European Indexes Flat; Telefonica Falls

Mayank Mehta
11 Jan, 2010
New York City

2009 worldwide auto sales at Volkswagen decreased 1.1% and at BMW fell 10%. Spain based Telefonica SA declined 3% after Venezuela devalued its currency by 50% and is looking to repatriate $2 billion from Venezuela. Heineken NV gained 3.3% after it agreed to acquire beer unit of Femsa SAB.

[R]7:00 PM Frankfurt, Paris; 1:00 PM New York – 2009 worldwide auto sales at Volkswagen decreased 1.1% and at BMW fell 10%. Spain based Telefonica SA declined 3% after Venezuela devalued its currency by 50%. Telefonica is looking to repatriate $2 billion from Venezuela before the devaluation. Heineken NV gained 3.3% after it agreed to acquire beer unit of Mexico based Femsa SAB.[/R]

European markets closed mixed ahead of earnings season and rising energy and commodities prices.

In London FTSE 100 Index closed higher 3.83 or 0.07% to 5,538.07, in Paris CAC 40 Index decreased 2.05 or 0.05% to close at 4,043.09, in Frankfurt DAX index higher 2.89 or 0.05% to close at 6,040.50. In Zurich trading SMI decreased 25.62 or 0.39% to close at 6,592.26.

Futures of crude oil, copper and gold increased after China reported nearly 18% increase in December exports and a shrinkage in its trade deficit. China also surpassed Germany as the largest exporter. 2009 auto production in China surged to 13.4 million, the largest in the world.

December auto sales were weak at most French car makers. Volkswagen said it targeted to surpass Toyota to be the largest automaker in the world by 2018.

Volkswagen AG worldwide sales increased 1.1% to 6.29 million vehicles and sales of its VW branded cars increased 7.8% to 3.95 million units, according to chief executive Christian Klingler statement at the North American Auto International auto show in Detroit.

BMW AG worldwide sale declined 10% to 1.29 million units and BMW branded units fell 11% to 1.07 million vehicles according to chief executive Ian Robertson.

Gainers & Losers

Air France-KLM added 4.6% to €12.54 after the airline group its passenger traffic in December fell 4.6% to 5.5 million and freight traffic fell 8.5%.

Bauer AG the builder and construction-equipment maker climbed 3.4% to €33.50.

Bilfinger Berger AG gained 4.4% to €58.27 after the company was upgraded to “buy” from “hold” at Deutsche Bank.

Carrefour SA decreased 0.6% to €34.28 after the retail distribution was downgraded to “sell” from “hold” at Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc.

Commerzbank AG the lender advanced 2.6% to €7.00 and Continental AG the auto-parts maker rose 2.4% to €47.98.

Centrotec Sustainable AG surged 16.5% to €11.40 after the supplier of energy-saving technology says it expects 2010 operating earnings between €30 million and 32 million.

Electricite de Strasbourg SA rose 0.7% to €42.42 after the power company said Macquarie Group Ltd has joined to bid for EDF assets.

France Telecom S.A fell 0.7% to €17.19 after the telecom company was downgraded the stock to “neutral” from “outperform” at Credit Suisse Group AG.

Gerresheimer AG the medical-packaging company rose 0.2% to €25.07.

K+S AG added 1.6% to €46.78 after the producer of potash was upgraded to “outperform” from “underperform” at CA Cheuvreux.

Michelin SCA the tire maker gained 3.2% to €59.43.

Metro AG increased 2.0% to €41.28 after the Real superstores chief Joel Savaeuse was quoted in Focus magazine that retail food prices may rise “moderately” in 2010.

Natixis SA rose 1.0% to €3.99 after the investment bank named De Doan Tran as the next head of its corporate and investment bank unit, replacing Jean-Marc Moriani, whose planned departure was announced in December.

PSA Peugeot Citroen S.A increased 2.3% to €27.13 after the carmaker said its sales of cars and light trucks slid 2.2% last year as European car markets contracted for the second year in a row.

Software AG fell 2.5% to €77.88 after the software maker was downgraded to “hold” from “accumulate” at Equinet AG.

Swiss Life Holding AG increased 5.5% to Sfr 152.70 on a speculation that Allianz SE may make a bid, according to a report by French Internet news service Wansquare.

Total SA added 1.3% to €46.64 after the oil company said oil prices are likely to be volatile in 2010, ranging between $60 and $100 a barrel, the chief executive of company.

Vinci SA the construction company climbed 1.7% to €42.15.

DAX Index Movers

Infineon Technologies AG led the decliners in the DAX index of 2.77%, followed by losses in BMW AG of 1.68%, in ThyssenKrupp AG of 1.56%, in Allianz SE of 1.17%, and in BASF SE of 1.06%.

Metro AG led gainers in the DAX index with a rise of 2.12% followed by increase in Deutsche Lufthansa AG of 1.91%, in Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA of 1.71%, in Beiersdorf AG of 1.37%, and in RWE AG of 1.25%.

CAC-40 Index Movers

ArcelorMittal led the decliners in the CAC-40 index of 1.52%, followed by losses in Carrefour SA of 1.49%, in STMicroelectronics N.V. of 1.46%, in BNP Paribas SA of 1.41%, and in Compagnie de Saint-Gobain SA of 0.93%.

Michelin SCA gainers in the CAC-40 index with a rise of 1.65% followed by gainers in Lafarge S.A. of 1.41%, in Alstom SA of 1.02%, in Technip of 1.01%, and in PPR SA of 1.00%.