European Markets Waver; Michelin,Peugot Up

123jump.com Staff
15 Sep, 2009
New York City

The August read of German investor confidence index increased. PSA Peugeot increased after it revised its loss estimate lower. Michelin & Cie increased after its chief executive offered positive earnings outlook on lower raw materials costs.

[R]7:00PM Frankfurt, Paris; 1:00 PM New York – The August read of German investor confidence index increased. PSA Peugeot increased after it revised its loss estimate lower. Michelin & Cie increased after its chief executive offered positive earnings outlook on lower raw materials costs.[/R]

European markets closed higher but barely. Stocks wavered during the after the release of better than expected U.S. retail sales data and another rise in German investor confidence index. The August measure of investor confidence index increased to 57.7 from 56.1 according to The ZEW Center for European Economic Research.

In London FTSE 100 Index closed higher 23.28 or 0.46% to 5,042.13, in Paris CAC 40 Index increased 21.60 or 0.58% to close at 3,752.21, in Frankfurt DAX index higher 8.74 or 0.16% to close at 5,628.98. In Zurich trading SMI decreased 12.45 or 0.20% to close at 6,213.19.

Gainers & Losers

Automakers closed higher after PSA Peugeot revised its outlook for the fiscal year loss. However, German automakers closed lower. BMW AG fell 1.3% to €34.56.

Daimler AG fell 1.0% to €33.06 after maker of the Mercedes Benz cars said that the company is in talks with Chinese electric car maker Tianjin Qingyuan Electric Vehicle Co to develop an electric version of a van made at the automaker''s joint venture in China.

Electricite de Strasbourg SA added 5.1% to €39.61 after the newspaper reports suggested that the French government could end regulated electricity prices for companies by 2015, in a deal with the European Commission to be announced this week.

Deutsche Post AG declined 0.1% to €12.53 and K+S AG the chemical sector declined 0.4% to €37.38.

Lagardere SCA advanced 0.3% to €30.75 ahead of company preparing for its Eurobond launch.

Michelin & Cie. increased 2.9% to €56.60 after its chief executive Michel Rollier in an interview with French daily La Tribune that lower raw materials costs will help the latest quarterly earnings. The news was also reported on Bloomberg Web site.

PSA Peugeot Citroen S.A rose 2.8% to €21.42 after the French automaker lowered its loss outlook for the fiscal year according to its chief executive Philippe Varin. He added that the European auto market is expected to decline by 10% and the company is like to post operating loss at the low end of its guidance between 1 billion euros and 2 billion euros.

Societe Generale SA declined 0.04% to €49.63 and the bank appoints new head of asset management.

SolarWorld AG rose 6.8% to €16.15 after the solar company was upgraded to “outperform” from “underperform” at Exane BNP Paribas.

Total SA decreased 0.5% to €41.42.

Volkswagen AG decreased 2.5% to €122.00.

DAX Index Movers

Volkswagen AG led the decliners in the DAX index of 2.87% followed by losses in ThyssenKrupp AG of 1.44%, in Beiersdorf AG of 1.30%, in Henkel AG of 1.29%, in Daimler AG of 1.24%.

Commerzbank AG led gainers in the DAX index with a rise of 4.35% followed by increase in Bayer AG of 1.93%, in Salzgitter AG of 1.51%, in Siemens AG of 1.36%, in Deutsche Telekom AG of 0.96%.

CAC-40 Index Movers

Carrefour SA led the decliners in the CAC-40 index of 2.35% followed by losses in Eads NV of 2.32%, in Cap Gemini SA of 1.17%, in LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA of 0.72%, Sanofi-Aventis of 0.39%.

Electricite de Strasbourg SA gainers in the CAC-40 index with a rise of 6.72% followed by gainers in Alcatel Lucent of 3.58%, PSA Peugeot Citroen S.A of 3.24%, in Michelin SCA of 2.85%, in ArcelorMittal of 2.63%.

FTSE 100 Index Movers

Of the stocks in the FTSE 100 index, 64 increased, 38 declined and 0 were unchanged.

Home Retail Group Plc decliners in the FTSE 100 index with a loss of 3.37% followed by losses in Kingfisher Plc of 2.65%, in Icap Plc of 2.57%, in Burberry Group Plc of 2.36%, in Smiths Group Plc of 2.24%.

BT Group Plc led gainers in the FTSE 100 index with a rise of 4.85% followed by increase in Fresnillo Plc of 4.15%, in Johnson Matthey Plc of 3.58%, in Cairn Energy Plc of 3.31%, in Man Group Plc of 3.24%.