European Indexes Gain; German Inflation

Mayank Mehta
29 Dec, 2009
New York City

European markets edged higher with most markets are set to register at least 20% gains in 2009. The DAX index in Germany is up 25%, CAC 40 index is ahead 23% and FTSE 100 index has gained 22%. The broader indexes have gained the most in four years.

[R]7:00 PM Frankfurt, Paris; 1:00 PM New York – European markets edged higher with most markets are set to register at least 20% gains in 2009. The DAX index in Germany is up 25%, CAC 40 index is ahead 23% and FTSE 100 index has gained 22%. The broader indexes have gained the most in four years.[/R]

European markets edged higher in a light trading. Banks, resource stocks and telecom led the most active charts.

German inflation increased at 0.8% rate in December after rising at 0.3% in November. The acceleration in prices was led by a gain in crude oil prices according to the latest data released from the Federal Statistics Office in Wiesbaden.

In London FTSE 100 Index closed higher 35.20 or 0.65% to 5,437.61, in Paris CAC 40 Index increased 12.83 or 0.33% to close at 3,959.98, in Frankfurt DAX index higher 8.63 or 0.14% to close at 6,011.55. In Zurich trading SMI increased 17.51 or 0.27% to close at 6,608.52.

The FTSE index is up 22% for the year and DAX index has surged 25%.

Metals rallied in London trading led by a gain of more than 2% in copper. Copper gained after China said the current year economic growth will be higher than the target rate of 8% and India said its expansion will be larger than 7%.

Gainers & Losers

BASF SE fell 0.1% to €43.87.

Heurtey Petrochem SA added 6.6% to €20.25 after the maker of equipment for refineries said that it has signed two contracts of €79 million with Naphtha Industrial Serbia, controlled by the Russia based Gazprom for modernization of a refinery.

Q-Cells SE the solar-cell maker increased 12% to €11.10 after Handelsblatt quoted its chief executive Charles Anton Milner saying that the company is expected to lose one billion euros in the current year and return to profit in 2010.

Teleperformance SA advanced 2.6% to €22.69 after the French call center operator said that it has acquired Colombia based Teledatos, a provider of front and back end customer solutions in Colombia.

Theolia SA plunged 16.0% to €2.72 after the wind-power producer seeking to stave off bankruptcy, reached an agreement to restructure convertible bonds and plans to raise as much as €100 million ($143 million).

DAX Index Movers

Adidas AG led the decliners in the DAX index of 1.16%, followed by losses in Henkel AG of 1.06%, in Commerzbank AG of 0.59%, in Allianz SE of 0.57%, and in Fresenius SE of 0.40%.

E.ON AG led gainers in the DAX index with a rise of 1.89% followed by increase in Volkswagen AG of 1.81%, in ThyssenKrupp AG of 1.40%, in Infineon Technologies AG of 1.17%, and in Beiersdorf AG of 0.79%.

CAC-40 Index Movers

Unibail-Rodamco SA led the decliners in the CAC-40 index of 2.39%, followed by losses in Technip of 1.46%, in Suez Environnement SA of 1.05%, in STMicroelectronics N.V. of 0.96%, and in Air Liquide SA of 0.74%.

Lafarge S.A gainers in the CAC-40 index with a rise of 2.02% followed by gainers in ArcelorMittal of 1.58%, in LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA of 1.48%, in Schneider Electric SA of 1.34%, and in Vallourec SA of 1.18%.

FTSE 100 Index Movers

Of the stocks in the FTSE 100 index, 83 increased, 16 declined and 3 were unchanged.

Randgold Resources Ltd. decliners in the FTSE 100 index with a loss of 1.84% followed by losses in British Airways Plc of 1.56%, in Autonomy Corporation Plc of 0.86%, in British American Tobacco Plc of 0.74%, and in HSBC Holdings Plc of 0.72%.

Liberty International Plc led gainers in the FTSE 100 index with a rise of 4.93% followed by increase in Antofagasta Plc of 3.96%, in Lonmin Plc of 3.24%, in Segro Plc of 3.21%, and in The British Land Company Plc of 3.19%.