| | ADVFN III | Evening Euro Markets Bulletin | | | Daily world financial news | Supplied by advfn.com | | | | | | Wednesday 25 Jan 2012 17:29:52 | | | | | | | | | | |
| | London Market Report |  | | FTSE 100 | Euronext | Dax perf | CAC 40 |  |  |  |  | | Please click on the images to view our interactive charts | | | Banks fall after GDP data, markets await Fed UK GDP figures disappoint.
- Markets await FOMC statement and Bernanke.
UK stocks finished firmly in the red after worse-than-expected UK gross domestic product (GDP) figures sent banks reeling early on. Meanwhile, markets in the US were mixed ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) statement at 17:30 (London time) and press conference with the Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.
The UK economy contracted at a 0.2% quarterly rate in the fourth quarter, according to the latest data out this morning from the Office for National Statistics. Consensus estimates were looking for a fall of 0.1%. "While these figures reveal significant weakness in the economy, we do not think they mark the start of an inexorable slide into a severe recession," said Barclays Capital analyst Blerina Uruci.
In other news: the decision taken by the members of the Bank of England’s (BoE) Monetary Policy Committee to maintain the current policy settings at the last meeting was a unanimous one, the central bank revealed today; while gross mortgage lending totalled £9bn in December, the strongest month of 2011 and 12% higher than the December 2010, according to the British Bankers' Association (BBA), as mortgage approvals rose more than expected.
In Eurozone news, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is putting the pressure on the European Central Bank (ECB) to also take a haircut on its own €40bn worth of Greek bond holdings, according to the Financial Times. The ECB bought up these sovereign bonds below par value as part of the programme to save Greece from collapse back in 2010 and has also accepted them as collateral as a means of propping up the country’s banks. According to the paper, these bonds currently carry a yield in excess of 7% and the pressure is on the European monetary authority to forgo profits in order to ease Greece’s debt loads.
Elsewhere, the German Treasury defined its latest debt auction held this morning as "impressive" after yields fell to a record low for 30-year securities. The German Treasury sold €2.46bn in 30-year debt on bids for more than €5bn. The average yield offered from this security fell to 2.62%, down from 2.82% the previous auction. Meanwhile, Germany's business climate indicator for January beat expectations to register a reading of 108.3 points compared to 107.3 in December, according to the German IFO Instutite located in Munich.
BANKS LEAD THE FALL, ASHMORE UP AFTER UPGRADE
Banking heavyweights Lloyds, HSBC and Standard Chartered were among the worst performers, dragging the Footsie down after gross domestic product figures came in worse than expected. Meanwhile, HSBC has today offloaded its Thai Retail Banking and Wealth Management business to Bank of Ayudhya Public Company Ltd (BAY) for $115m, as it continues to dispose of its non-core businesses overseas.
Investment manager Ashmore was the best performer, rising over 5%, bouncing back after a poor performance yesterday on the back of a downgrade from Royal Bank of Scotland. Today, however, the stock was given a boost after Barclays upgraded it to overweight from neutral.
Commodities producer and marketer Glencore was a heavy faller after UBS cut its earnings forecasts to reflect what it believes is a challenging environment for its Marketing divisions and lower expected volumes and higher costs in Industrial. Nevertheless the broker maintained its buy rating and said that Glencore looks like the “most dynamic company in EU mining over the next three years”.
ARM Holdings, the chip designer for many Apple products, leapt 4% after Apple's quarterly figures showed robust demand for its trendy iPhones, iPads and Macs. Net income rose to $13.1bn in the first quarter of the company's fiscal year, more than double the $6bn achieved in the first quarter of the previous year. Putting the cherry on the top, Apple also raised earnings guidance for its second quarter.
Industrial engineer Weir was heading north after agreeing to acquire US oil and gas pump valve maker Novatech for $176m (£113m) in cash. Weir is looking to further strengthen its presence in the US unconventional oil and gas markets following the recent $675m acquisition of wellhead solutions provider Seaboard Holdings which was completed in December. Sector peer IMI was also in demand.
FTSE 250 MOVERS: RENISHAW ROCKETS AFTER INTERIM RESULTS
Renishaw, the measurement and medical device manufacturer, surged in early trading after revenues rose 11% in the first half. Geographically, revenue in Europe increased by 25% over the comparable period and the Americas were ahead by 23%.
Bookshop and newsagent chain WH Smith was in demand as the decline in like-for-like sales eased in the final month of 2011. An improvement had been expected over the longer period, however, given that the company was facing soft comparatives from December 2010, when the UK was hit by severe weather conditions which made travel difficult.
Soft drinks maker and bottler Britvic said carbonated drinks put some fizz into its Christmas trading, with revenues rising 2.5% in the final three months of 2011. Shares edged higher. |
| | Sippdeal | | An award winning provider of SIPPs, ISAs and share dealing accounts. With online dealing from just £4.95, an annual cash bonus of up to 0.5% on fund investments and no charges for; set up, annual administration and payments in – Sippdeal could be ideal for you. To find out more click here |
| | Diary of Event | | The management of financial software provider Misys will take a break from batting away questions about a potential takeover of the company to update the market on the operational side of things on Thursday
“Given Misys’s end markets, Banking and Capital Markets, don’t be surprised if you see a downbeat outlook statement, however, Misys is a ‘glass half full’ type and so will be keen to stress the positives,” reckons broker Panmure Gordon.
“As we noted previously, that it has been hiring engineers and implementation staff in Dublin (i.e. BankFusion) suggests to us that: (1) pipeline build continues; and, (2) it is looking to accelerate the implementation cycle (we see a very large BankFusion opportunity as banks get through their current woes and start doing banking. Until then, revenue will be on ‘bits and pieces’ (i.e. moves/add/changes),” the broker suggested, adding that “takeover talks will keep the ‘pep’ in the share price and a good narrative on Bankfusion will cheer investors.”
The broker is predicting interim revenue of £202m and operating profit of £35.1m, up from £161m and £23m, respectively, at the interim stage the previous year. “The big swing in the numbers is the Sophis revenue where we see £30.2m, and BankFusion where we assume £7.8m revenue,” Panmure Gordon explained.
Assuming the protestors camped close to the headquarters of the London Stock Exchange (LSE) don’t kidnap the messenger, the LSE should release an interim management statement at 7:00am. A study conducted by the accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoppers (PwC) revealed that there were only 53 flotations on the LSE and its little brother, the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) last year, down from 44 the year before, so this revenue stream for the bourse operator is not particularly vibrant.
The new listings raised an aggregate of £12.2bn in fresh capital, but more worrying for the LSE is that there was only one listing, mining firm Polymetal, in the final quarter of 2012, down from four in the corresponding quarter of 2011.
INTERIMS
Angle
INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
Cable & Wireless Worldwide, Dairy Crest Group, Tongaat-Hulett Ltd.
QUARTERLY EX-DIVIDEND DATE
Marsh & Mclennan Cos Inc.
INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
Bloomberg Consumer Confidence (US) (14:45)
Continuing Claims (US) (13:30)
Durable Goods Orders (US) (13:30)
Initial Jobless Claims (US) (13:30)
Leading Indicators (US) (15:00)
New Homes Sales (US) (15:00)
FINALS
Gem Diamonds Ltd. (DI), Safestore Holdings
IMSS
easyJet, Invensys, London Stock Exchange Group
EGMS
NB Distressed Debt Investment Fund Ltd.
AGMS
Euromoney Institutional Investor, Impax Asset Management Group, ITE Group, Lonmin, Mitchells & Butlers, Ultrasis
TRADING ANNOUNCEMENTS
Petropavlovsk
UK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
CBI Distributive Trades Surveys (11:00)
FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
Aberdeen Asset Management, Alternative Networks |
| | Excellent Liquidity & Speed of Execution with Saxo Capital Markets. | | Trade FX SPOT, FORWARDS & OPTIONS, CFD STOCK, INDICES & COMMODITIES, FUTURES, STOCKS, ETFs and BONDS. Make the trade with Saxo. Products are traded on margin and it is possible to incur losses that exceed your initial deposit.
Click here. |
| | European Market Report | | | | FTSE 100 | Euronext | Dax perf | CAC 40 |  | | | | | | European Stocks Slump On Greek Worries
European stocks extended this week's losses on Wednesday, hurt by lingering concerns that Greece may default on its sovereign debt. Greece said it aims to complete a debt swap deal with its private creditors by week's end, but markets remained skeptical.
Meanwhile, markets were focused on German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her counterparts from around the euro zone, as a number of key officials gathered in Davos for the World Economic Forum.
Germany, the region's largest economy, does not have "unlimited resources" to backstop its debt-ridden neighbors, Merkel told Spanish daily El Pais.
Looking across the Atlantic, traders were waiting for the Federal Reserve's latest interest rate decision, due an hour after markets closed in Europe.
Extending a modest decline from recent 6-month highs, the Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks slipped 0.51 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, was down 0.90 percent.
Around Europe, France's CAC 40 eased 0.31 percent, the German DAX lost 0.08 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 declined 0.62 percent and Switzerland's SMI lost 1.10 percent.
Weak earnings from heavyweights Ericsson and Novartis overshadowed forecast-beating Apple's quarterly earnings. Swedish telecom equipment maker Ericsson reported a 66 percent drop in fourth-quarter profit. Shares dropped 13.3 percent.
French plane maker EADS eased 1 percent, after rival Boeing revealed a 20 percent increase in fourth-quarter profit. However, the U.S. defense giant guided 2012 EPS below market expectations.
Swiss pharma giant Roche Holding is making a hostile offer of $44.50 per share to the shareholders of San Diego, California-based genetic diagnostics company Illumina, Inc., representing an all-cash deal of about $5.7 billion. Shares eased 2.1 percent.
Novartis expects flat sales and lower core operating profit margin, as its top-selling anti-hypertensive medication Diovan now faces competition from smaller peers. The stock slipped 2.5 percent.
Software maker SAP reported a surge in profit for the fourth quarter, aided by a 14 percent increase in software and software-related service revenue. SAP was up fractionally.
EON was down 0.5 percent after the German utility announced it is cutting 11,000 jobs worldwide, with most of the staff reductions in Germany, as the utility looks to free up funds for future investment.
Publicis Groupe SA was down 0.7 percent in Paris after the French advertising group lost its global media planning and buying contract with General Motors to British rival Aegis Group.
UniCredit gained 1.3 percent. The Italian lender plans to raise up to €25 billion through the issue of covered bonds to shore up its capital base and fund the group's mortgage loans business, according to a regulatory filing.
Rio Tinto Plc was flat in London after the mining giant announced that it has raised its stake in Canada's Ivanhoe Mines to 51 percent from 49 percent.
On the macroeconomic front, the U.K. economy contracted more than expected in the fourth quarter of 2011, preliminary estimates from the Office for National Statistics showed.
Separately, a report from the statistical office Istat revealed that Italian retail sales declined more than expected in November, with retail sales down 0.3 percent month-over-month in November, reversing a 0.2 percent rise in October. |
| | Live Trading Session Tomorrow at 7.15am | | Watch our experts trade live as the FTSE opens! Click Here. |
| | US Market Report | | Stocks mixed ahead of Fed, Apple lifts Nasdaq Dow: -58 at 12,618
Nasdaq: +11 at 2,797
S&P 500: -3 at 1,312
US stocks opened mixed on Wednesday morning ahead of an interest rate decision from the Federal Reserve and a press conference with Chairman Ben Bernanke. Both the Dow Jones and the S&P 500 were slightly lower, while some impressive quarterly results from Apple were lifting the tech-heavy Nasdaq index.
As the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting begins today in Switzerland and Federal Reserve policy makers convene in Washington, 48% of respondents predict the US will be among the world’s best-performing markets this year, according to the quarterly poll of 1,209 investors, analysts and traders who are Bloomberg subscribers that was conducted Jan. 23-24. That’s the highest rating for the US since the poll began in 2009 and it’s more than twice that of Brazil and China, the second-ranked markets.
Much commented, in his State of the Union address last night, President Obama called on Congress to raise taxes on those making $1m or more to at least 30%.
APPLE IMPRESSES EVERYONE IN Q1
The big news on the Street today was tech giant Apple whose first quarter earnings smashed expectations on both the revenue and profit levels. Apple was helped higher in mid-morning trade after Goldman Sachs labelled the stock as under-priced.
Goldman observed, "revenues of $46.33bn and EPS [earnings per share] of $13.87 were well above both our estimates of $38.18bn and $9.94 and consensus of $38.86bn and $10.08." The US investment bank noted that Apple, normally a company inclined to under-promise and over-deliver, has raised earnings guidance for the second quarter to a level above the consensus view of analysts covering the stock.
Goldman reiterated its "buy" recommendation and raised its 12-month target price to $600 from $550. Apple shares currently trade at around $445.
Elsewhere, Illumina surged over 40% after Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche Holding made a $5.7bn offer for US company, an 18% premium over its closing price on Tuesday. The offer is unsolicited after several failed attempts to negotiate the deal, reports The Wall Street Journal
Shares in oil firm ConocoPhillips fell in spite of its fourth quarter earnings topping analysts’ estimates. Earnings per share came in at $2.02, easily topping the consensus estimate of $1.79.
Investors in industrial technology firm United Technologies also seemed underwhelmed after the group reported a better-than-expected 10.5% earnings growth for the fourth quarter due to greater sales for its Otis elevators and at its airplane unit Hamilton Sundstrand.
MACROECONOMY
Pending home sales data for December is expected to be released at 3pm.
FOMC announcement expected at 19:15pm.
S&P 500 - Risers
Textron Inc. (TXT) $24.80 +14.76%
CA Inc. (CA) $25.14 +10.17%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $447.46 +6.43%
Bemis Co. Inc. (BMS) $31.86 +6.25%
Life Technologies Corp. (LIFE) $49.59 +4.82%
Total System Services Inc. (TSS) $21.94 +4.78%
St Jude Medical Inc. (STJ) $39.88 +3.42%
Waters Corp. (WAT) $87.81 +3.26%
Regions Financial Corp. (RF) $5.39 +3.06%
Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV) $9.44 +3.06%
S&P 500 - Fallers
TE Connectivity Ltd (TEL) $31.92 -10.60%
Corning Inc. (GLW) $13.11 -10.33%
Molex Inc. (MOLX) $25.01 -8.82%
Xerox Corp. (XRX) $8.10 -6.57%
Allegheny Technologies Inc. (ATI) $47.73 -6.04%
WellPoint Inc. (WLP) $65.45 -5.69%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $14.23 -4.75%
Praxair Inc. (PX) $104.21 -4.48%
Rockwell Automation Inc. (ROK) $78.33 -4.18%
W.W. Grainger Inc. (GWW) $195.16 -4.10% |
| | Selftrade | | Dealing, Shares ISA and SIPP Dealing accounts available with Selftrade. Standard flat £12.50 charge per online trade and an annual Management Fee of £35 + VAT with 3 free trades. Frequent trader rate £6 per online trade. No dealing fee on fund purchases. Extensive market data and news plus advanced charting and technical analysis.
Click here |
| | Wednesday broker round-up | | Ashmore: Barclays upgrades to overweight from neutral.
Glencore: UBS cuts target from 530p to 490p, buy rating unchanged.
Vodafone: Nomura reiterates buy rating and 230p target.
Britvic: Nomura keeps buy recommendation and 425p target; Collins Stewart gives sell rating and 290p target.
WH Smith: Peel Hunt keeps hold stance and 525p target; Prime Markets confirms buy rating and 568p target.
Aegis: Peel Hunt maintains hold rating but raises target from 140p to 160p; UBS raises target from 180p to 190p, keeps buy rating.
Colefax: Peel Hunt cuts target from 275p to 225p, hold rating kept.
BTG: Peel Hunt reiterates buy recommendation and 340p target.
Carphone Warehouse: UBS cuts target from 400p to 380p, buy rating unchanged.
Chemring: UBS cuts target from 500p to 450p, buy rating unchanged.
IQE: Peel Hunt raises target from 23p to 26p, hold rating unchanged.
CareTech: Collins Stewart reiterates buy stance and 166p target.
Charles Stanley: Peel Hunt remains a buyer with a 350p target.
Thomas Cook: AlphaValue upgrades from add to buy, target cut from 19p to 18.9p. |
| | Kick start your trading in 2012! Upgrade on ADVFN today and get your first month free plus a copy of 101 Ways to Pick Stock Market winners by Clem Chambers for FREE. Click Here | | | | ADVFN Services |
| | | | | | | To unsubscribe from this news bulletin or edit your mailing list settings click here. Registered Office/Accounts Dept: Suite 27, Essex Technology Centre, The Gable, Fyfield Road, Ongar, CM5 0GA. Customer Support +44 (0) 207 0700 961. Company registered in England and Wales: Number 2374988 VAT No. GB 549 2130 49 | |
0 comentários:
Postar um comentário