European Markets Advance on Earnings, Output

Mayank Mehta
12 Mar, 2010
New York City

Earnings and economic outlook drove the sentiment higher in Europe. Talks of Greek bailout orchestrated by the EU also contributed to the positive sentiment. BMW AG 2009 net declined 36%. Eni SpA 2009 sales fell 23%.

[R]7:00 PM Frankfurt, Paris; 1:00 PM New York – Earnings and economic outlook drove the sentiment higher in Europe. Talks of Greek bailout orchestrated by the EU also contributed to the positive sentiment. BMW AG 2009 net declined 36%. Eni SpA 2009 sales fell 23%.[/R]

European markets closed higher on a speculation that the EU may issue bonds of €55 billion to bailout Greece. The region also showed the fastest monthly increase in industrial production in January from the revised December data.

Industrial output in 16-nations euro zone increased 1.7% in January from December and gained 1.4% from a year ago according to the latest data released by the eurostat in Luxembourg. The monthly increase was the largest since the data collection began in 1990. The output increased 1.4% from a year ago.

The December data was revised to an increase of 0.6% compared the previous estimate of a decline of 1.7%.

In London FTSE 100 Index closed higher 8.75 or 0.16% to 5,626.01, in Paris CAC 40 Index decreased 4.55 or 0.12% to close at 3,924.40, in Frankfurt DAX index higher 15.70 or 0.26% to close at 5,944.33. In Zurich trading SMI decreased 19.91 or 0.29% to close at 6,831.82.

Gainers & Losers

Aeffe SpA dropped 2.5% to €0.43 after the fashion company said 2009 revenues fell 26% to €222.9 million from €300.7 million a year ago. Net loss for the year was €20.1 million compared to net profit of €7.7 million a year ago.

Arcandor AG the tourism and retail group added 2.1% to €0.14.

BMW AG added 0.1% to €32.74 an automobile manufacturer said 2009 revenues fell 4.7% to €50.7 billion from €53.2 billion a year ago. Net profit for the year fell 36% to €210 million or €0.31 per diluted share compared to net profit of €330 million or €0.49 per share a year ago.

Bongrain SA the maker of Coeur de Lion camembert cheese rose 0.7% to €56.05.

DADA SpA decreased 0.7% to €5.28 an entertainment company said 2009 sales fell 9% to €155.1 million from €170.2 million a year ago. Net profit for the year fell 9% to €6.9 million compared to net profit of €7.6 million a year ago.

Deutsche Post AG rose 2.0% to €13.12 after the mail and logistics company was upgraded to “buy” from “hold” at UniCredit Research.

Eni SpA dropped 1.6% to €17.51 an Italian energy explorer said 2009 sales fell 23% to €83.2 billion from €108.1 billion a year ago. Net profit for the year fell 50.5% to €4.37 billion or €1.21 per diluted share compared to net profit of €8.83 billion or €2.43 per share a year ago.

K+S AG added 1.2% to €46.22 after the potash producer was upgraded to “hold” from “sell” at Independent Research GmbH.

Rational AG fell 2.2% to €127.80 after the company was downgraded its recommendation to “underperform” from “buy” at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch.

Sky Deutschland AG increased 4.5% to €2.10 on a speculation that News Corp that controls 45.4% of the company may acquire more shares in the pay-TV broadcaster.

Tonnellerie Francois Freres SA the wine-barrel maker increased 1.7% to €29.00.

Yoox SpA added 1.1% to €5.64 an online fashion retailer said 2009 sales rose 50% to €152.2 million from €101.5 million a year ago. Net profit for the year rose 29.5% to €4.1 million compared to net profit of €2.4 million a year ago.

DAX Index Movers

E.ON AG led the decliners in the DAX index of 1.22%, followed by Henkel AG of 1.12%, in Beiersdorf AG of 1.10%, in Merck KGaA of 0.69%, and in Bayer AG of 0.65%.

Commerzbank AG led gainers in the DAX index with a rise of 3.46%, followed by increase in Volkswagen AG of 2.34%, in Deutsche Post AG of 1.94%, in Infineon Technologies AG of 1.91%, and in Siemens AG of 1.83%.

CAC-40 Index Movers

Carrefour SA led the decliners in the CAC-40 index of 2.89%, followed by STMicroelectronics N.V. of 1.54%, in Electricité de France of 1.27%, in EADS NV of 1.21% and in L''Oreal SA of 1.00%.

Technip gainers in the CAC-40 index with a rise of 2.27%.followed by increase in PPR SA of 1.91%, in Renault SA of 1.86%, in Dexia SA of 1.57% and in Veolia Environnement of 1.46%.