ADVFN III Morning Euro Markets Bulletin -November 28th, 2012-.

ADVFN III Morning Euro Markets Bulletin

Daily world financial news

Wednesday, 28 November 2012

London Market Report

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

Stocks fall as focus turns to 'fiscal cliff' Market Movers techMARK 2,074.55 -0.06% FTSE 100 5,786.84 -0.22% FTSE 250 11,842.16 -0.21% UK stocks slipped in early trading on Wednesday, tracking US markets lower, as focus turned to the impending US 'fiscal cliff'. "European equities are trading lower this morning being pressured by a late sell-off in the US yesterday evening on fears that so far there has been too little progress between Democrats and Republican in order to be able to avoid the fiscal cliff," said Markus Huber, the head of German HNW trading at ETX Capital. The main US equity benchmarks ended yesterday lower after remarks from the US Senate majority leader, Nevada Democrat Harry Reid, to the effect that "little progress" has been made so far on avoiding the fiscal cliff by year-end. Reid added that an increase in the US debt ceiling is necessary. In his own words, the Republicans "talked some happy talk about doing revenues, but we only have a couple weeks to get something done. So we have to get away from the happy talk and start talking about specific things". Stock markets across Europe yesterday were given an initial boost by Monday's news that Eurozone finance ministers had agreed to release the next tranche of the bailout to Greece. However, bourses pared gains as markets digested the deal with analysts saying that the agreement just kicks the can down the road for the heavily indebted nation. FTSE 100: United Utilities impresses with first-half results Water and sewage services group United Utilities gained after reporting that revenue in the first half rose from £793m to £823m as regulated prices increases offset reduced commercial volumes and lower property sales associated with the water business. Chip designer ARM Holdings moved higher after the Daily Mail reported about a possible 1,200p bid from US tech giant Intel. Medical technology group Smith & Nephew fell early on after announcing that it is to buy the assets of US-based Healthpoint Biotherapeutics for $782m in an attempt to bolster its position in advanced wound care. Security firm G4S was in demand after Jefferies upgraded its rating on the shares from 'hold' to 'buy', saying that the stock's valuation is now sitting close to the bottom of its 10-year average. Contract caterer Compass was also given a lift by Jefferies, which raised its recommendation from 'underperform' to 'hold', saying that the company's announced buy-back, dividend increase and reiterated guidance "exudes confidence". In contrast, insurance firm Resolution fell after UBS cut its rating from 'buy' to 'neutral', citing disappointing nine-month trading, EV write-downs, UK restricting charges and the recent share price performance. Telecoms group Vodafone was suffering from a downgrade by Berenberg to 'hold'. AMEC, Johnson Matthey, National Grid and Tate & Lyle were also registering losses this morning after going ex-dividend. FTSE 250: Tavlivaara and Kenmare disappoint with production targets Nickel miner Talvivaara disappointed after re-assessing its production targets following the gypsum pond leakage which stopped operations earlier this month. The company now expects full-year output to reach 13,000t of nickel, well below the previous 17,000t estimate. Kenmare Resources, the titanium feedstock miner, was also down after warning that as a result of production issues, it expects its full-year production to be lower than previous guidance of 630,000 tonnes of ilmenite and 50,000 tonnes of zircon. Insurance group Lancashire Holdings was a heavy faller after going ex-dividend. Investment trust RIT Capital Partners was lower after saying net asset value fell in the half year to September 30th as some of its defensive hedges under performed in a rising market. Support services and construction firm Interserve is to transfer its remaining interest in a portfolio of 19 PFI assets to the trustee of its pension scheme at a valuation of £55m to address the current pension scheme funding shortfall. AIM/Small Cap Report FTSE 100 - Risers ARM Holdings (ARM) 778.00p +2.64% United Utilities Group (UU.) 678.50p +1.42% Capita (CPI) 760.50p +1.27% Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,249.00p +0.73% Compass Group (CPG) 727.00p +0.62% Associated British Foods (ABF) 1,475.00p +0.61% Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 330.00p +0.43% Whitbread (WTB) 2,370.00p +0.38% G4S (GFS) 246.10p +0.37% Pearson (PSON) 1,172.00p +0.34% FTSE 100 - Fallers Bunzl (BNZL) 1,036.00p -3.54% National Grid (NG.) 696.00p -2.32% Resolution Ltd. (RSL) 232.00p -2.07% Smith & Nephew (SN.) 647.50p -1.75% Evraz (EVR) 235.80p -1.54% Tate & Lyle (TATE) 767.00p -1.54% International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 168.10p -1.23% Amec (AMEC) 1,017.00p -1.07% Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 45.94p -1.02% Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 2,249.00p -0.88% FTSE 250 - Risers JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 718.50p +2.28% Redrow (RDW) 161.10p +2.22% Ultra Electronics Holdings (ULE) 1,564.00p +2.22% Ruspetro (RPO) 86.50p +1.94% New World Resources A Shares (NWR) 256.70p +1.74% BBA Aviation (BBA) 206.40p +1.67% Electra Private Equity (ELTA) 1,845.00p +1.54% Debenhams (DEB) 115.20p +1.50% Bovis Homes Group (BVS) 522.50p +1.26% Interserve (IRV) 352.90p +1.09% FTSE 250 - Fallers Lancashire Holdings (LRE) 780.00p -8.61% Talvivaara Mining Company (TALV) 91.55p -7.90% Centamin (DI) (CEY) 56.80p -4.86% Kenmare Resources (KMR) 32.17p -3.86% Lonmin (LMI) 266.20p -3.20% Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 290.60p -2.35% Bank of Georgia Holdings (BGEO) 1,070.00p -1.74% RIT Capital Partners (RCP) 1,128.00p -1.74% Yule Catto & Co (YULC) 169.60p -1.40% Telecom Plus (TEP) 883.00p -1.34% UK Event Calendar FTSE 100 Euronext Dax perf CAC 40 INTERIMS Advanced Computer Software Group, Assura Group Ltd., Creston, Daisy Group, Telford Homes, United Utilities Group, VP INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE Konami Corp., Restore INTERIM EX-DIVIDEND DATE Amec, Anglo Pacific Group, Castings, Clean Energy Brazil, E2V Technologies, Hansa Trust, Hansa Trust 'A' Non Voting Shares, Helical Bar, Intermediate Capital Group, JD Sports Fashion, Johnson Matthey, Mckay Securities, MS International, National Grid, Sepura, Tate & Lyle, Telecom Plus, Young & Co's Brewery 'A' Shares, Young & Co's Brewery (Non-Voting) QUARTERLY EX-DIVIDEND DATE Anglogold Ashanti Ltd., Canaccord Financial Inc., Energy XXI (Bermuda) (Di), Molex Inc., Molex Inc. 'A' Shares, Premier Energy & Water Trust INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS Balance of Payments (GER) (07:00) Beige Book Fed Survey (US) (19:00) Crude Oil Inventories (US) (15:30) M3 Money Supply (EU) (09:00) MBA Mortgage Applications (US) (12:00) New Homes Sales (US) (15:00) Q3 OJSC Cherkizovo Group GDR (Reg S) FINALS GW Pharmaceuticals, Hangar 8 SPECIAL EX-DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE Lancashire Holdings EGMS East Balkan Properties AGMS Jupiter Primadona Growth Trust, Kea Petroleum, Neos Resources, Plexus Holdings, Seeing Machines Ltd., Wildhorse Energy Ltd. (DI) FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE AIREA, Allocate Software, Impax Asian Environmental Markets, JPMorgan Global Markets Emerging Income Trust, Kier Group FINAL EX-DIVIDEND DATE A&J Mucklow Group, Daily Mail and General Trust 'Ord' Shares, Daily Mail and General Trust A (Non.V), Diploma, Dunelm Group, Games Workshop Group, GCP Infrastructure Investments Ltd, JPMorgan Japanese Inv Trust, Northern Venture Trust, Smart (J) & Co., St Ives, Standard Life Equity Income Trust, Utilitywise US Market Report Stocks hit by haggling over fiscal cliff Dow Jones Industrials: -0.69% Nasdaq Composite: -0.30% S&P 500: -0.52% The main US equity benchmarks ended the day lower after remarks from the US Senate majority leader (Nevada Democrat Harry Reid) to the effect that "little progress" has been made so far on avoiding the fiscal cliff by year-end. Reid added that an increase in the US debt ceiling is necessary. In his own words, "[the Republicans] talked some happy talk about doing revenues, but we only have a couple weeks to get something done. So we have to get away from the happy talk and start talking about specific things." The above losses came about despite the release of better than expected durable goods orders data out this morning and last night's Eurogroup announcement on Greece. Corning moved sharply higher after raising its outlook for the LCD glass supply chain.  Discount retailer Dollar General will replace health care product maker Cooper Industries in the S&P 500.  Packaged food manufacturer ConAgra announced it is to acquire Ralcorp for $5bn.  Industrial conglomerate United Technologies reaffirmed its earnings per share forecast for the year. Goldman Sachs is moving lower despite positive comments on it out from analysts at Citi.  Shares of McMoRan Exploration plummeted by another 15% following on from yesterday's crash. From a sector stand-point the best performance on the NYSE was to be seen in the following industrial groups: Alternative Energies (3.52%), Gambling (2.92%) and Internet (1.11%). Steel stocks led on the downside (-1,52%). China isn't a currency manipulator , though the Yuan "remains significantly undervalued" and needs to rise further, the Treasury Department told Congress in its semi-annual report. For his part, in a speech in Berlin the President of the US Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas – Robert Fisher, a well-known 'hawk' – argued in favor of setting limits on quantitative easing. Barrage of generally better than expected economic data Total durable goods orders remained flat in October (Consensus: -0.6% month-on-month), but bookings for non-defence capital goods, excluding aircraft, a widely followed leading indicator for the economy, rose by 1.7% on the month, the most since May. The Conference Board institute's gauge of consumer confidence rose to 73.7 in November, after a reading of 73.1 in the previous month (Consensus: 73). The Federal Housing Finance Agency's (FHFA) house price index for the month of September registered an increase of 0.2% month-on-month and of 4.4% versus a year ago. Weekly retails sales grew at a 3.3% pace in the week ending last August, according to the latest ICSC survey data, and by 4% versus a year ago, the best reading since last May on the back of Thanksgiving Day shopping. The Federal Reserve bank of Richmond's manufacturing gauge for the month of November rose to 9 points, from -7 a year ago (Consensus: -10). The S&P Case-Shiller index of home prices for the twenty largest cities in the country increased by 0.39% month-on-month in September (Consensus: 0.40%). Slight gains in crude futures Front month West Texas crude futures were up by 0.03% to the $87.21/barrel mark on the NYMEX. 10 year US Treasury yields were flat at 1.64%. S&P 500 - Risers Monster Beverage Corp (MNST) $51.97 +13.28% Corning Inc. (GLW) $12.13 +6.87% ConAgra Foods Inc. (CAG) $29.63 +4.74% First Solar Inc. (FSLR) $26.28 +3.83% Best Buy Co. Inc. (BBY) $12.89 +3.29% International Game Technology (IGT) $13.36 +2.93% AvalonBay Communities Inc. (AVB) $132.35 +2.64% MeadWestvaco Corp. (MWV) $30.11 +2.48% NRG Energy Inc. (NRG) $20.67 +2.28% Brown Forman Corp. Class B (BF.B) $69.29 +1.93% S&P 500 - Fallers Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $25.95 -5.10% Rowan Companies plc (RDC) $30.97 -3.64% Zions Bancorporation (ZION) $19.96 -3.62% Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (CMG) $261.59 -3.35% Akamai Technologies Inc. (AKAM) $34.57 -3.25% Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $34.69 -3.13% Citrix Systems Inc. (CTXS) $60.28 -3.04% Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) $12.36 -2.98% Keycorp (KEY) $8.23 -2.89% Airgas Inc. (ARG) $87.99 -2.74% Dow Jones I.A - Risers Boeing Co. (BA) $74.49 +0.30% 3M Co. (MMM) $90.31 +0.24% Intel Corp. (INTC) $19.93 +0.23% E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DD) $43.44 +0.22% United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $78.83 +0.19% Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $37.42 +0.16% Dow Jones I.A - Fallers Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) $12.36 -2.98% American Express Co. (AXP) $54.44 -2.24% Bank of America Corp. (BAC) $9.66 -1.78% Chevron Corp. (CVX) $103.38 -1.53% Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $87.35 -1.43% Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $27.08 -1.11% AT&T Inc. (T) $33.62 -1.03% Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $24.25 -0.96% Mondelez International Inc. (MDLZ) $25.27 -0.94% General Electric Co. (GE) $20.87 -0.90% Wednesday newspaper round-up  RBS branch sale, H-P, EON... Snapping up branches from Royal Bank of Scotland would help Nationwide to speed up its ambition of becoming a substantial force in small business lending, its chief executive said. Graham Beale expressed enthusiasm for buying the business, while emphasising that he would have to be satisfied that the difficulties that derailed its planned sale to Santander could be overcome. [The TImes] The acrimonious fallout from Hewlett-Packard's disastrous takeover of Autonomy has continued with a war of words erupting between the British tech firm's founder and the US company. After Mike Lynch fired off an angry letter to HP's board demanding "immediate explanations" for its "highly damaging allegations" that his company inflated its revenue-and-profit figures before HP bought it, the Silicon Valley company hit back on Tuesday night, effectively saying it would see Lynch in court. "The matter is in the hands of the authorities, including the UK Serious Fraud Office, the US Securities and Exchange Commission's enforcement division and the US department of justice, and we will defer to them as to how they wish to engage with Dr Lynch. In addition, HP will take legal action against the parties involved at the appropriate time. [The Guardian] Energy supplier EON has been forced to hand over £1.7m to customers after it was caught overcharging. The company hit around 94,000 UK customers with either higher exit fees than necessary or overcharged them following price rises. The compensation payment agreed with the energy regulator Ofgem includes a £300,000 payment to a consumer fund which EON runs in partnership with the charity Age UK. [The Independent] Pension firms that provide businesses with workplace retirement schemes for their staff will be forced to disclose fees and charges upfront from next year, after the industry agreed on a new code of conduct. Pensions companies will be required to set out “clearly and accurately” the list of charges that savers will face when they pitch to become a pensions provider for a firm. [The Telegraph] Vince Cable, the business secretary, has officially marked the launch of the new green investment bank (GIB) by announcing funding of a new waste-to-energy plant and an energy saving scheme. The small projects to build a new anaerobic digestion plant in Teeside and retrofit a panel-making factory in north Wales, involving investments by the GIB of £8m and £5m respectively, will soak up only a tiny fraction of the bank's total £3bn in funding. Speaking before he formally confirmed the GIB was "open for business" on Wednesday morning in Edinburgh, Cable said these projects were proof of its wider ambitions to develop a low-carbon, clean energy economy. [The Guardian] More than 1,500 square miles of land — more than twice the area of Greater London — needs to be earmarked for new homes to solve Britain’s housing crisis, the planning minister will say today. Nick Boles, a close ally of David Cameron, said that the chronic shortage of new properties meant that land for building should be increased by a third. He also indicated that ministers would have to contemplate building more homes in unspoilt areas, a move that will alarm campaigners who want to protect the countryside. He said it had to be considered because young workers had a “basic moral right, like healthcare and education” to an affordable property. [The Times] Google's boss in Britain has defended the technology giant after politicians attacked foreign companies for trying to cheat the system with their tax practices. Matt Brittin said it was down to politicians to legislate if they wanted to force change as he fought back against suggestions that multinationals are "immoral". The Google boss said that while he did not mind the "belligerent" grilling he had received from MPs on the Public Accounts Committee two weeks ago, the public debate was creating the view that all "businesses are trying to do negative things and get away with them." [The Telegraph] François Hollande demanded on Tuesday that Lakshmi Mittal, the steel magnate, guarantee the long-term future of workers at a disputed plant in northern France or face the threat of a state takeover of the operations. Stepping up the pressure on the chief executive of ArcelorMittal during an hour-long meeting at the Elysée palace, President Hollande told Mr Mittal the 629 jobs under threat from the proposed closure of two blast furnaces at Florange must be saved. [Financial Times] David Cameron’s cabinet ministers turned on each other on Tuesday for failing to do more to deliver growth ahead of next week’s Autumn Statement. Ministers complained that a slow rollout of broadband, a feeble start to a flagship back-to-work scheme and bureaucracy around a new visa system were among the problems holding back recovery. Downing Street confirmed that some departments were “not doing as well as they should be” in delivering growth and cutting red tape, in a sign of political tensions building ahead of George Osborne’s mini-Budget next Wednesday. [Financial Times] The economic and political pitfalls awaiting Mark Carney at the Bank of England were laid bare yesterday in a fractious parliamentary hearing in which Sir Mervyn King was challenged over the institution’s culture and independence from the Treasury. Testifying to the Treasury Select Committee, the Governor was generous in his praise for Mr Carney, the Bank of Canada’s Governor, saying it was a credit to the UK that the Government was willing to scour the world for the best possible successor, rather than looking only in its backyard. But Sir Mervyn warned that the economy Mr Carney would inherit was likely to be mired in low growth, admitting that he and his colleagues on the Monetary Policy Committee had been too optimistic about the chances of a sharp economic rebound. [The Times]