German Surplus Shrinks; Output in France Up

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

European markets closed nearly unchanged as the euro advanced against the pound and held firm against the dollar. German exports declined in September and trade surplus decreased 28%. Industrial output in France and Italy increased in August.

[R]7:00PM Frankfurt, Paris; 1:00 PM New York – European markets closed nearly unchanged as the euro advanced against the pound and held firm against the dollar. German exports declined in September and trade surplus decreased 28%. Industrial output in France and Italy increased in August.[/R]

European markets edged lower ahead of earnings season as the euro advanced against the pound and the dollar. Fed Chairman in his prepared remarks at a gathering reaffirmed the market expectations that the Fed will start winding down the stimulus programs that are in place and is prepared to increase interest rate.

In London FTSE 100 Index closed higher 7.23 or 0.14% to 5,161.87, in Paris CAC 40 Index decreased 7.20 or 0.19% to close at 3,799.61, in Frankfurt DAX index lower 4.66 or 0.08% to close at 5,711.88. In Zurich trading SMI decreased 14.16 or 0.22% to close at 6,291.64.

German exports declined 1.8% in August from July and imports increased 1.1% in the month, according to the Federal Statistics Office in Wiesbaden. The trade surplus declined to €8.1 billion from the revised €14.1 billion.

In addition, the statistics office also said that consumer priced decreased 0.5% in September from a year ago. The prices fell 0.1% in August. The sharp fall in crude oil prices of more than 20% contributed the price decline.

On a non-harmonized basis the prices in September fell 0.3%.

Industrial output in France increased 1.8% and manufacturing production increased 7% in August as governments in both nations provided stimulus to car buyers. French car production increased 19% in the month from July and Italian production of vehicles that include cars and trucks added 12.9%.

Gainers & Losers

Alstom SA decreased 0.4% to €50.84.

ArcelorMittal decreased 1.1% to €25.45 after Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc lowered its rating to “hold” from “buy” on the recent stock price increase.

Deutsche Bank AG decreased 0.2% to €53.44 after the bank was upgraded to “neutral” from “underperform” at Credit Suisse Group AG.

Escada AG fell 3.3% to €0.88 after the luxury clothing maker said at between 10 to 20 investors, including fashion companies, financial investors and wealthy families had handed in non-binding offers to the company insolvency administrator, according to local media reports in Germany.

Leoni AG increased 1.8% to 15.74 after the company chief executive was cited in a report published by Boersen-Zeitung that estimated sales for the current year to be near €2.2 billion.

Merck KGaA the pharmaceutical and chemical business sectors fell 0.3% to €67.65.

Nexeya SA surged 18% to €9.39 after it reported fiscal 2009 net increase of 5.9% to €4.2 million.

Piscines Desjoyaux SA the maker of swimming pools rose 3.6% to €5.18.

Renault SA the carmaker rose 0.3% to €33.73 after the carmaker said is ready to invest in the Russia based Avtovaz OAO after the Russian automaker has finalized its investment plan.

Rubis SA advanced 1.4% to €62.35 after the distributor of liquefied petroleum gas said that it signed two agreements for the distribution of petrol in Corsica, France.

Scor SE decreased 0.3% to €18.83 after the reinsurer said that its subsidiary, SCOR Global Life SE, has decided to establish a life branch office in the Netherlands.

Societe Fonciere Lyonnaise SA increased 1.3% to €34.05 after the real-estate company said that it has obtained €300 million in 5-year loan from a banking syndicate led and managed by BNP Paribas.

Stada Arzneimittel AG the generic-drug maker increased 5.3% to €19.85.

Theolia SA declined 1.2% to €4.75 after the wind-power generator sold a wind project with a capacity of 9.2 megawatts to Boralex, an international player in the field of renewable energy.

DAX Index Movers

Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co led the decliners in the DAX index of 1.50% followed by losses in K+S AG of 1.49%, in Deutsche Telekom AG of 1.33%, in Volkswagen AG of 1.29%, in Commerzbank AG of 1.25%.

BASF SE led gainers in the DAX index with a rise of 1.02% followed by increase in Muenchener Rue AG of 0.88%, in Deutsche Boerse AG of 0.80%, in Adidas AG of 0.78%, in Beiersdorf AG of 0.71%.

CAC-40 Index Movers

Michelin SCA led the decliners in the CAC-40 index of 2.20% followed by losses in Ppr SA of 1.66% in Vivendi SA of 1.47%, in Accor S.A of 1.46%, Alcatel Lucent of 1.40%.

Bouygues SA. gainers in the CAC-40 index with a rise of 1.65% followed by gainers in L''Oreal SA of 1.45%, Vallourec SA of 1.41%, in Technip of 1.32%, in Essilor International SA of 1.23%.