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 |  Subject: ADVFN Morning Euro Markets Bulletin March, 31st 2010  Wed Mar 31, 2010 8:46 am | |
| by ADVFN.comADVFN offer FREE streaming stocks and shares data form around the world. SEE | London Market Report | BSkyB shrugs off Ofcom attack
Footsie is higher in early dealings as investors digest updates from food-related stocks and big news for televised sports.
Telecoms regulator Ofcom is on a collision course with BSkyB after it ordered the satellite broadcaster to make its two top sports channels available to rivals at a 23% discount to the current price. But the market has decided it could have been worse, with BSKyB higher and major complainant BT, lower.
Gartmore is the other big story. The shares are down another 10% today after tumbling 31% yesterday following the suspension of star fund manager Guillaume Rambourg. Gartmore, which only floated in December and is now worth less than half its listing value, insisted the suspension was not connected with the FSA's recent spate of insider dealing arrests.
Catering giant Compass has had a good first half, with efficiency measures helping to improve margins in the face of sluggish revenues in many markets. The company, which provides catering for schools, businesses and hospitals, said revenue is expected to be broadly flat compared with the same period the previous year, with efficiency measures helping to improve margins by about 50 basis points.
Sugar and sweeteners company Tate & Lyle said currency movements, in particular the stronger US dollar, will benefit its reported performance in the final quarter. Underlying trading in the quarter has been consistent with expectations, the group added.
The impact of severe weather in the UK and North America during the fourth quarter is expected to hit Firstgroup’s annual operating profit by approximately £16m, the bus and train group said.
Tenanted pub group Enterprise Inns said it was making ‘excellent progress’ in selling off its underperforming pubs. The group, which didn’t update the market with new profit or revenue figures, also said there has been no ‘material change’ in its performance since January.
Goodfellas pizza and Fox’s biscuits group Northern Foods reported a drop in fourth-quarter like for like sales but said it will deliver full-year profits in line with expectations. The group said the 1.8% in quarterly like for like sales was due to the planned exit from its low margin frozen business.
SSE Renewables, the renewable energy development division of Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) has secured a £400m loan facility from the European Investment Bank (EIB) to help finance the development of renewable energy schemes in the UK and Ireland. The EIB funding takes the total funding which SSE has secured since July 2008 to almost £3.8bn. |
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| | UK Event Calendar for today |
INTERIMS
Davenham, James Halstead
INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
Brooks Macdonald, Cash Converters, Centaur Media, Galliford Try, Gartmore Fledgling Trust, Hansard Global, HGCapital Trust, James Halstead, Jupiter Primadona Growth Trust, LSL Property Services, Maxima Holdings, Northamber, Numis Corporation, Renishaw, Share Plc, Sportingbet, Thorntons, Tristel, Waterman Group, Welsh Industrial Inv Trust, Wilmington Group
INTERIM EX-DIVIDEND DATE
Henderson EuroTrust, Manchester & London Trust, Smiths Group
QUARTERLY PAYMENT DATE
Premier Energy & Water Trust
QUARTERLY EX-DIVIDEND DATE
Africa Opportunity Fund Ltd., Quorum Oil and Gas Technology Fund Ltd., Torchmark Corp
INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
Business Inventories (US) (15:00)
Chicago PMI (US) (14:45)
Factory Orders (US) (15:00)
Retail Sales (AUS) (00:00)
Unemployment Rate (GER) (08:55)
GMS
1pm
FINALS
Chesnara, CSS Stellar, Eastern Platinum, Evraz Group GDR (Reg S), Hilton Food, Lincat Group, Motivcom, OJSC Cherkizovo GDR (Reg S), Phoenix Group Holdings, Pinewood-Shepperton, Surgical Innovations, Valiant Petroleum, Zhaikmunai GDR (Reg S)
ANNUAL REPORT
Amec, Carillion, CRH, F&C Inv Trust, Forth Ports, Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group, Mercator Gold, New World Resources
SPECIAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
Fidelity European Values, Gleeson (M J) Group, Premier Energy & Water Trust
EGMS
Lecico Egypt GDR (Reg S), Personal Assets Trust
AGMS
Amino Technologies, Clerkenwell Ventures, IRF European Finance Investments, Law Debenture Corp., Lecico Egypt GDR (Reg S), Lonrho, Moneysupermarket.com, Octopus Titan VCT 1, Octopus Titan VCT 2, Signet Global Fixed Income Strategies GBP Shares, Specialist Energy Group, Turkiye is Bankasi GDR (Reg S), West China Cement, Western & Oriental
TRADING ANNOUNCEMENTS
Carillion, Compass Group, CRH, Dairy Crest Group, Enterprise Inns, FirstGroup, Hyder Consulting, Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group, New World Resources, Northern Foods, Sutton Harbour, Tate & Lyle, Topps Tiles
FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
Alphameric, Domino's Pizza UK & IRL, Dunedin Enterprise Inv Trust, Holders Technology, Hunting, Jersey Electricity 'A', Low & Bonar, LSL Property Services, Millennium & Copthorne Hotels, Perpetual Income & Growth Inv Trust, Rathbone Brothers, Rights & Issue Inv Trust Capital Shares, Rights & Issues Inv Trust Income Shares, SThree, Temple Bar Inv Trust
FINAL EX-DIVIDEND DATE
Communisis, Eurasian Natural Resources, Rank Group, SEGRO |
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| | Currencies Market Report |
Euro slides against the pound and the dollar
The pound had a rare good day yesterday trading near to one month highs against a basket of currencies gaining especially against the Euro, yen and the dollar, after UK Q4 GDP figures were revised upwards by 0.1% to 0.4%.
Improving house price data for March from Nationwide also helped, coming in at a 0.7% rise, against an expectation of 0.2%.
It appears to have shrugged off the GfK Consumer Confidence Survey for March, which showed a reading of -15, a slightly worse than expected reading.
The US dollar is also continuing to gain ground on the dollar index on the back of rising yields, in the last week US 10 year yields have jumped over 30 basis points to be trading at their highest levels since January.
The dollar was also helped by US consumer confidence which showed an increase to over 50 from 46.4 in February.
The Euro continues to be weighed down, especially against the dollar, as Greece concerns weigh on the single currency, while economic data out today is expected to show little improvement with the Euro zone unemployment rate for February expected to hit 10%. The rate of German unemployment change for March will also be closely monitored for further rises.
EURUSD - the Euro continues to find the air a little thin above the 1.3520 area, drifting back lower in afternoon trading yesterday and dropping below 1.3400. The key resistance levels at 1.3520 and 1.3650 remain intact, and as such the move to 1.3200 remains the longer term target.
GBPUSD - we've seen a significant squeeze higher over the past 24 hours but while below the trend line resistance at 1.5160 from the January highs at 1.6460 downside pressures should remain intact, with a weekly close below 1.4850 the pre-cursor to further losses towards 1.4400. A break above 1.5160 could well target a return towards 1.5350.
EURGBP – yesterday’s Euro sell-off needs to hold above the 200 day moving average at 0.8860 to prevent the risk of further downside in this cross. A close below the 200 day moving average could well signal further declines towards 0.8830 and 0.8780. The Euro should now see resistance around the 0.8920 area and 0.8970.
USDJPY – the dollar almost reached the 93.75 target overnight, a peak around 93.60 being the extent of the move so far. A break above 93.75 would signal further dollar gains towards 97.70. This upward bias remains while above interim support around 92.15, and while below 93.75 the risk is for further consolidation between 92.15 and these highs as upside momentum continues to look a little stretched. |
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| | US Market Report |
Stocks edge up
It was an uncertain day for US shares but stocks finished broadly higher as economic data cheered investors.
The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence index rose to 512.5 in March compared with 46 in February. That was better than expected.
The S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index shows that home prices continue to decline. In December, the index plunged 3.1% but the January decline was 1.9%.
Across the markets, the Dow Jones closed 11 points higher at 10,907, while the Nasdaq closed 6 points up at 2,410. The S&P 500 closed flat at 1,173.
Tools maker Danaher was the biggest riser on the S&P after increasing its third quarter earnings forecast to at least 90 cents.
Morgan Stanley’s expectation that the 3M share price will rise over the next 30 days sparked an immediate rise.
Video rental chain Blockbuster slumped due to its financial difficulties and the fact that it no longer complies with the New York Stock Exchange share price requirements.
Shares in Citigroup continue to fall after the US government said that it intends to sell its stake.
Apple is thought to be planning to make a new iPhone that could allow US phone carriers other than AT&T to sell the phone. Shares in Apple have risen but AT&T shares have fallen. |
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| | Wednesday paper round-up |
Supermarkets, Gartmore, Northern Rock
Sales in Britain’s supermarkets are growing at their slowest rate for 2½ years, industry data revealed last night.
Kantar Worldpanel, the market researchers, said that sales at Britain’s grocers had increased by 3.6% in the 12 weeks to March 21. This was the slowest rate of growth since August 2007, the month before Northern Rock required an emergency loan from the Bank of England, the Times reports.
A tax break created by Gordon Brown to encourage millions of people to save has degenerated into a £3bn a year rip-off that enriches the banks, according to a damning verdict from the statutory consumer watchdog. Consumer Focus has made a formal complaint to the Office of Fair Trading alleging that cash Isas pay derisory rates of interest and that banks use unfair obstacles to stop people from switching to better deals. The OFT has 90 days to respond, the Times reports.
The Irish Government will inject billions of euros into the country’s stricken banking sector by putting a large chunk of the lenders’ problem loans into a “bad bank”. Ireland’s central bank and financial regulator also laid out plans to force five banks and building societies to raise almost €20bn (£17.8b) in new capital by the end of the year to bolster their financial strength, the Times reports.
Gartmore suspended its second-most senior fund manager yesterday amid allegations that he had broken the company’s trading rules. In a cryptic statement, the company said that Guillaume Rambourg, the No 2 to the fund’s top manager Roger Guy, had been “suspended pending the outcome of an internal investigation in relation to breaches of international procedures directing trades,” the Times reports.
Former shareholders of Northern Rock will be left with nothing after the mortgage lender's independent valuer confirmed the company's shares were worthless and there was no requirement to pay compensation to those who lost money when the government seized control of the business. Since being de-listed in February 2008, Northern Rock shareholders have held on to the hope of compensation for their losses. However, in a report published on Tuesday, independent valuer Andrew Caldwell of BDO said there was no reason for any compensation to be paid and that the old stock was worthless, the Telegraph reports.
Top executives “risk being treated as aliens” by politicians and the public because their pay is so out of step with that of the population at large, the head of the UK’s largest business organisation warned on Tuesday night. Richard Lambert, director-general of the CBI, said increasing levels of boardroom remuneration risked damaging public support for wealth creation, the FT reports.
The boss of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), the world's biggest sovereign wealth fund, has been found dead in Morocco. Sheikh Ahmed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, who directed ADIA's recent acquisition of 15pc of Gatwick Airport, was found four days after his glider aircraft went missing. He was 40. ADIA, which is thought to have assets worth $627bn (£420bn), declined to comment, the Telegraph reports.
The financial crisis has cost the British economy up to £7.4trn in lost output, according to the Bank of England. Andrew Haldane, the Bank's executive director for financial stability, said that taking into account the permanent damage done to the productive potential of nations across the world, as well as the immediate costs of supporting the banks and the recession, there is an output loss equivalent to between $60trn and $200trn for the world economy and between £1.8trn and £7.4trn for the UK, the Independent reports.
CNN, the pioneering 24-hour news channel, is considering an overhaul of its schedule after haemorrhaging viewers in its core US market. The broadcaster, which celebrates the 30th anniversary of its launch by the media mogul Ted Turner on 1 June, has lost almost half its prime-time viewers in the past year, according to the latest figures, the Independent reports.
EMI is in talks with two larger rivals about pawning its distribution rights in the Americas for £200m, in a last-minute scramble for cash before a critical deadline on Wednesday over its private equity owner’s £3.2bn in loans. Both Universal Music and Sony Music were considering a possible five-year deal in which they would assume the rights in Canada, the US and Latin America to sell content by EMI artists, ranging from The Beatles to Coldplay, to physical and digital retailers, such as Wal-Mart and Apple’s iTunes, the FT reports. |
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