European Markets Close Higher, Firm Euro

Mayank Mehta
05 Oct, 2009
New York City

European markets closed higher as commodities gained and resource stocks led the gainers. Stocks in the region firmed up after talks of strong dollar from central bankers failed to sway markets.

[R]7:00PM Frankfurt, Paris; 1:00 PM New York – European markets closed higher as commodities gained and resource stocks led the gainers. Stocks in the region firmed up after talks of strong dollar from central bankers failed to sway markets.[/R]

Markets in Europe rebounded after a week of losses as resource stocks led the gainers. Banks closed higher and merger rumors ruled in the absence of economic news.

In London FTSE 100 Index closed higher 35.63 or 0.71% to 5,024.33, in Paris CAC 40 Index increased 25.11 or 0.69% to close at 3,675.01, in Frankfurt DAX index higher 40.95 or 0.75% to close at 5,508.85. In Zurich trading SMI increased 12.73 or 0.21% to close at 6,162.90.

Gainers & Losers

Allianz SE rose 0.3% to €82.20 after the insurer was upgraded to “overweight” from “neutral” at HSBC Holdings Plc.

Areva SA decreased 0.2% to €383.25 after the nuclear giant and Finnish media reported that the company chief blamed Finnish electric firm TVO for delays in building a nuclear reactor in Finland.

Bastide Le Confort Medical SA the home health- care operator declined 0.9% to €9.86.

Bouygues SA added 3.2% to €34.86 after the builder and mobile-phone operator was upgraded to “buy” from “underperform” at Bank of America Corp.

Carrefour SA dropped 0.2% to €29.81.

Credit Agricole SA the banking group rose 0.3% to €13.65.

Deutsche Bank AG fell 0.5% to €49.53 ad the company is looking to return to Frankfurt as its asset management hub from its multi center strategy.

Deutsche Telekom AG increased 0.6% to €9.17 after the phone company may lay-off between 10,000 and 14,000 when company migrates from private fixed network based architecture to Internet based telecom network according to a private consultancy report quotes in an article published in weekly magazine Focus.

Euler Hermes SA fell 0.1% to €54.70 after the credit insurer was downgraded to “underweight” at HSBC Holdings Plc.

France Telecom S.A rose 0.6% to €17.78 after the French state controlled operator said that Stephane Richard, who is expected to take over the leadership in 2011 is likely to replace current chief Wenke sooner.

GDF Suez SA added 0.3% to €29.49 after the natural gas and electricity supplier said is seeking to divert liquefied natural gas, or LNG, cargoes from its new Yemen LNG plant to India and away from the U.S. where demand has slowed, according to a report by Bloomberg News.

Hannover Rueckversicherung AG increased 2.5% to €31.77 after the reinsurer was upgraded to “overweight” from “neutral” at HSBC.

Henkel AG & Co fell 0.5% to €28.09 after the maker of Persil detergent said expects to reap earlier-than-expected benefits from the takeover of parts of U.S. rival National Starch, chief executive Kasper Rorsted told Handelsblatt.

Imerys SA the processor of minerals fell 0.01% to €37.89.

KTG Agrar AG added 1.4% to €13.94 after the farming company said that construction of a biogas plant with a rated electrical output of 3.2 megawatts has started in Flechtingen, Saxony-Anhalt.

Rhodia SA the chemical maker added 0.9% to €9.76.

Scor SE dropped 1.5% to €18.28 after the reinsurer was downgraded to “neutral” at HSBC Holdings Plc.

Thales SA rose 3.4% to €33.88 after the defense electronics maker said that Thales Alenia Space signed on September 29, a contract with the APT Satellite Company Limited, a satellite operator in the Asia Pacific region for the design, manufacture and delivery of a high-capacity telecommunication satellite, APSTAR 7.

ThyssenKrupp AG advanced 0.1% to €22.57 after the steelmaker has sold its company’s GmbH unit to facility management company Wisag, the companies said on Monday, giving no financial terms.

Trigano SA the maker of recreational vehicles fell 1.4% to €13.00.

Total SA the oil company climbed 0.2% to €39.42.

Vallourec SA increased 0.2% to €109.80 after the maker of steel tubes for oil and gas production was downgraded to “equal weight” from “overweight” at Morgan Stanley.

Volkswagen AG increased 3.8% to €113.70 on market rumors that VW may bid for MAN SE. Separately the auto sales in September increased 1.5% to 17,358 compared to a year ago.

DAX Index Movers

Daimler AG led the decliners in the DAX index of 1.12% followed by losses in E.On AG of 0.89%, in Muenchener Rueckversicherungs-Gesellschaft AG of 0.60%, in ThyssenKrupp AG of 0.35%, in Siemens AG of 0.30%.

Volkswagen AG led gainers in the DAX index with a rise of 4.14% followed by increase in Metro AG of 2.11%, in Deutsche Telekom AG of 1.81%, in Henkel AG & Co. of 1.77%, in Man SE of 1.70%.

CAC-40 Index Movers

Veolia Environnement led the decliners in the CAC-40 index of 1.72% followed by losses in Societe Generale SA of 0.51%, in Total SA of 0.43%, in Electricite de Strasbourg SA of 0.28%, Alcatel Lucent of 0.28%.

Bouygues SA gainers in the CAC-40 index with a rise of 3.80% followed by gainers in Technip of 3.47%, Michelin SCA of 3.06%, in Lagardere SCA of 2.90%, in Vivendi SA of 2.41%.