ADVFN Morning Euro Markets Bulletin - August 31st 2011

By ADVFN.com
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London Market Reports

Bwin, 888 lead the rise

Market Movers
techMARK 1,771.22 +0.62%
FTSE 100 5,285.57 +0.32%
FTSE 250 10,304.58 +0.60%

The Footsie edged higher in early trading on the back of a rally in New York last night after minutes from the last meeting of the Federal Reserve showed policymakers considered stimulus measures to kickstart the world’s biggest economy.

In London, online gaming firm bwin.party surged higher on the FTSE 250 despite saying that a fall in revenue combined with the launch into newly regulated markets drove down EBITDA by 21% in the first half to €81.9m. Nevertheless, that still beat the €75.7m that some analysts were expecting.

Sector peer 888 Holdings also reported first half earnings ahead of some forecasts, on the back of a strong performance from its poker business.

Among the FTSE 100 blue chips, Smith & Nephew was the high riser, followed by engineers Weir, IMI, GKN and Rolls-Royce.

The real estate investment trust (REIT) sector was heavily in the red. British Land, Hammerson, Land Securities and Capital Shopping Centres were among those to fall lower.

Supermarket giant Tesco rose after announcing that it its to sell its Japanese interests having concluded that it "cannot build a sufficiently scalable business" there.

Eastern Europe-focused oil group JKX Oil & Gas fell lower after it posted a decline in half year profit as it completes its Russian redevelopment project.

Books and stationary retailer WH Smith was firmer after it announced plans to buy-back another round of shares in 2012, following the £55m repurchased this year.

Circle Oil, the oil and gas company with assets in Morocco, Tunisia, Oman and Egypt, was in demand after saying it has successfully drilled a water injection well to support production in its Geyad Field in the Gulf of Suez Basin.

Australia-focused miner Norseman Gold fell into the red after it swung to a pre-tax loss of A$27.2m in the year ended 30 June, compared with a profit of A$1.1m the year before, as full-year gold production came in below expectations.

Self storage company Safestore jumped after revealing a 5.4% increase in third quarter revenue.


FTSE 100 - Risers
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 622.00p +4.27%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,898.00p +2.26%
Wolseley (WOS) 1,559.00p +2.16%
GKN (GKN) 200.10p +1.94%
Xstrata (XTA) 1,045.00p +1.90%
Man Group (EMG) 221.50p +1.89%
IMI (IMI) 864.50p +1.83%
Rolls-Royce Group (RR.) 628.00p +1.78%
Aggreko (AGK) 1,897.00p +1.72%
Smiths Group (SMIN) 961.00p +1.59%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
Schroders (Non-Voting) (SDRC) 1,147.00p -4.10%
Schroders (SDR) 1,425.00p -3.78%
British Land Co (BLND) 532.00p -2.21%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 714.00p -1.92%
Hammerson (HMSO) 400.30p -1.48%
Barclays (BARC) 164.35p -0.63%
Capital Shopping Centres Group (CSCG) 330.50p -0.60%
Prudential (PRU) 595.00p -0.50%
Centrica (CNA) 296.00p -0.47%
Resolution Ltd. (RSL) 255.50p -0.47%


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UK Event Calendar
INTERIMS
888 Holdings, Aer Lingus Group, Aminex, Asterand, Bwin.party Digital Entertainment, Cape, Chesnara, Goldenport Holdings Inc., Grafton Group Units, Hiwave Technologies, Integra Group GDR (Reg S), IP Group, JKX Oil & Gas, Mail.ru Group (Reg S), OJSC Pharmstandard GDR (Reg S), Omega Insurance Holdings Ltd. (DI), Phaunos Timber Fund Ltd., Picton Property Income Ltd, Pilat Media Global, Shaft Sinkers Holdings, Valiant Petroleum, Vislink

INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
Ingenious Entertainment VCT 2 'D' Shares, Throgmorton Trust

INTERIM EX-DIVIDEND DATE
African Barrick Gold , Anglogold Ashanti Ltd., Arbuthnot Banking Group, Capita Group, Croda International, Delcam, Devro, FBD Holdings, Glanbia, Henderson Group, Hochschild Mining, John Wood Group, Jupiter European Opportunities Trust, Jupiter Fund Management , Kingspan Group, Low & Bonar, LPA Group, New World Resources A Shares, Ocean Wilsons Holdings Ltd., REA Holdings, Robinson, Serco Group, TUI Travel

QUARTERLY PAYMENT DATE
City of London Inv Trust, Premier Energy & Water Trust

INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
Chicago PMI (US) (13:45)
Crude Oil Inventories (US) (15:30)
Factory Orders (US) (15:00)
GFK Consumer Confidence (GER) (07:00)
International Reserves (EU) (11:00)
MBA Mortgage Applications (US) (12:00)
Unemployment Rate (EU) (10:00)
Unemployment Rate (GER) (08:55)

GMS
PSG Solutions

ANNUAL REPORT
Dawson International

EGMS
SK Telecom Co Ltd. ADS, World Trust Fund

AGMS
Angel Mining , Coms

TRADING ANNOUNCEMENTS
Safestore Holdings

UK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
GFK Consumer Confidence (09:30)

FINAL EX-DIVIDEND DATE
BlueStar SecuTech Inc. (DI), Downing Distribution VCT 1, Downing Structured Opportunities VCT 1, Downing Structured Opportunities VCT 1 'B' Shares, Fletcher King, Immunodiagnostic Systems Holdings, John Swan & Sons, Micro Focus International Plc, NCC Group, REA Holdings, Stagecoach Group, VP


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European Market Report
Fed minutes boost sentiment

European markets are modestly firmer in early trading, enjoying tailwinds emanating from the US, where markets rallied yesterday after the release of the minutes from the last meeting of the Federal Reserve's rate-setting committee.

Though the Fed's chairman, Ben Bernanke, indicated at last week's central bankers symposium at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, that the US economy is not in so parlous a state that further stimulus is needed just now, some of his colleagues on the Federal Open Market Committee were of a different opinion, with some feeling that a "more substantial move" was in order.

The Paris CAC index is 27 points firmer at 3,186 and the Frankfurt DAX is 54 points heavier at 5,698. Outside of the Eurozone, the Swiss market index is 17 points to the good at 5,466.

German retail sales showed no change in July after rising 4.5% in June. Economists had been expecting sales to decline by around 1.5% from June's level.

In company news, diversified industrial group Bouygues is leading Paris higher after it announced a €1.25bn share buy-back, which overshadowed a 27% dip in net income to €391m in the first half of 2011. Consolidated sales rose by 4% from a year earlier to €15.2bn.

At the other end of the scale, French supermarket operator Carrefour was on offer, after it lowered full-year earnings guidance. The company is now forecasting net income will be around 15% lower this year than in 2010.

Shareholders in cosmetics maker L'Oreal have their sad face on today after yesterday's results came in short of expectations. Operating profit rose just 2% in the first half of 2011 to €1.7bn, short of the €1.78bn the market had been expecting.

Media group Vivendi's underlying second-quarter post-tax profit of €884m was comfortably ahead of the €780m the market had been expecting.

CAC 40 - Risers
Bouygues (EN) € 25.16 +8.99%
Vivendi (VIV) € 16.84 +4.14%
Unibail-Rodamco (UL) € 148.30 +1.23%
Peugeot (UG) € 20.31 +1.22%
Accor (AC) € 24.40 +1.10%
Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) € 2.54 +0.99%
Vallourec (VK) € 60.50 +0.93%
Michelin (ML) € 49.37 +0.90%
Saint Gobain (SGO) € 33.90 +0.88%
ArcelorMittal SA (MT) € 14.73 +0.82%

CAC 40 - Fallers
Carrefour (CA) € 17.91 -3.94%
L'Oreal (OR) € 75.54 -1.91%
Credit Agricole (ACA) € 6.52 -0.69%
GDF Suez (GSZ) € 21.24 -0.40%
Societe Generale (GLE) € 21.99 -0.29%
EDF (EDF) € 20.94 -0.21%
Suez Environnement Company (SEV) € 11.60 -0.13%


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US Market Reports

Dow Jones NASDAQ NYSE AMEX

Please click on the images to view our interactive charts

Stocks rally after Fed minutes

Stocks moved into the blue by the close of trade after minutes from the last meeting of the Federal Reserve showed policymakers considered stimulus measures to kickstart the world’s biggest economy.

According to the Fed, some members of the Federal Open Market Committee felt a “more substantial move” was warranted.

The Dow Jones finished up 20 at 11,560, the S&P 500 closed 2 higher at 1,212 and the NASDAQ added 14 points to close at 2,576.

Stocks had fallen ahead of the minutes’ release, after earlier more pessimistic data. The Conference Board Institute’s consumer confidence index for August plummeted to 44.5 points, from 59.2 the month before . The S&P Case Shiller price index for 20 cities fell back at a rate of 4.5% on year in the month of June.

In stocks news, bookseller Barnes and Noble jumped after reporting a smaller loss than feared.

Also in retail Dollar General, which sells items for a dollar, was in demand after predicting a 14% rise in sales in 2012.


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Newspaper Roundup
ExxonMobil/Rosneft, Cable, BofA...

ExxonMobil has formed an Arctic exploration partnership with Rosneft, the Russian state oil firm, in a strategic coup over rival BP. In return, Exxon, the world’s largest oil firm by market capitalisation, will give the state-controlled Russian group minority stakes in projects in the US Gulf of Mexico, in onshore fields in Texas and elsewhere, according to the Financial Times.

Vince Cable has attacked Britain’s banks for attempting to use the euro crisis as an excuse to delay reform, describing lobbying as “disingenuous in the extreme”. In an interview with The Times, the Business Secretary criticised the “special pleading” of bankers who claim that the summer of economic and financial turmoil is reason to shelve efforts to toughen bank regulation, says the Times.

The main US bank regulator has moved to block an $8.5bn (£5.2bn) settlement by Bank of America with investors who lost money in mortgage-backed securities. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), which insures US bank deposits and is one of the main bank regulators, filed an objection to the settlement with a New York court, saying it did not know enough about the deal to allow it to proceed, the Telegraph reports.

Firms that mis-sold hundreds of thousands of payment protection insurance (PPI) policies paid a total of £215m in compensation to consumers in the first half of 2011, according to the Financial Services Authority (FSA).

But at least one major provider may still miss today's deadline for settling complaints. Payouts by 16 major financial services companies totalled £102m in May and June alone, after a legal challenge by the British Bankers' Association against the decision that forced providers to compensate victims was dismissed, according to the Independent.

First-time buyers would be better off purchasing a house than renting, but only if they can afford the hefty deposit needed. The Halifax Buying vs Renting Review, which has tracked a typical two bedroom flat for a first-time buyer across the UK over the last three years, found that the cost of buying a home for a first-time buyer is more than £100 a month cheaper than renting, writes the Daily Mail.

Shares in Wall Street plunged on Tuesday afternoon after figures showed that US consumer confidence had fallen to a two-year low. The benchmark Dow Jones industrial average dropped 71 points after the figures showed that consumers were more pessimistic than at any time since April 2009 as they grappled with rising inflation and uncertainty over jobs. By lunchtime the Dow had recovered some losses and was down 25 points, the Guardian reports.

Punters betting on their mobile phones and the web helped bookmaker Paddy Power to score a big first-half profits win. It boosted online profit by a quarter to 45.3million euros (£39.8million) in the six months to June 30, almost as much as its total profits a year ago. Customers on Paddypower.com rose by nearly a half, according to the Daily Express.