Weak European Sentiment, Istanbul Focus

123jump.com Staff
02 Oct, 2009
New York City

European markets declined for the fourth day in a row ahead of bankers meeting in Istanbul. Weak jobs data and factory orders in the U.S. kept trading weak in the region. UK home prices increased for the fourth month in a row.

[R]7:00PM Frankfurt, Paris; 1:00 PM New York – European markets declined for the fourth day in a row ahead of bankers meeting in Istanbul. Weak jobs data and factory orders in the U.S. kept trading weak in the region. UK home prices increased for the fourth month in a row.[/R]

German and French benchmark indexes declined for the fourth session in a row and the prospect of speedy global economic recovery dim. U.S. reported 26-year high unemployment and a decline in factory orders in September.

In London FTSE 100 Index closed lower 59.11 or 1.17% to 4,988.70, in Paris CAC 40 Index decreased 70.87 or 1.90% to close at 3,649.90, in Frankfurt DAX index lower 86.65 or 1.56% to close at 5,467.90. In Zurich trading SMI decreased 105.00 or 1.68% to close at 6,150.17.

Ahead of meetings of central bankers and finance ministers in Istanbul, the euro traded volatile. Group of Seven finance ministers meet on October 3 followed by the semiannual meeting of IMF and World Bank between October 4 and 7.

Gainers & Losers

Arcandor AG the tourism and retail group fell 4.1% to €0.23.

ArcelorMittal decreased 2.1% to €23.89 after the steelmaker priced $1 billion bonds with 30-year maturity that has 7% coupon. The bonds were priced at 95.202 that yielded 7.4% mature on October 15, 2039.

Citigroup, Deutsche Bank and JP Morgan managed the offering as the joint book running manager and S&P rated the bonds at BBB rating.

Argan SA, the warehouse owner added 2.6% to €11.20.

AXA SA the largest French insurer dropped 1.4% to €18.25.

BMW added 0.1% to €32.51 after the luxury carmaker said September U.S. sales increased 3.6% to 19,175 units compared to 18,506 vehicles a year ago. The company also reported a year-to-date sales volume of 179,219 vehicles, down 24.2% compared to 236,327 vehicles sold in the first nine months of last year.

Daimler AG rose 1.0% to €33.76 after the maker of luxury cars said sales for its Mercedes-Benz division in the United States decreased 13.4% to 17,799 vehicles from September 2008. Mercedes-Benz cars sales fell 9.6% to 16,985 while sales of its Smart cars were cut by more than half to 814.

Deutsche Postbank AG fell 2.04% to €23.12 after the financial services chief executive said that the company is unlikely to break even on a pretax basis in the third quarter even though he sees signs of increased earnings compared to prior quarters.

Electricite de France SA fell 1.2% to €39.17 after the generator said it is studying options for selling its power distribution networks business in the U.K. as it seeks to reduce debt through asset sales after a buying spree in 2008 ahead of nuclear power plant demand.

GDF Suez SA declined 0.4% to €29.48 after the natural gas and electricity supplier said Belgium may extend the lifetimes of its three oldest nuclear power stations by ten years to 2025 to guard against energy shortages, newspaper De Standaard reported on Friday.

Muehlhan AG increased rose 4.2% to €2.20 after surface protection provider won contracts in Europe and US for four specialty tankers coating projects.

Oce N.V fell 5.6% to €4.09 after the printer maker said third quarter revenues fell 10% to €631 million from €700 million a year ago. Net loss in the quarter was €25.7 million or €0.31 per diluted share compared to net loss of €24.2 million or €0.29 per share a year ago.

PSA Peugeot Citroen S.A, a French carmaker fell 1.8% to €19.99.

Porsche Automobil Holding SE dropped 1.5% to €51.88 after the sports-car maker said U.S. sales rose to 1,581 from 1,458 last year. So far this year, sales are down 32% to 14,310 from 21,076 a year ago.

Sanofi-Aventis SA added 0.8% to €50.13 after the drugmaker said the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery will announce the results of a survey conducted with Dermik Laboratories, a business of the company U.S. LLC, which found that 53% of women who are considering facial plastic surgery say the economy has affected their decision to move forward with anti-aging procedures or treatment options.

Siemens AG fell 0.6% to €61.17 after the engineering company said Japan''s Mochida Pharmaceutical Co said that its ownership in a sonogram machine joint venture with the company was reduced from 49% to 10% that day.

Societe Generale SA the bank fell 0.9% to €53.13.

Sky Deutschland AG declined 5.5% to €3.43 after the pay- television company was downgraded to “neutral” from “buy” at UBS AG.

Volkswagen AG rose 1.1% to €110.58 after the carmaker said September U.S. sales increased 1.5% to 17,358 units compared to 2008.

Wilex AG rose 0.9% to €5.40 after the biotechnology company said that the German Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices approved the Phase I trial with the MEK inhibitor WX-554. The trial will be held at a single site in Germany for male patients.

DAX Index Movers

Commerzbank AG led the decliners in the DAX index of 8.33% followed by losses in Infineon Technologies AG of 2.93%, in Allianz SE of 2.59%, in Siemens AG of 2.59%, in Metro AG of 2.46%.

Deutsche Boerse AG led gainers in the DAX index with a rise of 0.74% followed by increase in Volkswagen AG of 0.48%.

FTSE 100 Index Movers

Of the stocks in the FTSE 100 index, 9 increased, 92 declined and 1 were unchanged.

The Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc decliners in the FTSE 100 index with a loss of 7.73% followed by losses in Kazakhmys Plc of 4.87%, in Lloyds Banking Group Plc of 4.51%, in InterContinental Hotels Group Plc of 4.10%, in Rentokil Initial Plc of 3.86%.

SABMiller Plc led gainers in the FTSE 100 index with a rise of 2.36% followed by increase in G4S Plc of 0.96%, in Icap Plc of 0.67%, in Schroders Plc of 0.47%, in Reckitt Benckiser Group Plc of 0.36%.