ADVFN Morning Euro Markets Bulletin - August 30st 2011

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London Market Reports

RBS leads banking rally

techMARK 1,763.49 +1.60%
FTSE 100 5,261.71 +2.57%
FTSE 250 10,234.06 +2.37%
Having missed out yesterday on the strong gains seen on stock exchanges that were open for business, London is playing catch-up today, with the leading share index posting triple-digit gains.

Banks are posting strong gains, with RBS up by more than 10% and peers Barclaysand Lloyds also in demand.

Oil and gas group Afren saw profits fall in the half year to 30 June after shutting down its Ebok field in Nigeria for safety reasons. Pre-tax profits fell to £43.7m from £75.4m over the same period the previous year on revenues that were down to £161m from £214.8m. However, production has been ramped up and the shares are higher today.

Margins are on the mend at house builder Bovis Homes, which saw profits more than double in the first half of 2011. Profit before tax surged to £8.6m in the first six months of the year from £3.5m the year before.

Gold miner Randgold Resources is a rare faller today after saying its Loulo/Gounkoto complex in Mali suffered in the third quarter after abnormally heavy rainfall. The bad weather has meant that targets for the third quarter have been substantially lowered as a result.

Dominique Yates has been appointed as Chief Financial Officer of Regus, the workspace provider, taking over from Stephen Gleadle, who is stepping down after six years in the role to pursue other opportunities. The stock climbs nearly 8%.

The first set of interim results from media group Perform since it floated in April of this year showed the sporting events film footage provider on a growth trajectory.Revenue in the first half of 2011 of £45.1m was almost half as much again as the £30.7m racked up in the first half of last year, with the group boasting strong growth across all of its business areas.

FTSE 100 - Risers
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 24.35p +11.29%
Barclays (BARC) 168.25p +8.55%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 32.10p +8.04%
Carnival (CCL) 1,944.00p +5.82%
Cairn Energy (CNE) 314.80p +5.11%
Capital Shopping Centres Group (CSCG) 334.00p +5.10%
Kazakhmys (KAZ) 1,040.00p +4.94%
Man Group (EMG) 217.80p +4.91%
Prudential (PRU) 601.00p +4.89%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 1,019.00p +4.78%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 6,190.00p -2.37%
Unilever (ULVR) 2,013.00p -0.05%
Autonomy Corporation (AU.) 2,515.00p +0.24%
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,296.00p +0.54%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 294.00p +0.68%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 312.00p +0.71%
Tesco (TSCO) 368.50p +0.79%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 2,723.00p +0.95%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 163.45p +0.96%
Diageo (DGE) 1,205.00p +1.09%

FTSE 250 - Risers
Perform Group (PER) 183.30p +8.46%
Regus (RGU) 69.00p +7.81%
Keller Group (KLR) 369.30p +6.73%
Talvivaara Mining Company (TALV) 334.10p +6.06%
TUI Travel (TT.) 158.40p +5.81%
Kenmare Resources (KMR) 45.00p +5.12%
Supergroup (SGP) 928.50p +5.09%
International Personal Finance (IPF) 246.70p +5.07%
Soco International (SIA) 323.20p +5.04%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 76.45p +4.94%

FTSE 250 - Fallers
F&C Asset Management (FCAM) 66.35p -1.99%
Lamprell (LAM) 266.90p -1.88%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 838.00p -0.95%
QinetiQ Group (QQ.) 114.80p -0.95%
Impax Environmental Markets (IEM) 100.00p -0.50%
WH Smith (SMWH) 481.30p -0.33%
Brown (N.) Group (BWNG) 261.10p -0.31%
African Barrick Gold (ABG) 542.50p -0.28%
BH Macro Ltd. GBP Shares (BHMG) 1,980.00p -0.25%
Domino's Pizza UK & IRL (DOM) 491.90p -0.02%


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UK Event Calendar for Today
INTERIMS
Ablon Group Ltd., Afren, Alpha Bank GDR (Reg S) USD, Bovis Homes Group, Bunzl, Computacenter, Cupid, Globaltrans Investment GDR (Reg S), International Public Partnerships Ltd., Irish Continental Group Units, John Laing Infrastructure, Kentz Corporation Ltd., Lamprell, Lombard Medical Technologies, Macfarlane Group, National Bank of Greece ADR, Paddy Power, Perform Group, Public Power GDR SA (Reg S), UTV Media

INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
Dewhurst, Dewhurst (Non-Voting)

QUARTERLY EX-DIVIDEND DATE
Schlumberger Ltd.

INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
Business Climate Indicator (EU) (10:00)
Consumer Confidence (US) (15:00)
Economic Sentiment Indicator (EU) (10:00)
FOMC Interest Rate Minutes (US) (19:00)
PMI Retail (EU) (08:55)
PMI Retail (GER) (08:55)

Q2
National Bank of Greece ADR

GMS
British Smaller Companies VCT 2, CSR, Firestone Diamonds, Ondine Biomedical Inc., Silverdell, Silvermere Energy

FINALS
Craneware, Mattioli Woods

AGMS
European Nickel, Ondine Biomedical Inc., Talisman VCT, Tangent Communications

UK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
M4 Sterling Lending (09:30)
Trends in Lending (09:30)


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European Market Report
A strong performance yesterday by Wall Street and this morning by Asian markets has encouraged markets to extend yesterday's gains.

Relief that the damage caused by Hurricane America in North America is less than originally feared has raised sentiment, while last week's comments by Fed chairman Ben Bernanke that the US economy is not doing so badly that further stimulus is required are also cheering investors. The Federal Reserve is set later today to release the minutes from its August meeting of its rate setting meeting.

Banks are leading the charge in Paris, where the CAC index is up 30 at 3,184. Credit Agricole and BNP Paribas are the two best performers among CAC constituents, with Societe Generale also going well.

In Frankfurt, the DAX is up 30 at 5,700, although fallers outnumber risers among the index's constituents. Banks are also doing well in Germany, with Commerzbank the best performing blue-chip while Deutsche Bank is also on the up.

Broker Sanford C. Bernstein has soured a little on Swiss foods giant Nestle, cutting its rating to "market perform" from "outperform". The broker thinks risk-averse investors have bid up the share price too high.

Ipsen, the global biotechnology speciality care group, raised its sales target for 2011 after a well-received set of half-year figures. Sales of primary care products were stable year-on-year, supported by international sales, while underlying recurring operating income jumped 27.1% to €143.9m from €113.2m last year. Consolidated net profit climbed 21.4% to €91.7m from €75.5m the year before.

The group is now targeting for the full year 2011 Speciality Care drug sales growth close to 8.0% year-on-year and a Primary Care drug sales decrease of 3.0% to 5.0% year-on-year. Recurring adjusted operating income is expected to range from €190m to €200m euros.


CAC 40 - Risers
Credit Agricole (ACA) € 6.82 +2.77%
BNP Paribas (BNP) € 35.15 +2.21%
AXA (CS) € 10.68 +2.01%
Natixis SA (KN) € 2.83 +1.58%
Vivendi (VIV) € 16.29 +1.50%
Societe Generale (GLE) € 22.43 +1.49%
Accor (AC) € 23.89 +1.38%
ArcelorMittal SA (MT) € 14.55 +1.36%
Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) € 2.51 +1.33%
Veolia Environnement (VIE) € 11.43 +1.24%

CAC 40 - Fallers
L'Oreal (OR) € 77.71 -0.93%
Sanofi (SAN) € 49.75 -0.22%
Carrefour (CA) € 18.81 -0.21%
Renault (RNO) € 26.90 -0.20%
France Telecom (FTE) € 12.99 -0.15%
Danone (BN) € 45.56 -0.03%


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US Market Reports

Dow Jones NASDAQ NYSE AMEX

Please click on the images to view our interactive charts

US markets got off to a strong start to the week on the back of encouraging US consumer spending data and a sense of relief that Hurricane Irene turned out to be less destructive than feared.

US consumer spending rose faster than expected in July, with purchases rising 0.8%, the largest advance since February of this year, and a sharp turnaround from June’s 0.1% decline.

The Dow Jones industrial average climbed 255 to 11,539, the S&P 500 soared 33 to 1,210 and the NASDAQ Composite surged 82 to 2,562.

Bank of America led the Dow Jones higher after it agreed to sell half of its stake in China Construction bank for $8.3bn in cash.

Insurers were wanted after industry analysts cut back forecasts of the amount of damage inflicted by Hurricane Irene. Hartford Financial Services and Travelerswere among the best gainers in the insurance sector.

Seed company Monsanto was a rare bleak spot after it revealed that 100,000 of corn in Iowa and Nebraska may be infested by a strain of rootworm that is resistant to the company’s pest-killing technology.

S&P 500 - Risers
Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. (HIG) $19.42 +12.97%
Masco Corp. (MAS) $8.85 +9.94%
United States Steel Corp. (X) $30.04 +9.04%
Titanium Metals Corp. (TIE) $15.41 +8.90%
Lincoln National Corp. (LNC) $21.00 +8.86%
Janus Capital Group Inc. (JNS) $7.37 +8.86%

S&P 500 - Fallers
Monsanto Co. (MON) $69.78 -1.27%

Dow Jones I.A - Risers
Bank of America Corp. (BAC) $8.39 +8.12%
Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) $26.15 +5.36%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $50.75 +5.07%

Dow Jones I.A - Fallers
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $33.99 -0.03%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Sandisk Corp. (SNDK) $37.39 +7.44%
Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD) $59.62 +7.10%
Joy Global Inc. (JOYG) $80.84 +6.42%
Intuitive Surgical Inc. (ISRG) $375.87 +5.31%
Research in Motion Ltd. (RIMM) $30.72 +5.28%
Infosys Technologies Ltd. (INFY) $50.88 +5.11%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) $44.33 -2.05%


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Newspaper round-up: Service sector, bank ringfence, Eurozone
Business activity in Britain's dominant services sector has fallen at the fastest rate since the economy was barely crawling out of recession, a CBI survey shows. The quarterly survey of the employers' lobby, which is published today,reveals an accelerating decline in the consumer services industry, as well as a surprise drop in business and professional services, the Independent reports.

The government would be “barking mad” to press ahead with proposals toringfence British banks’ retail arms from other banking operations given the darkening economic clouds over the economy, John Cridland, director-general of the Confederation of British Industry, has warned. Mr Cridland, speaking ahead of the publication of the final report by the Independent Commission on Banking next month, argued that “unilateral” changes to banking regulation could threaten Britain’s fragile recovery, the Financial Times reports.

Eurozone governments were attacked yesterday for failing to find a solution to the area’s debt crisis. Poland’s Finance Minister warned that the failure could have “traumatic consequences” for countries both inside and outside the single currency, the Times reports.

A fresh round of capitalisation for European banks was firmly ruled out by EU officials and bankers when they appeared before an emergency meeting of the European Parliament's economic committee. The officials poured cold water on calls from Christine Lagarde, head of the International Monetary Fund for "mandatory" recapitalisation to avoid another financial crisis but acknowledged that the EU economy was continuing to weaken, the Telegraph reports.

ITV could join forces with Silvio Berlusconi's Mediaset to buy Endemol, the debt-ridden production giant behind Big Brother, and Secret Diary of A Call Girl. The deal is understood to be one of a number of options being discussed by Mediaset, the media group which owns around a third of Endemol, restructure its €2bn (£1.77bn) of debt , according to the Telegraph.

Recession-hit Britons are latching on to online discount vouchers despite mounting evidence that consumers are being misled. In less than six months, the advertising watchdog has banned 60 voucher adverts by the burgeoning industry of websites offering alluring discounts on goods and services stretching from meals out and hotel stays to fish-based pedicure treatments, says the Times.

Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone has said that a lawsuit, filed against him over the sale of the sport to private equity firm CVC, is an empty threat designed to put pressure on him. Constantin Medien, a former part-owner of F1, filed the lawsuit last month just days after Mr Ecclestone was accused by German prosecutors of paying a $44m (£27m) bribe to allegedly get the sport under-valued when it was sold to CVC in 2006, the Independent says.

Royal Bank of Scotland has been forced into an embarrassing climbdown following heavy criticism of its dealings with one of eastern Europe’s most repressive regimes. The taxpayer-controlled lender yesterday cut its commercial ties with Belarus after helping the former Soviet republic raise more than £500m from international investors in January, the Daily Mail reports.

Cash shell Radiant Growth Investments plans to tap into soaring Chinese demand for natural resources when it joins Aim on September 20. It will raise £6.3m, giving it a market value of £10.3m. Its broker is Daniel Stewart, the Daily Express reports.