London open: Stocks edge higher ahead of US elections
Market Movers
- techMARK 2,101.26 +0.27%
- FTSE 100 5,847.42 +0.14%
- FTSE 250 12,040.63 +0.08%
Stock markets across Europe opened tentatively on Tuesday morning as the world gears up for the presidential elections across the Pond later today.
While all eyes will likely be on the US today, investors had plenty to distract them this morning in London, with a barrage of trading updates and results from a number of heavyweight stocks to digest, including M&S, G4S, Babcock and InterContinental Hotels.
The latest polls suggest that incumbent President Barack Obama holds a narrow lead over Republican challenger Mitt Romney but the final result could still go either way.
"Even if Barack Obama manages to hold on to his presidency without a majority in the Senate and Congress it will be hard to pass any new laws without having to compromise with the Republican party, making major reforms rather unlikely which in turn might continue to hamper the economy and job growth," said Markus Huber, the head of German HNW trading at ETX Capital.
"It might be the case that overall it matters less who will be elected as president of the US tonight instead the question will be, will the new president have the support and power to turn the economy around and bring down high unemployment or will we have a similar situation as we had in the past two years when Republican retook Congress in 2010 making it very difficult for President Obama to pass new laws." | UK Event Calendar | Tuesday November 06
INTERIMS
Babcock International Group, DCC, Endace Ltd, First Derivatives, Indian Hotels Company Ltd. GDR (Reg S), Marks & Spencer Group, Zhejiang Southeast Electric Power Co Ltd. GDR (Reg S)
INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
Dillistone Group
INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
ABC Consumer Confidence (US) (21:00)
Factory Orders (GER) (11:00)
PMI Composite (GER) (08:55)
PMI Services (GER) (08:55)
Producer Price Index (EU) (10:00)
Q2
Indian Hotels Company Ltd. GDR (Reg S)
Q3
Banco Espirito Santo SA N Shs, InterContinental Hotels Group
GMS
JSC KazMunaiGaz Exploration Production GDR (Reg S)
FINALS
Associated British Foods
IMSS
Capital Shopping Centres Group, Kofax, PPHE Hotel Group Ltd
AGMS
A&J Mucklow Group, Animalcare Group, Asian Citrus Holding, CAP-XX Ltd., Eurocommercial Properties NV, Kofax, Psource Structured Debt Ltd., Sirius Real Estate Ltd.
UK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
BRC Sales Monitor (00:01)
Industrial Production (09:30)
Manufacturing Production (09:30)
Q1
Kofax |
| Europe Market Report |  | | FTSE 100 | Euronext | Dax perf | CAC 40 |  |  |  |  | | European Stock Futures Signal Gains Before US Vote
European stocks are expected to open higher on Tuesday, recouping a portion of the previous session's losses as U.S. voters head to the polls. As the elections gets underway today, opinion polls in key swing states show a slight edge for President Barack Obama. Whoever wins the presidential race faces extraordinary economic challenges coming from the fiscal cliff.
Closer home, Greece's two biggest labor unions will observe a 48-hour strike today and tomorrow as the nation braces for a parliamentary vote on its budget and austerity measures to win bailout money and secure the nation's future in the European monetary bloc.
France is also in focus after the International Monetary Fund urged the country to undertake major reforms to boost competitiveness and improve its flagging economic prospects. Loss of competitiveness has clouded France's growth outlook and has also undermined the economy's ability to rebound, the IMF said in its regular annual review of the economy.
Asian markets are turning in a mixed performance as investors await the results of the U.S. presidential election and China's once-in-a-decade leadership change. Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of Australia unexpectedly kept its cash rate unchanged at 3.25 percent, citing an uptick in inflation and signs of improvement in the global economy.
In economic releases, overall retail sales in the United Kingdom increased 1.1 percent in October from a year earlier, but same-store sales decreased 0.1 percent year-over-year, according to survey results released by the British Retail Consortium. Factory orders from Germany and industrial production from the U.K. are the other major statistical reports due in the European session.
In corporate news, German auto giant Volkswagen announced that it would issue at least 2 billion euros subordinated mandatory convertible notes in an attempt to strengthen its balance sheet.
BMW Group posted a 16 percent improvement in third-quarter net profit to 1.29 billion euros from 1.11 billion euros in the year-ago period.
Adecco S.A. posted third-quarter net income attributable to its shareholders of 118 million euros versus 145 million euros last year.
Fraport AG, the owner and operator of Germany's Frankfurt Airport, maintained its fiscal 2012 earnings forecast after reporting a rise in third-quarter profit.
Steelmaker Salzgitter AG said it expects to report a pre-tax loss of around 25 million euros for the third quarter, echoing unsatisfactory results in its steel division.
European stocks lost ground on Monday, weighed down by uncertainty over the upcoming U.S. presidential vote and the euro's weak performance on renewed concerns over Greece's political ability to push through key spending cuts and tax measures to secure bailout money.
The Euro Stoxx 50 index of Eurozone bluechip stocks declined 1.2 percent and the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, slid 0.6 percent. Around Europe, the U.K.'s FTSE 100, the German DAX and France's CAC 40 fell between half a percent and 1.3 percent, while Switzerland's SMI edged up marginally on the back of positive performance of some defensive stocks such as Nestle and Roche.
U.S. stocks posted modest gains overnight, partly offsetting the steep losses posted last Friday, although buying interest was relatively subdued ahead of the presidential election. On the economic front, a report from the Institute for Supply Management showed the pace of growth in the U.S. services sector slowed modestly in October. The Dow and the S&P 500 rose about 0.2 percent each, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 0.6 percent. |
FTSE 100: ARM and M&S gain early on
Chip designer ARM jumped after saying that it is leading a consortium which is to acquire the patent portfolio of MIPS Technologies, the US semiconductor design company, in order to reduce the risk of expensive patent infringement suits in the chip design industry.
High Street bellwether Marks & Spencer rose this morning after announcing that second-quarter revenue gained 2.5%, driven by a strong performance from food sales and a handy contribution from the group's international stores.
Primark and foods group Associated British Foods was wanted after profits and revenues edged higher in the year to September 15th.
Holiday Inns and Crowne Plaza hotels owner InterContinental Hotels Group advanced after seeing revenue per available room (RevPAR) grow across all regions in the third quarter.
Property group Capital Shopping Centres rose after outperforming the market as the number of shoppers visiting its shopping centres rose for the second quarter in a row.
Security group G4S was higher after saying its financial position continues to be strong and it "remains on track to meet its cash conversion target of 85% of PBITA [profit before interest, tax and amortisation] for the full year."
Water and waste group Pennon edged higher after signing a 25-year South London Waste Treatment Services Public Private Partnership (PPP) contract for the London Boroughs of Croydon, Kingston, Merton and Sutton.
Heading the other way was engineering support services group Babcock despite in-line earnings in the first half and a robust increase in its order book.
Oilfield services group Petrofac failed to please investors with the announcement of a "strategic alliance" with AIM-listed Bowleven to develop the latter's Etinde Permit, offshore Cameroon, which will see Petrofac invest up to $500m.
| US Market Report | US close: Stocks rise in thin trade
Market movers
Dow Jones: +19 at 13,112
S&P 500: +3 at 1,417
NASDAQ Composite: +18 at 3,000 After a hesitant morning session US markets moved ahead in the afternoon, but trading volumes were light as traders sat on their hands ahead of Tuesday's presidential election.
Stockbroker E-Trade led the S&P higher after announcing a refinancing. Graphics chip designer Nvidia led the tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite ahead of results on Thursday.
Going the other way was cable TV operator Time Warner Cable after third quarter figures came up short of expectations.
Publisher McGraw Hill was also friendless after an Australian court ruled that its credit rating arm, Standard & Poor's, misled investors by assigning AAA ratings to stocks which subsequently took a beating in the credit crunch.
Tech-darling Apple recovered some of Friday's heavy losses after revealing it sold 3m versions of the tablet device which its co-founder, Steve Jobs vowed the company would never make: the mini iPad. Nevertheless, market research firm IDC revealed that tablet devices from Samsung and Amazon gained market share in the third quarter at the expense of Apple.
Consolidation is taking place in the investment banking world, with Stifel Nicolaus set to purchase KBW for some $575m in cash and stock.
Green energy firm Fuel Cell Energy powered higher after unveiling a $181m contract with South Korean steel maker Posco.
Meantime, the ISM´s service sector gauge for the month of October dropped to 54.2 points, following a reading of 55.1 in the month before (Consensus: 54.5). The new orders gauge dropped to 54.8 from 57.7 in the previous month. Crude bounces back
West Texas intermediate crude for December delivery rose 79 cents to $85.65 a barrel.
10-year US treasuries headed higher, pushing yields down by 3/100 of a percentage point to 1.68%.
S&P 500 - Risers
E*TRADE Financial Corp. (ETFC) $8.77 +4.40%
Cameron International Corp. (CAM) $51.85 +4.30%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $13.02 +4.24%
Tesoro Corp. (TSO) $36.93 +4.15%
Jabil Circuit Inc. (JBL) $18.10 +4.02%
Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (ANF) $34.07 +3.94%
Dover Corp. (DOV) $60.82 +3.82%
Tenet Healthcare Corp. (THC) $25.92 +3.56%
Lennar Corp. Class A (LEN) $38.62 +3.51%
First Solar Inc. (FSLR) $23.33 +3.48%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $111.52 -7.68%
Time Warner Cable Inc. (TWC) $91.93 -6.36%
Pall Corp. (PLL) $60.81 -4.91%
Entergy Corp. (ETR) $67.90 -4.68%
FirstEnergy Corp. (FE) $42.55 -4.30%
McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. (MHP) $52.24 -4.02%
Moody's Corp. (MCO) $46.60 -2.96%
AES Corp. (AES) $10.37 -2.72%
R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co. (RRD) $9.93 -2.56%
Southern Co. (SO) $44.62 -2.51%
Dow Jones I.A - Risers
Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) $14.01 +1.82%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $86.77 +1.14%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $50.32 +0.92%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $109.19 +0.76%
Dow Jones I.A - Fallers
Bank of America Corp. (BAC) $9.75 -1.02%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $21.84 -1.00%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $36.77 -0.84%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $68.67 -0.75%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $13.02 +4.24%
Flextronics International Ltd. (FLEX) $5.94 +3.48%
Texas Instruments Inc (TXN) $29.47 +3.29%
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) $46.41 +3.11%
F5 Networks Inc. (FFIV) $85.13 +3.08%
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $28.84 +2.94%
Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $11.09 +2.59%
Altera Corp. (ALTR) $31.21 +2.29%
Monster Beverage Corp (MNST) $45.04 +2.29%
Maxim Integrated Products Inc. (MXIM) $28.72 +2.28%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $111.52 -7.68%
Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. (SIRI) $2.83 -2.41%
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (GMCR) $25.15 -2.03%
Warner Chilcott Plc (WCRX) $11.24 -2.01%
Automatic Data Processing Inc. (ADP) $56.40 -1.69%
Fastenal Co. (FAST) $43.19 -1.39%
Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $103.80 -1.23%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $21.84 -1.00% |
| FX and Commodities round-up | FX round-up: Euro stumbles to two-month low
The euro skidded to the lowest level in two months against the dollar on Monday as markets fretted about Greece's parliamentary vote on austerity measures.
The euro bought $1.2793 from $1.2828 the previous session as Athens votes on further tax increases and budget cuts needed to meet criteria for its next tranche of bailout money.
Meanwhile the dollar continued to rise against major currencies with the dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six currencies, climbing to 80.725 from 80.601 on Friday.
Trading was lighter than usual ahead of the US presidential elections on Tuesday.
The latest polls show that the race between President Barack Obama and challenger Mitt Romney is close.
Disappointing US service sector data had little effect on currency markets on Monday. The Institute for Supply Management's index on the US service sector fell to 54.1 last month from 55.5 in September.
Against the yen, the greenback traded at ¥80.29 versus ¥80.40 on Friday.
Sterling weakened to $1.5978 from $1.6014 the previous session while the Australian dollar climbed to $1.0368 from $1.0338 before. Commodities: Crude recoups previous session's losses
Crude oil futures recovered from the previous session's sharp losses to log a modest gain on Monday as focus turns to Tuesday's US presidential elections.
Crude for December delivery rose 79 cents to settle at $85.65 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Trading was lighter than usual on Monday with many traders remaining on the sidelines as the latest polls show President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney are very close.
Traders also digested a disappointing report on the US services sector. The Institute for Supply Management's gauge of non-manufacturing activity fell to 54.2 last month from 55.1 in September. Most economists had expected the index to weaken to 54.5.
On the ICE Futures Exchange Brent crude Europe advanced $2.05 at $107.73 a barrel.
Among precious metals gold also recovered from Friday's steep losses to register slim gains.
Gold for December delivery settled $8 higher at at $1,683.20 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. |
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