European Indexes Advance; Richemont Sales Up

123jump.com Staff
18 Jan, 2010
New York City

Ahead of earnings season, stocks in Germany, France and Switzerland gained. Munich Re added 2% after it signed an agreement with UK based Admiral Group Plc. Areva SA does not anticipate additional charges related to a troubled project in Finland. Richemont SA sales rise on Asian demand.

[R]7:00 PM Frankfurt, Paris; 1:00 PM New York – Ahead of earnings season, stocks in Germany, France and Switzerland gained. Munich Re added 2% after it signed an agreement with UK based Admiral Group Plc. Areva SA does not anticipate additional charges related to a troubled project in Finland. Richemont SA sales rise on Asian demand.[/R]

In London FTSE 100 Index closed higher 39.02 or 0.72% to 5,494.39, in Paris CAC 40 Index increased 23.08 or 0.58% to close at 3,977.46, in Frankfurt DAX index higher 42.58 or 0.72% to close at 5,918.55. In Zurich trading SMI increased 27.76 or 0.42% to close at 6,603.78.

Gainers & Losers

Air France-KLM decreased 0.7% to €12.40 an airline company Monday confirmed it is in talks with Delta Airlines Inc. and Japan Airlines Corp. following media reports about a possible tie-up with JAL Corp. The SkyTeam alliance said that it is prepared to pay $300 million to JAL to switch from OneWorld alliance where American Air and British Air are two leading carriers.

Alcatel-Lucent SA decreased 1.5% to €3.72 after the fixed-line phone networks operator was downgraded to “sell” from “hold” at Unicredit SpA.

Areva SA added 1.3% to €355.10 and the nuclear power plant builder is not estimating additional charges related to a Finnish reactor site that has faced delays and cost overruns, Chief Executive Anne Lauvergeon was quoted in Le Monde newspaper.

BMW AG rose 0.8% to €31.89.

BNP Paribas SA fell 0.3% to €56.29 after the lender was downgraded to “hold” from “buy” at Societe Generale SA.

Centrotherm Photovoltaics AG soared 6% to €45.05 after it said to produce manufacturing equipment for a Taiwanese customer that involves technology advancement in thin film production for solar module.

Continental AG advanced 2.6% to €41.78 after the auto-parts maker was upgraded to “outperform” from “neutral” at Credit Suisse Group AG.

Compagnie Financiere Richemont SA the luxury goods company said third quarter sales rose 2.6% to €1.58 billion from €1.55 billion a year ago. Jewelry sales rose 5% to €837 million from €800 million a year ago.

Daimler AG the maker of luxury vehicles climbed 0.7% to €36.78.

Deutsche Post AG rose 0.6% to €13.80 after the postal operator was upgraded to “equal-weight” from “underweight” at Morgan Stanley.

Douglas Holding AG fell 0.6% to €32.42 after the makeup and perfume retailer was upgraded to “neutral” from “underweight” at HBSC Holdings Plc.

GDF Suez SA added 1.7% to €28.83 after the utility intends to sell its stakes in Elia System Operator SA/NV and Fluxy SA. The Company has a stake of 38.5% and 24.34% respectively in the management of the gas grids and high voltage network. According to De Tijd reported.

Separately, UK based International Power and the company broke-off its talk to swap assets.

Kontron AG fell 2.8% to €8.50 after the maker of miniature computers for slot machines and drone aircraft is likely to propose at least a dividend of €0.20 per share.

Lanxess AG increased 4.3% to €30.64 after it said that demand in the current year is better than expected and advanced its plan to start chemical plant in Singapore.

L''Oreal SA fell 2.0% to €22.40 after the cosmetics maker was upgraded to “buy” from “hold” at Deutsche Bank AG.

Merck KGaA fell 1.7% to €65.14 after the maker of the Erbitux cancer drug was downgraded to “underperform” from “neutral” at Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Research.

Metro AG the retailer rose 0.9% to €40.78 and PPR SA the retailer of luxury goods rose 2.4% to €90.62.

ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG the broadcaster rose 0.5% to €9.73.

PSA Peugeot Citroen S.A advanced 0.6% to €25.87 after the carmaker was downgraded to “market perform” from “outperform” at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co.

Rheinmetall AG dropped 0.6% to €48.72 after the armaments manufacturer was downgraded to “hold” from “buy” at UniCredit SpA.

RWE AG fell 0.1% to €68.03 after the utility still wants to German power grid.

Sanofi-Aventis dropped 0.3% to €56.66 after the drugmaker was downgraded to “neutral” from “buy” at Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Research.

Thales SA fell 0.7% to €33.01 after defense-electronics maker was downgraded to “outperform” from “neutral” at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

ThyssenKrupp AG rose 0.2% to €26.72.

Zodiac SA gained 4.8% to €29.25 after the maker of aircraft seats and automotive components was upgraded to “buy” from “underperform” at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

DAX Index Movers

Deutsche Telekom AG led the decliners in the DAX index of 1.38%, followed by losses in Commerzbank AG of 1.37%, in Infineon Technologies AG of 0.95%, in Merck KGaA of 0.80%, and in RWE AG of 0.43%.

Beiersdorf AG led gainers in the DAX index with a rise of 2.52% followed by increase in K+S AG of 2.47%, in Muenchener Rue AG of 2.07%, in BASF SE of 1.96%, and in Diamler AG of 1.60%.

CAC-40 Index Movers

Vivendi SA led the decliners in the CAC-40 index of 2.01%, followed by losses in Alcatel Lucent of 1.72%, in Credit Agricole SA of 1.36%, in Societe Generale SA of 1.06%, and in ArcelorMittal of 0.50%.

Lagardere SCA gainers in the CAC-40 index with a rise of 3.01% followed by gainers in Carrefour SA of 2.99%, in Compagnie de Saint-Gobain SA of 2.49%, in GDF Suez SA of 2.19%, and in L''Oreal SA of 2.10%.