European Markets Weak; Nokia, Accor Fall

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

European markets hovered near their recent highs. Accor third quarter sales declined 8.4%. Metro AG and Henke AG increased on brokers recommendations. Remy Cointreau SA fell after first half sales were flat. Solar energy modules makers in Germany fell again as lawmakers prepare to cut subsidies.

[R]7:00 PM Frankfurt, Paris; 1:00 PM New York – European markets hovered near their recent highs. Accor third quarter sales declined 8.4%. Metro AG and Henke AG increased on brokers recommendations. Remy Cointreau SA fell after first half sales were flat. Solar energy modules makers in Germany fell again as lawmakers prepare to cu subsidies.[/R]

European markets hovered near recent highs. Tech stocks edged lower after Nokia swung to a quarterly loss. Utilities, chemical makers and insurance companies led decliners in the region.

In London FTSE 100 Index closed lower 33.15 or 0.63% to 5,222.95, in Paris CAC 40 Index increased 1.16 or 0.03% to close at 3,883.83, in Frankfurt DAX index lower 23.37 or 0.40% to close at 5,830.77. In Zurich trading SMI decreased 22.73 or 0.35% to close at 6,383.19.

Gainers & Losers

Accor SA decreased 3.4% to €36.50 and the hotel operator reported third quarter revenues decline of 8.4% to €1.85 billion and reiterated its full year operating profit between €400 million and €405 million.

Allianz SE dropped 0.9% to €87.31 after Bank of America Merrill Lynch lowered its rating on the insurer to “neutral” from “buy.”

Commerzbank AG climbed 1.3% to €8.80.

Daimler AG the maker of luxury cars rose 0.4% to €35.26.

E.On decreased 1.3% to €26.58 and RWE fell 2% to €61. The wholesale prices of electricity have been on the decline in the recent weeks.

Etam Developpement SCA added 4.0% to €15.35 after the retailer said nine months sales rose 4.9% to €733.1 million.

Escada AG the insolvent fashion designer increased 5.6% to €0.75.

Groupe Partouche SA surged 10% to €3.85 after the casino operator was upgraded to “buy” from “reduce” at Natixis.

Henkel AG & Co the maker of Persil detergent added 1% to €31.32.

K+S AG fell 0.8% to €38.88 after the potash producer was downgraded to “underweight” from “equal weight” at Morgan Stanley.

Metropole Television SA decreased 2.1% to €17.83 after the commercial television company was downgraded to “equal weight” from “overweight” at Morgan Stanley.

Metro AG climbed 2.3% to €40.00 after the retailer was upgraded to “overweight” from “neutral” at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

MLP AG added 1.6% to €7.62 after the financial services broker was upgraded to “overweight” from “neutral” at HSBC Holdings Plc.

Nokia Corporation ((NOK)) plunged 11.1% or $1.71 to $13.68 after the cell phones and other hand held devices maker reported third quarter sales fell 19.7% to €9.8 billion from €12.2 billion a year ago. Net loss in the quarter was €913 million or €0.15 per diluted share compared to net income of €1.05 billion or €0.29 per share a year ago.

Orpea SA dropped 5% to €32.35 after it completed a private placement of €62.4 million of new shares according to a note on Bloomberg News.

Remy Cointreau SA climbed 7.7% to €34.12 after the liquor company said first half sales fell 0.7% to €362.7 million from €365.2 million a year ago.

Sales of cognac rose 7.6% to €183.1 million from a year ago. Sales of liqueurs and spirits rose 2.9% to €100.7 million. Sales of champagne fell 42% to €35.8 million. Partner brands sales rose 20.6% to €43.1 million.

Rhoen-Klinikum AG the publicly traded hospital operator increased 0.8% to €17.43.

Pernod Ricard SA advanced 1.4% to €54.49.

Rhodia SA the chemical maker rose 0.2% to €12.75.

Solar World AG dropped 4.9% to €16.40 and Q-Cells SE decreased 3.1% to €12.86 as the new German government looks to lower subsidies to the industry.

Schneider Electric SA rose 0.3% to €76.43 after the maker of circuit breakers was upgraded to “overweight” from “underweight” at Morgan Stanley.

Siemens AG fell 0.2% to €68.82 and the company acquired solar energy company based in Israel Solel Solar System Ltd for $420 million.

Software AG the software company fell 2.3% €64.00.

Suedzucker AG added 1.3% to €15.26 after the sugar refiner said second quarter operating profit rose to €90.7 million from €18.3 million a year ago.

Vivendi SA decreased 1.8% to €20.24 after the company board decided to focus on the acquisition of GVT SA, the third largest telecom operator in Brazil and not carry out the sale of its stake in NBC Universal.

DAX Index Movers

Infineon Technologies AG led the decliners in the DAX index of 3.23% followed by losses in Rwe AG of 2.10%, in Muenchener Rue AG of 1.74%, in E.ON AG of 1.15%, in BMW AG of 1.09%.

Henkel AG led gainers in the DAX index with a rise of 2.52% followed by increase in ThyssenKrupp AG of 2.22%, in Metro AG of 1.84%, in Deutsche Post AG of 1.81%, in Deutsche Bank AG of 1.27%.

CAC-40 Index Movers

Accor S.A led the decliners in the CAC-40 index of 3.46% followed by losses in Alcatel Lucent of 2.25% in STMicroelectronics N.V of 1.87%, in Vivendi SA of 1.80%, Alstom SA of 1.51%.

Dexia SA led gainers in the CAC-40 index with a rise of 6.21% followed by gainers in Michelin SCA of 3.01%, Compagnie de Saint-Gobain SA of 1.64%, in Pernod Ricard SA of 1.56%, in Lafarge S.A of 1.18%.

FTSE 100 Index Movers

Of the stocks in the FTSE 100 index, 45 increased, 57 declined and 0 were unchanged.

Anglo American Plc decliners in the FTSE 100 index with a loss of 4.11% followed by losses in International Power Plc of 3.33%, in Petrofac Limited of 2.74%, in Invensys Plc of 2.70%, in Segro Plc of 2.51%.

J Sainsbury Plc led gainers in the FTSE 100 index with a rise of 10.09% followed by increase in Icap Plc of 5.08%, in 3i Group Plc of 4.04%, in G4S Plc of 2.97%, in London Stock Exchange Group Plc of 2.23%.