank Mehta
27 Aug, 2009
New York City

European benchmark indexes declined after weak earnings reports. German consumer price index was flat in august and consumer spending increased on auto rebate program. Accor reported first-half net loss and Casino Guichard net flat but Credit Agricole net surges.

[R]7:00PM Frankfurt, Paris; 1:00 PM New York – European benchmark indexes declined after weak earnings reports. German consumer price index was flat in august and consumer spending increased on auto rebate program. Accor reported first-half net loss and Casino Guichard net flat but Credit Agricole net surges.[/R]

German consumer price inflation rose in August according to the latest data from the Federal Statistics Office in Wiesbaden. The price index was flat in the month from a year ago after dropping at 0.7% rate in July. The data for the wider euro zone of 16 nations for August month are expected next week.

Separately, the statistics office said that consumer spending in the first six-months increased 0.1% compared to a year ago period. The government auto rebate program lifted auto sales by 23% in the period and government spending also helped the economy from falling deeper into a recession.

In London FTSE 100 Index closed lower 21.23 or 0.43% to 4,869.35, in Paris CAC 40 Index decreased 19.81 or 0.54% to close at 3,648.53 and in Frankfurt DAX index lower 51.64 or 0.94% to close at 5,470.33. In Zurich trading SMI decreased 7.78 or 0.13% to close at 6,169.19.

Gainers & Losers

Accor SA added 8.0% to €37.76 after the hotel operator said first-half revenues fell 9.3% to €3.41 billion from €3.76 billion a year ago. Net loss in the first-half was €150 million or €0.68 per diluted share compared to net profit of €310 million or €1.39 per share a year ago.

Adidas AG the sporting goods maker slid 1.1% to €33.23.

Aer Lingus Group Plc a low fares airline said first-half sales fell 12% to €555 million from €631.8 million a year ago. Net loss in the first-half was €73.9 million or €14.0 cents per diluted share compared to net loss of €21.6 billion or €4.1 cents per share a year ago.

Arcandor AG lost 0.4% to €0.22 after the insolvent German retailer started layoff of employees of holding company amid insolvency.

Bayer AG fell 4.1% to €42.32 on a speculation that its blood thinner product may face stronger competition in the near future. Pradax developed by Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH may prove effective in controlling irregular heart beat.

Bourbon SA climbed 0.2% to €32.70 after owner of the fleet of supply and crew ships for the oil industry chief executive sees oil drilling maintenance recovery in the year 2010.

Bureau Veritas SA rose 0.5% to €34.70.

Casino Guichard Perrachon SA plunged 4.4% to €51.68 after the supermarket group said first-half sales fell 2.6% to €13.8 billion from €13.4 billion a year ago. Net profit in the first-half rose 0.8% to €231 million compared to net profit of €229 million a year ago.

Credit Agricole SA advanced 5.1% to €13.24 after the bank said first-half net banking income rose 17.1% to €8.6 billion from €7.4 billion a year ago. Net profit in the first-half fell 58.4% to €403 million compared to net profit of €968 million a year ago.

Deutsche Postbank AG the financial services provider dropped 1.5% to €24.17. Deutsche Post AG the mail carrier advanced 4.2% to €12.27.

Dexia SA fell 5.7% to €6.28 and after the market close the lender reported higher provision of loan losses and net income decline of nearly 50% to €283 million.

Fortis N.V decreased 1.0% to €3.18 after the insurer said first-half revenues rose 65% to €8.57 billion from €5.19 billion a year ago. Net profit in the first-half fell 45% to €886 million or €0.36 per diluted share compared to net profit of €1.6 billion or €0.75 per share a year ago.

Glencore International AG the commodity-trading company said first-half sales fell 47% to $45.2 billion from $86.2 billion a year ago. Net profit in the first-half fell 57% to $1.12 billion compared to net profit of $2.63 billion a year ago.

K+S AG the potash producer dropped 3.4% to €37.02.

SAP AG rallied 1.0% to €33.79 after the maker of business management software told by jury to pay $139 million to Versata over patent violation.

DAX Index Movers

K+S AG led the decliners in the DAX index of 3.95% followed by losses in Bayer AG of 3.65%, in Daimler AG of 2.184%, in BMW AG of 2.17%, in Adidas AG of 1.99%.

Deutsche Post AG led gainers in the DAX index with a rise of 1.86% followed by increase in SAP AG of 1.14%, in E.ON AG of 1.12%, in RWE AG of 0.80%, in Linde AG of 0.65%.
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CAC-40 Index Movers

Dexia SA led the decliners in the CAC-40 index of 7.76% followed by losses in Alcatel-Lucent of 5.33%, in Michelin SCA of 4.37%, in Pernod Ricard SA of 3.91%, in Essilor International SA of 3.23%.

Accor SA gainers in the CAC-40 index with a rise of 5.73% followed by losses in Credit Agricole SA of 3.65%, in STMicroelectronics N.V. of 2.23%, in GDF Suez SA of 2.02%, in Cap Gemini SA of 1.53%.

FTSE 100 Index Movers

Of the stocks in the FTSE 100 index, 34 increased, 66 declined and 2 were unchanged.

BAE Systems Plc decliners in the FTSE 100 index with a loss of 5.56% followed by losses in Diageo Plc of 4.06%, in Xstrata Plc of 4.06%, in AMEC Plc of 3.99%, in Lonmin Plc of 3.87%.

Smith & Nephew Plc led gainers in the FTSE 100 index with a rise of 4.61% followed by increase in Invensys Plc of 3.67%, in Centrica Plc of 3.01%, in Kazakhmys Plc of 2.13%, in Barclays Plc of 1.63%.