European Talks Waver; Arcelor, BHP Africa Talks

Mayank Mehta
19 Jan, 2010
New York City

European markets in volatile trading closed higher. Alstom SA declined after quarterly sales increased 3%, lower than expected. ArcelorMittal and BHP Billiton are looking to form a joint venture to combine their mining ventures in Africa. Vinci Aand partners were selected for a tunnel project in UK.

[R]7:00 PM Frankfurt, Paris; 1:00 PM New York – European markets in volatile trading closed higher. Alstom SA declined after quarterly sales increased 3%, lower than expected. ArcelorMittal and BHP Billiton are looking to form a joint venture to combine their mining ventures in Africa. Vinci SA and its partners were selected for the Lee Tunnel project in London.[/R]

UK annual inflation measured at consumer price level was 2.9% in December, increased from 1.9% in November.

Seasonally adjusted construction activities decreased 1.1% both in euro area (EA16) and fell 0.6% in EU27 in November 2009, compared with the previous month. In October, production fell by 0.4% and 0.3% respectively.

In London FTSE 100 Index closed higher 18.75 or 0.34% to 5,513.14, in Paris CAC 40 Index increased 32.21 or 0.81% to close at 4,009.67, in Frankfurt DAX index higher 57.93 or 0.98% to close at 5,976.48. In Zurich trading SMI increased 30.08 or 0.46% to close at 6,633.86.

Gainers & Losers

Aeroports de Paris SA the operator of Paris’s Orly and Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airports decreased 0.2% to €56.95.

Alstom SA declined 3.5% to €52.15 after the train maker posted third quarter sales rise of 3%, noted a rise in orders from the quarter a year ago and reiterated its guidance for the full year.

ArcelorMittal rose 0.5% to €32.22 after the steelmaker said it is in talks with BHP Billiton in creating a joint venture to enhance the competitiveness of their iron ore mining and infrastructure interests in Liberia and Guinea.

Bayer AG the drugmaker dropped 1.5% to €53.35.

Casino Guichard Perrachon SA dropped 1.6% to €61.01 after the retailer said fourth quarter net sales rose 2.2% to €7.32 billion from €7.17 billion a year ago. France sales fell 3.3% to €4.65 billion from €4.81 billion a year ago.

Delticom AG rose 1.9% to €28.58 after the ire retailer said full-year sales rose 20% to €310 million from €259 million a year ago. Earnings before interest and tax rose 70% to €28 million compared to €16.4 million a year ago.

Deutsche Bank AG slipped 1.3% to €47.97 and Citigroup reported higher than expected quarterly loss.

E.ON AG fell 0.6% to €28.08 after the utilities was upgraded to “neutral” from “underweight” at Deutsche Bank.

Groupe GO Sport SA the sporting goods retailer closed unchanged at €19.50.

Mercialys SA the real-estate investment trust rose 0.7% to €25.50.

MorphoSys AG gained 2.0% to €17.15 after the drugmaker announced that it has enrolled the first patient in its Phase 1b/2a clinical trial of its drug MOR103.

PSA Peugeot Citroen S.A fell 0.9% to €25.72 after the carmaker was upgraded to “buy” from “neutral” at Nomura.

Publicis Groupe S.A the owner of Saatchi & Saatchi and Leo Burnett ad agencies fell 0.4% to €29.76.

Rallye SA the food and specialized retail sector dropped 0.4% to €26.16.

Renault SA slipped 2.2% to €38.39 after the carmaker was downgraded to “neutral” from “buy” at Nomura.

ThyssenKrupp AG fell 0.8% to €26.52 after the steelmakers was upgraded to “buy” from “hold” at Deutsche Bank.

Valeo SA dropped 0.6% to €25.50 after the auto-parts supplier was upgraded to “neutral” from “reduce” at Nomura.

Vinci SA fell 0.7% to €40.65 after the construction company and Bachy Soletanche Ltd in a joint venture with Morgan Est, have been awarded the Lee Tunnel contract by Thames Water, the operator of London''s water services worth €400 million.

Volkswagen AG the light-commercial vehicle dropped 1.4% to €71.30.

DAX Index Movers

Volkswagen AG led the decliners in the DAX index of 1.81%, followed by losses in Infineon Technologies AG of 1.23%, in Adidas AG of 0.97%, in Henkel AG of 0.45%, and in MAN SE of 0.36%.

Salzgitter AG led gainers in the DAX index with a rise of 4.07% followed by increase in K+S AG of 2.51%, in Deutsche Boerse AG of 1.95%, in Muenchener Rue AG of 1.84%, and in Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA of 1.49%.

CAC-40 Index Movers

Alstom SA led the decliners in the CAC-40 index of 2.46%, followed by losses in Renault SA of 2.24%, in Alcatel Lucent of 1.05%, in Technip of 0.84%, and in Societe Generale SA of 0.79%.

Cap Gemini SA gainers in the CAC-40 index with a rise of 2.29% followed by gainers in ArcelorMittal of 2.11%, in Sanofi-Aventis of 1.80%, in Air Liquide SA of 1.69%, and in LVMH SA of 1.60%.