Greece Wins EC Support; Miners Advance

Mayank Mehta
02 Feb, 2010
New York City

European producer prices in December edged up from November but declined in every month in 2009. The monthly decline is the longest stretch of decline in ten years. Greek bond yields increased. Belgian telecom operators declined after the regulator sough lower termination fees.

[R]7:00PM Frankfurt, Paris; 1:00 PM New York – European producer prices in December edged up from November but declined in every month in 2009. The monthly decline is the longest stretch of decline in ten years. Greek bond yields increased. Belgian telecom operators declined after the regulator sough lower termination fees.[/R]

European markets closed higher on a recovery in commodities prices and rebound in resource stocks.

In London FTSE 100 Index closed higher 35.90 or 0.68% to 5,283.31, in Paris CAC 40 Index increased 50.12 or 1.33% to close at 3,812.13, in Frankfurt DAX index higher 55.18 or 0.98% to close at 5,709.66. In Zurich trading SMI increased 53.79 or 0.83% to close at 6,550.12.

Greece won the backing of the European Commission but questions about the integrity of the country’s economic statistics remain in doubt.

Greek bond yields increased 14 basis points to 6.75%, and widened 13 basis points to the reference German bund to 3.57%.

President of the European Commission Jose Barroso endorsed the Greek plan to curb the deficit and said that the deficit reduction plan is feasible but “subject to risks.”

December industrial producer price index increased from November 0.1% in the euro area (EA16) and unchanged in the EU27. The producer price index dropped 5.1% in the euro area and dropped 4.3% in the EU27 from a year ago month.

In European trading BP Plc declined after it reported earnings that were lower than expected by some analysts. Rio Tinto Group traded higher after Citigroup Inc recommended the stock.

Gainers & Losers

BMW AG fell 0.3% to €30.97.

Bourbon SA fell 1.4% to €27.83 after the offshore marine services provider was downgraded to “sell” from “hold” at Societe Generale SA.

Deutsche EuroShop AG rose 0.1% to €23.09 after the investor in shopping centers will receive gross proceeds from the rights offering of €123 million and finance the acquisition of the A10 Center in Wildau, near Berlin.

Entrepose Contracting SA rose 2.6% to €65.90 and the builder of pipelines and storage facilities fourth quarter sales were €182.3 million.

Etablissements Maurel et Prom SA increased 4.3% to €12.60 after the oil explorer in Africa acquired 45% stake in Seplat, a Nigerian-registered company.

IKB Deutsche Industriebank AG closed unchanged at €0.83.

Mobistar SA dropped 6.4% to €42.42 and Belgacom SA dropped 2.3% to €25.80 after the Belgian regulator proposed to lower the inter-operator fees charged to customers.

Technip SA surged 6.4% to 53.55 after company official in an interview said that the company may win orders to build three natural gas storage facilities in Germany. The news was first reported by Bloomberg.

Ubisoft Entertainment SA rose 4.2% to €10.57 after the video-games maker was upgraded to “outperform” from “underperform” at Exane BNP.

DAX Index Movers

Beiersdorf AG led the decliners in the DAX index of 1.13%, followed by losses in Muenchener Rue AG of 0.55%, in Adidas AG of 0.39%, in Henkel AG of 0.30%, and in Fresenius SE of 0.28%.

Infineon Technologies AG led gainers in the DAX index with a rise of 2.41%, followed by losses in Deutsche Post AG of 2.33%, in Deutsche Bank AG of 2.31%, in Deutsche Lufthansa AG of 1.53%, and in ThyssenKrupp AG of 1.49%.

CAC-40 Index Movers

PSA Peugeot Citroen S.A. led the decliners in the CAC-40 index of 1.06%, followed by losses in Essilor International SA of 0.25%, in Michelin SCA of 0.22%, in Unibail-Rodamco SA of 0.22% and in Credit Agricole SA of 0.13%.

Technip gainers in the CAC-40 index with a rise of 6.38% followed by gainers in Vallourec SA of 4.55%, in AXA of 2.93%, in Alcatel Lucent of 2.70% and in Lagardere SCA of 2.60%.