ADVFN III Morning Euro Markets Bulletin - Friday, 27 July 2012

	ADVFN III	Morning Euro Markets Bulletin
	Daily world financial news

Friday, 27 July 2012

London Market Report

FTSE 100 Euronext Dax perf CAC 40 Please click on the images to view our interactive charts

Stocks edge higher, Barclays in demand Market Movers techMARK 2,060.55 +0.05% FTSE 100 5,575.23 +0.04% FTSE 250 11,090.74 +0.46% Peripheral bond yields ease Markets still digesting Draghi comments Barclays up after first-half beat The Footsie edged higher in early trading on Friday with Barclays providing a lift after its interim results. Markets were still reacting to yesterday's comments by Mario Draghi, who said that he will do 'whatever it takes' to save the euro. Bond yields in Spain and Italy continued to fall today after the President of the European Central Bank (ECB), Mario Draghi, said the bank would do “whatever it takes to preserve the euro...and believe me, it will be big enough”. This is the clearest indication yet the ECB may be prepared to buy the debt of under pressure Eurozone countries in order to drive down yields. The yield on a Spanish 10-year bond was 12 basis points (bp) lower at 6.808% this morning, while the Italian equivalent was down 4.4bp at 6.012%. However, Gerhard Schwarz, the head of equity strategy from Baadar Bank, issued a word of caution in an e-mailed note to clients this morning: "Investors should remember that there is no quick fix to the crisis. The ECB going alone will probably act not as decisive as sky-high expectations now suggest. Current fiscal policy tools are not near a level that would shield Italy and Spain on a lasting basis from market pressures. Expect the ECB meeting next week to underwhelm." FTSE 100: Repentent Barclays beats expectations A contrite Marcus Agius, Chairman of under-fire bank Barclays, apologised for the company's involvement in the LIBOR fixing scandal as he unveiled half-year profits ahead of market expectations, causing shares to jump high early on. Adjusted profit before tax in the first half of 2012 rose 13% to £4,227m from £3,725m in the first half of 2011, versus market expectations of £3,958m. Banking peer HSBC was also in demand after saying that it will offload its 44% stake in card-processing joint venture Global Payments Asia-Pacific for $242m in cash. Commodities giant Glencore rose as it came closer to completing the £3.9bn takeover of Canadian agricultural grain handler Viterra after being given the all-clear by Australian authorities. Heading the other way was mining colossus Anglo American after first-half profits plunged from $6,571m to just $2,942m on the back of weaker commodity prices and input cost pressures. Publishing group Pearson also fell after operating profits came in a little sky of expectations as it admitted that the first half has been a little tougher than expected for some parts of the business. FTSE 100 - Risers Barclays (BARC) 160.45p +4.46% Carnival (CCL) 2,136.00p +2.54% Evraz (EVR) 223.50p +1.27% Weir Group (WEIR) 1,620.00p +1.25% Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 327.30p +1.17% InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 1,567.00p +1.10% Glencore International (GLEN) 311.55p +1.04% Kingfisher (KGF) 264.20p +0.99% Sage Group (SGE) 290.90p +0.97% Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 379.40p +0.90% FTSE 100 - Fallers Pearson (PSON) 1,242.00p -4.02% Anglo American (AAL) 1,918.00p -2.34% CRH (CRH) 1,144.00p -2.14% Polymetal International (POLY) 865.00p -0.97% Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 566.50p -0.87% Unilever (ULVR) 2,241.00p -0.66% Severn Trent (SVT) 1,702.00p -0.64% United Utilities Group (UU.) 697.50p -0.57% SSE (SSE) 1,303.00p -0.53% Wolseley (WOS) 2,319.00p -0.47% FTSE 250 - Risers UBM (UBM) 624.50p +2.88% William Hill (WMH) 298.20p +2.69% Talvivaara Mining Company (TALV) 135.50p +2.65% Dixons Retail (DXNS) 15.39p +2.46% Ruspetro (RPO) 140.50p +2.26% 3i Group (III) 204.70p +2.04% Ocado Group (OCDO) 76.50p +2.00% NMC Health (NMC) 199.90p +1.99% Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 2,890.00p +1.98% FirstGroup (FGP) 218.10p +1.87% FTSE 250 - Fallers New World Resources A Shares (NWR) 301.60p -3.24% Barr (A.G.) (BAG) 417.90p -2.97% Invensys (ISYS) 241.40p -1.87% KCOM Group (KCOM) 75.55p -1.56% Dechra Pharmaceuticals (DPH) 491.20p -1.46% Petropavlovsk (POG) 415.80p -1.40% Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 728.50p -1.15% Cape (CIU) 279.30p -1.06% Cranswick (CWK) 829.50p -1.01% TalkTalk Telecom Group (TALK) 174.80p -0.91% Europe Market Report FTSE 100 Euronext Dax perf CAC 40 Euro rises on Draghi's comments The euro leapt on Thursday following comments by the head of the European Central Bank (ECB), Mario Draghi, who said that he was 'prepared to do whatever it takes to preserve the euro'. The single currency at one point rose to $1.2329, although settled around $1.2284, against $1.2152 the previous evening. Draghi said: “Within our mandate, the ECB is ready to do whatever it takes to preserve the euro. Believe me it will be enough.” The currency also rose 1.3% against the Japanese yen to ¥96.04, while the British pound traded at 1.2769 euro, from 1.2750 the previous day. The ICE dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six other major currencies, declined from 83.573 on Wednesday to 82.834 yesterday. The pound bought $1.5685, compared to $1.5501 on Wednesday, while the Australian dollar also climbed higher to fetch $1.0396, against $1.0313 the day UK Event Calendar INTERIMS Anglo American, Barclays, Jardine Matheson Holdings Ltd (Singapore), Pearson, Travis Perkins INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE Character Group, Dunedin Smaller Companies Inv Trust, Gooch & Housego, Jupiter Green Inv Trust, Octopus Titan VCT 1, Octopus Titan VCT 2, Octopus Titan VCT 3, Paragon Group Of Companies, Zytronic QUARTERLY PAYMENT DATE Real Estate Credit Investments PCC Ltd INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS Balance of Payments (GER) (07:00) GDP (Advance) (US) (13:30) U. of Michigan Confidence (Final) (US) (15:00) Q2 Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (ATT) GDR (Reg S) IMSS United Utilities Group SPECIAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE Severn Trent EGMS Vietnam Infrastructure Ltd. AGMS Bellzone Mining, Camco International LTd., Clontarf Energy , Coms, Ormonde Mining, PayPoint, PayPoint, Plastics Capital, Richland Resources Ltd, TalkTalk Telecom Group , United Utilities Group FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE Aberdeen All Asia Inv Trust, Acal, Anpario, Aveva Group, Brown (N.) Group, Downing Planned Exit VCT 2 'C' Shares, Downing Planned Exit VCT 2 'D' Shares , Downing Planned Exit VCT 3 'C' Shares, Downing Planned Exit VCT 3 'D' Shares , KCOM Group, Lombard Risk Management, Montanaro European Smaller Companies Trust, Phaunos Timber Fund Ltd., Printing.com, Severn Trent, UK Mail Group , Vertu Motors, Walker Crips Group US Market Report Draghi's comments push stocks higher Dow Jones +212 at 12,888 Nasdaq +39 at 2,893 S&P 500 +22 at 1,360 US stocks closed firmly higher on Thursday following comments by the head of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi, who said that he was 'prepared to do whatever it takes to preserve the euro'. The implication is that the ECB could step directly into the markets to support the bonds of under pressure nations like Italy and Spain. Meanwhile back in the US, jobless claims and durable goods orders data provided a further boost to equities. Initial weekly unemployment claims fell by 35,000 to 353,000 (consensus: 380,000) in the week to the 21st of July, according to the latest data from the Department of Labour. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) pending home sales index fell by -1.4% month-on-month in June, well below the consensus estimate for a gain of 0.3%, and after the previous month´s drop of 5.4% (revised down from 5.9%). Companies Moody's Corp., the credit ratings agency, rose after its profits and sales during the second quarter came in ahead of market expectations. New York Times was another strong riser, up after the newspaper publisher posted better-than-expected second quarter income. Pioneer Drilling climbed higher following an upgrade by Goldman Sacks, which raised its rating from neutral to buy. Heading in the opposite direction was online video-streamer Netflix, following the firm's warning on Wednesday that it may not reach its domestic subscriber growth targets for the year. Amazon shares fell in after hours trading after the online retailer predicted a loss from operations during its third fiscal quarter. Social networking site Facebook posted a second-quarter loss in what was its first quarter since listing as a public company. The internet giant said its revenues were offset by huge costs, mostly resulting from share-based compensation expenses. Other markets The September West Texas Intermediate crude futures contract rose by 0.47% to $89.39 a barrel in NYMEX trading. 10-year US treasuries fell by 11/32 dollars, with yields at 1.43%. S&P 500 - Risers Metropcs Communications Inc. (PCS) $8.59 +36.78% Akamai Technologies Inc. (AKAM) $35.04 +24.04% Sprint Nxtel Corp. (S) $4.05 +20.18% PulteGroup Inc. (PHM) $11.86 +18.36% LSI Logic Corp. (LSI) $7.04 +16.36% Supervalu Inc. (SVU) $1.94 +12.14% Whole Foods Market Inc. (WFM) $94.10 +11.32% Cameron International Corp. (CAM) $49.91 +11.31% Moody's Corp. (MCO) $40.09 +11.21% Teradyne Inc. (TER) $14.85 +10.41% S&P 500 - Fallers Vulcan Materials Co. (VMC) $37.83 -10.31% Interpublic Group of Companies Inc. (IPG) $9.90 -9.92% Boston Scientific Corp. (BSX) $4.97 -6.75% Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. (CLF) $38.57 -6.27% Varian Medical Systems Inc. (VAR) $53.73 -6.25% Owens-Illinois Inc. (OI) $17.58 -5.59% Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $57.01 -5.42% International Game Technology (IGT) $11.14 -5.27% Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) $10.94 -4.91% C.R. Bard Inc. (BCR) $98.46 -4.69% Dow Jones I.A - Risers Home Depot Inc. (HD) $52.91 +3.60% American Express Co. (AXP) $57.76 +3.05% Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $49.71 +2.92% General Electric Co. (GE) $20.56 +2.80% AT&T Inc. (T) $36.30 +2.75% Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $78.85 +2.38% Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $73.67 +2.21% Alcoa Inc. (AA) $8.19 +2.12% Chevron Corp. (CVX) $108.27 +2.08% 3M Co. (MMM) $90.59 +2.07% Dow Jones I.A - Fallers Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $15.38 -0.26% Nasdaq 100 - Risers Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $30.06 +14.25% Whole Foods Market Inc. (WFM) $94.10 +11.32% FLIR Systems Inc. (FLIR) $20.77 +7.81% Mylan Inc. (MYL) $22.75 +4.89% Autodesk Inc. (ADSK) $33.49 +4.85% Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (MRVL) $11.40 +4.68% Foster Wheeler AG (FWLT) $17.32 +4.59% Sandisk Corp. (SNDK) $41.51 +4.47% Starbucks Corp. (SBUX) $52.40 +3.96% Qiagen N.V. (QGEN) $17.70 +3.87% Nasdaq 100 - Fallers Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) $10.94 -4.91% O'Reilly Automotive Inc. (ORLY) $86.93 -3.52% Logitech International S.A. (LOGI) $8.76 -2.23% Hologic Inc. (HOLX) $17.98 -2.04% Apollo Group Inc. (APOL) $27.51 -1.86% Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $41.10 -1.44% Nll Holdings Inc. (NIHD) $6.91 -1.29% First Solar Inc. (FSLR) $14.00 -1.27% Citrix Systems Inc. (CTXS) $74.22 -1.18% Warner Chilcott Plc (WCRX) $17.06 -0.70% Friday newspaper round-up: Greece, Facebook, Oil companies Greek leaders struggled to agree on required budget cuts yesterday as Citigroup raised the probability of the country’s exit from the euro to 90 per cent. The leaders of the three parties in the new coalition Government met for three hours in a session at which they were meant to sign off on a plan for €11.7bn (£8.5bn) in budget cuts demanded by Europe and the International Monetary Fund. The meeting ended shortly before talks began between Antonis Samaras, the Prime Minister, and José Manuel Barroso, the European Commission President. However, the party leaders were unable to reach a consensus, The Times reports. Facebook shares dropped 10% in after-hours trading following its latest results. The Californian company had been under intense pressure to deliver strong figures given the almost 30% drop in its share price since the $104bn (£66bn) flotation in May. Although revenues climbed 32% to $1.18bn in the second quarter, beating analysts' estimates, it failed to convince investors who had seen saw revenues climb 45% in the first quarter. At the same time its spending on sales and marketing more than tripled to $392m in the period. As had been forecast, the cost of share-based pay plan for employees saw Facebook report an overall loss of $157m for the quarter. But as founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg made an appearance on the company's conference call with Wall Street analysts on Thursday night, the focus was squarely on how quickly the social network site will be able to drive revenues, The Telegraph reports. It was obvious for the past few weeks that the April-June period would be tough for oil companies. So thank you, Shell, BG Group, Statoil, ExxonMobil and a handful of others for confirming as much on Thursday in your differing but inimitable ways. There is a pattern to the oil sector’s second-quarter numbers: production and operating cash flow mostly up, underlying profit mostly down. The latter was partly due to things such as maintenance costs (at Shell in particular) and partly to the volatile oil price. That will not change for the next few quarters. Oil stocks look cheap relative to the wider market, trading on a price to earnings multiple in many cases of under 10 times. That is well below the historic average. For now, however, given pricing pressures, it looks about right, The Financial Times´s Lex column writes. NatWest has become the second financial institution to report technical problems with its systems today after up to 2m Nationwide transactions were duplicated. NatWest said on its Twitter feed: "Some customers may have issues with their online banking and using their debit cards at the moment. Working as hard as we can to resolve. We'll post updates as soon as we have more information." Cash machine withdrawals using debit cards are also affected, the bank added. Earlier in the summer the bank suffered a major systems collapse when millions of customers were unable to check their balances, withdraw cash or make payments. NatWest promised that no customers would be left out of pocket as a result of the technology problems, The Telegraph says. George Osborne was yesterday urged to stick to his faltering economic strategy as the longest double-dip recession in modern history threatened to blow a gaping hole in his budget. Angel Gurria, the head of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development(OECD), told the Chancellor to ‘stay the course’ despite the 0.7% slump in gross domestic product in the second quarter of the year. It came as analysts warned that the government will borrow £162bn more than planned over the next five years as the economic malaise takes its toll on the creaking public finances. Fears are also mounting that Britain will be stripped of the coveted AAA credit rating it has held since 1978 and on which Osborne has staked his political reputation, The Daily Mail reports. Lloyds Banking revealed on Thursday that it had received subpoenas from government agencies investigating the Libor rate-rigging scandal. The bank, which is among a number being investigated, said: “Certain members of the group have received subpoenas and requests for information from certain government agencies and are co-operating with their investigations”. Chief executive Antonio Horta-Osorio said he was prevented from giving further details while the investigations continued but he felt there would be greater clarity on the issue over the next six months. His comments came as the bank took an extra £700m hit to deal with compensation claims for mis-selling payment protection insurance, The Scotsman says.