ECB on Hold; Steelmakers Rise in Europe

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

The ECB left its key lending rate at 1% and left intact the programs to provide direct lending to financial system. Kazatomprom and Areva join forces to make and market nuclear fuel. GDF Suez hopes to enter Nord Stream by year end.

[R]7:00PM Frankfurt, Paris; 1:00 PM New York – The ECB left its key lending rate at 1% and left intact the programs to provide direct lending to financial system. Kazatomprom and Areva join forces to make and market nuclear fuel. GDF Suez hopes to enter Nord Stream by year end. Telefonica and Vivendi locked in a bidding war to buy Brazil based mobile telephone carrier.[/R]

The European Central Bank left its key lending rate unchanged at 1% and also left all the provisions to purchase financial assets to support lending intact. The ECB president Jean-Claude Trichet also hinted that economic recovery is likely to be uneven.

He also stressed the importance of a rise in exports and consumer confidence before the economy finds sound footing.

In London FTSE 100 Index closed higher 45.74 or 0.90% to 5,154.64, in Paris CAC 40 Index increased 50.40 or 1.34% to close at 3,806.81, in Frankfurt DAX index higher 75.79 or 1.34% to close at 5,716.54. In Zurich trading SMI increased 45.65 or 0.73% to close at 6,305.80.

Gainers & Losers

Alstom SA the maker of industrial equipment and high speed trains added 2.9% to €50.91.

ArcelorMittal increased 4% to 25.74 after Alcoa reported its first quarterly profit in a year and other steelmakers in the regional trading closed higher.

Areva SA decreased 0.2% to €395.20 after the builder of nuclear reactors and Kazakh state nuclear company Kazatomprom are setting up a joint venture to market uranium fuel and joint production.

Beiersdorf AG added 0.5% to €40.79 and the maker of Nivea skin cream does not expect to see a recovery in its markets soon, but reiterated its business targets for the current year and next, according to its chief financial officer.

Beneteau SA advanced 2.8% to €11.55 after the maker of sailboats was upgraded to “buy” from “underperform” at Bank of America.

Credit Agricole SA rose 2.0% to €15.00 after the bank signed a partnership deal with Société Foncière Lyonnaise Predica.

Deutsche Bank AG advanced 0.6% to €52.88.

Douglas Holding AG the makeup and perfume retailer climbed 0.5% to €31.52.

GDF Suez SA climbed 1.4% to €30.60 and the natural-gas network said it hopes to complete talks to join the Nord Stream natural gas pipeline by the year end.

Hermes International SCA the retailer of luxury goods declined 0.04% to €97.56.

Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG increased 1.9% to €7.24 after the maker of printing presses said that the management and employee representatives of the company have agreed on a reconciliation of interests and a redundancy plan for around 1,300 job cuts at the company''s German sites in Heidelberg, Wiesloch/Walldorf, Amstetten, Brandenburg, Ludwigsburg, and Mönchengladbach.

Hugo Boss AG increased 3.1% to €26.82 and in an interview with German newspaper Handelsblatt, the company’s chief executive Claus-Dietrich Lahrs said that the changes will become visible with next year''s spring collection.

IVG Immobilien AG the commercial- property company rose 1.1% to €7.63.

Kloeckner & Co SE added 5.7% to €16.92 after the steel trader was upgraded to “overweight” from “neutral” at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

L''Oreal SA increased 0.2% to €19.58 after the cosmetics maker was downgraded to “underperform” from “neutral” at Credit Suisse Group AG.

Rexel SA advanced 1.8% to €10.16 after the distributor of electrical equipment was upgraded to “neutral” from “underweight” at HSBC Holdings Plc.

Sanofi-Aventis SA rose 1.5% to €51.34 after the drugmaker said that a single dose of influenza A (H1N1) 2009 monovalent vaccines, Panenza (15 mcg dose, non-adjuvanted) or Humenza (3.8 mcg dose, adjuvanted), administered to children (three years of age and older) and adults induces a robust immune response, according to results from clinical trials conducted in Europe.

Vivendi SA rose 0.05% to €20.83 and the company is locked in a bidding war with Spain''s Telefonica to buy Brazilian telecommunications company GVT.

Europe Markets Review

In London FTSE 100 Index closed higher 45.74 or 0.90% to 5,154.64, in Paris CAC 40 Index increased 50.40 or 1.34% to close at 3,806.81, in Frankfurt DAX index higher 75.79 or 1.34% to close at 5,716.54. In Zurich trading SMI increased 45.65 or 0.73% to close at 6,305.80.

DAX Index Movers

Adidas AG led the decliners in the DAX index of 1.68% followed by losses in Commerzbank AG of 0.77%, in Bayer AG of 0.53%, in Infineon Technologies AG of 0.40%, in E.On AG of 0.29%.

Henkel AG & Co. led gainers in the DAX index with a rise of 4.60% followed by increase in ThyssenKrupp AG of 4.04%, in BASF SE of 3.34%, in Sap AG of 2.99%, in Daimler AG of 2.95%.

CAC-40 Index Movers

Societe Generale SA led the decliners in the CAC-40 index of 5.27% followed by losses in Ppr SA of 1.66% in Vivendi SA of 0.60%, in France Telecom S.A of 0.14%, Accor SA of 0.05%.

PSA Peugeot Citroen S.A. gainers in the CAC-40 index with a rise of 4.68% followed by gainers in Michelin SCA of 4.42%, ArcelorMittal of 4.17%, in Renault SA of 3.97%, in LVMH SA of 3.97%.