ADVFN III Morning Euro Market Bulletin

	ADVFN III	Morning Euro Markets Bulletin
	Daily world financial news

London Market Report

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

Stocks edge higher ahead of BoE minutes Market Movers techMARK 2,045.83 +0.10% FTSE 100 5,634.28 +0.09% FTSE 250 11,024.10 +0.04% MPC minutes due out shortly Markets still digesting Bernanke comments Fresnillo, Ashmore, Schroders lead the risers on the Footsie The FTSE 100 edged higher on Wednesday morning ahead of the Bank of England minutes due out shortly. Meanwhile, a well-received earnings report from Swiss banking titan Credit Suisse lifted the mood for European markets early on. The minutes from the July meeting of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee are due out at 09:30. "We expect the MPC minutes to show that the vote to keep Bank Rate at 0.5% and to increase the stock of asset purchases by £50bn to £375bn were both unanimous," said analysts at Barclays Capital. Stocks were dampened yesterday by the Federal Reserve's semi-annual policy report to Congress as Chairman Ben Bernanke said that the central bank is “prepared to take further action as appropriate”. The comments were more or less in line with his comments in the past, disappointing markets who were hoping for hints at further stimulus. FTSE 100: Fresnillo jumps; Ashmore, Schroders lifted by broker upgrades Silver and gold miner Fresnillo surged after notching up record levels of gold production in the second quarter while silver output was up quarter-on-quarter. Fund managers Ashmore and Schroders were high risers early on after Goldman Sachs upgraded its ratings on the stocks to 'buy' and 'conviction buy', respectively. RSA Insurance was a heavy faller after the miserable weather over the past few months put a dampener on its full-year underwriting performance. Real estate group Land Securities fell despite saying that it has seen "good momentum" on lettings across all schemes in the first quarter. Land Secs and sector peers Hammerson and British Land were being pressured lower after Barclays Capital downgraded the stocks to 'equal weight'. Meanwhile, tobacco giant Imperial fell after going ex-dividend. Oil and gas giant Tullow edged higher after finding oil and gas-condensate at its Wawa-1 well offshore Ghana, likely to reassure shareholders who were disappointed on Monday after the firm said that it had plugged and abandoned a well in Guyana due to safety concerns. Resources behemoth BHP Billiton was making small gains after achieving annual production records across ten of its operations in the year to the end of June. FTSE 250: CSR pulls back; Homeserve up after quashing M&A rumours Wireless technology and computer chip company CSR was in the red, pulling back after gaining over 30% the day before as it announced the sale of its handset connectivity technology business to Samsung. UBS downgraded the stock from 'buy' to 'neutral' this morning. Homeserve, the troubled emergency home repairs company, jumped despite denying it is in talks about a possible takeover. Food and drink wholesaler Booker advanced after posting a 1.7% increase in sales for the 12 weeks to June 22nd and saying it remains on course to meet expectations for the full year. FTSE 100 - Risers Fresnillo (FRES) 1,465.00p +4.05% Ashmore Group (ASHM) 330.60p +2.67% G4S (GFS) 244.60p +1.92% Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,217.00p +1.76% Capital Shopping Centres Group (CSCG) 331.80p +1.34% Kingfisher (KGF) 274.50p +1.33% Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 5,705.00p +0.97% Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 321.10p +0.88% Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 860.50p +0.88% Compass Group (CPG) 659.00p +0.84% FTSE 100 - Fallers United Utilities Group (UU.) 686.00p -1.72% Hammerson (HMSO) 460.20p -1.46% Rio Tinto (RIO) 2,875.50p -1.41% RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 106.90p -1.29% Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 2,513.00p -1.26% Admiral Group (ADM) 1,126.00p -1.14% ICAP (IAP) 305.10p -1.07% Reed Elsevier (REL) 527.50p -1.03% Wolseley (WOS) 2,261.00p -0.96% Evraz (EVR) 248.40p -0.88% FTSE 250 - Risers Homeserve (HSV) 180.50p +8.08% NMC Health (NMC) 199.90p +3.58% Kenmare Resources (KMR) 32.44p +2.76% Hays (HAS) 67.95p +2.33% Carpetright (CPR) 635.00p +2.01% Yule Catto & Co (YULC) 133.00p +1.92% Bovis Homes Group (BVS) 490.90p +1.91% Elementis (ELM) 182.20p +1.79% Dixons Retail (DXNS) 16.23p +1.63% African Barrick Gold (ABG) 397.60p +1.58% FTSE 250 - Fallers Telecom Plus (TEP) 840.00p -3.45% Perform Group (PER) 350.00p -3.31% Morgan Crucible Co (MGCR) 261.00p -3.05% London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 984.50p -2.81% Menzies(John) (MNZS) 611.00p -2.32% CSR (CSR) 286.40p -1.92% Melrose (MRO) 220.70p -1.91% Henderson Group (HGG) 96.55p -1.78% Halma (HLMA) 407.70p -1.33% Gem Diamonds Ltd. (DI) (GEMD) 214.00p -1.29% Europe Market Report FTSE 100 Euronext Dax perf CAC 40 Banks deposit €382bn over night at ECB Light data calendar FTSE-100: 0.21% Dax-30: 0.30% Cac-40: 0.75% FTSE-Mibtel: 0.18% Ibex 35: -0.63% Stoxx 600: -0.21% The main European equity benchmarks have started the day slightly higher for the most part, following in the trail blazed by Wall Street last night and ahead of this next Friday’s meeting of Eurozone finance ministers to thrash out a Spanish rescue. That on a light day in terms of the data calendar. Speaking before the Senate banking committee yesterday evening Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke did not hint at immediate action on the economy. His words however do seem to indicate, as might have been expected, that he is ready to act should employment or inflation stray from his dual mandate. That seems to have been sufficient to hearten traders. Of possible interest, some observers believe that it was Bernanke´s reference to the option of eliminating the interest on banks´ excess reserves which set off the wave of buying in stocks last night. Analysts are cutting European profit forecasts at the fastest rate since 2009 as the region heads for a recession and growth in China slows for a sixth quarter. Analysts now estimate that profits at Euro Stoxx 50 companies will rise by 6.8% this year, well below the 19% gain that was seen at the start of the year, according to Bloomberg data. Credit Suisse rises on plans to boost capital Shares of Credit Suisse has this morning unveiled a plan to boost its regulatory capital by 8.7bn Swiss francs, while at the same time raising its target for cost savings to 3bn Swiss francs from 2bn before. Its shares are now rising by 5%. Ericsson has released weaker than expected second quarter profits. Dutch chip equipment maker ASML Holding has announced a 10 % rise in second quarter bookings, despite which its shares are now moving down slightly. Light data calendar Eurozone construction data for the month of May is due out at 10:00. Crude futures rise slightly The euro/dollar is off by 0.08% to 1.2280 dollars. Front month Brent crude futures are down by 0.396 dollars, to 103.59 dollars per barrel on the ICE. UK Event Calendar INTERIMS Access Intelligence, Sagentia Group INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE Sherborne Investors (Guernsey) 'A' Shares, WH Smith INTERIM EX-DIVIDEND DATE Crystal Amber Fund Ltd., Heavitree Brewery, Heavitree Brewery 'A' Shares, Imperial Tobacco Group, Sanderson Group QUARTERLY EX-DIVIDEND DATE Caterpillar Inc. INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS Beige Book Fed Survey (US) (19:00) Building Permits (US) (13:30) Crude Oil Inventories (US) (15:30) Housing Starts (US) (13:30) MBA Mortgage Applications (US) (12:00) FINALS Ebiquity, Greenko Group, Zetar IMSS Fuller Smith & Turner, Land Securities Group, Optos DRILLING REPORT Fresnillo SPECIAL EX-DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE Walker Crips Group AGMS B.P. Marsh & Partners, Booker Group, Cable & Wireless Worldwide, European Convergence Development Co, Experian, Global Lock Safety (International) Global Lock Co Ltd. (DI), IBIS Media VCT 1, RedHot Media International Ltd (DI)., RPC Group, Securities Trust of Scotland, Severn Trent, Speedy Hire, Summit Corporation, Telecom Plus, VP TRADING ANNOUNCEMENTS BHP Billiton UK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS BoE Interest Rate Minutes (09:30) Claimant Count Rate (09:30) Unemployment Rate (09:30) FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE Albany Inv Trust, Hasgrove, Tangent Communications FINAL EX-DIVIDEND DATE Amati VCT , Castings, Fidelity China Special Situations , Halma, Lombard Risk Management, Majestic Wine, Mountview Estate, MS International, Telecom Plus US Market Report Earnings outweigh Bernanke gloom Dow: 12,806 (+0.62%) NASDAQ: 2,910 (+0.45%) S&P 500: 1,364 (+0.74%) Strong quarterly results from Goldman Sachs and Coca Cola lifted markets in the US on Tuesday, outweighing fading concerns of future stimulus measures. As part of the Federal Reserve’s semi-annual monetary policy report to Congress, Chairman Ben Bernanke said that the central bank is “prepared to take further action as appropriate” - more or less in line with his comments in the past. Analyst Peter Newland from Barclays Capital said that the general tone of Bernanke's speech was in line with its expectations, with no new revelations regarding the central bank's outlook or hints of short-term policy action. "That said, there was a notable dovish tone." "Our view remains that a modest rebound in growth in H2 and a gradual upward trend in core inflation will be sufficient to negate the need a further round of QE but, based on the chairman's comments, there would appear to be a fairly low bar to further policy action," Newland said. COMPANIES Investment banking group Goldman Sachs gained despite net income falling 11% in the second quarter. Earnings per share were $1.78, down from $1.85 a year ago but well above the $1.17 analysts were expecting. Meanwhile, drinks giant Coca-Cola was also higher after second-quarter earnings and sales beat forecasts, as strong growth in emerging markets offset weakness in Europe. ECONOMIC DATA US industrial production increased 0.4% in June, better than the 0.3% gain economists had been forecasting. The NAHB index of housebuilder confidence improved to 35 in June from 29 points in the month before (Consensus: 30). S&P 500 - Risers Mattel Inc. (MAT) $34.05 +9.70% Nabors Industries Ltd. (NBR) $14.07 +6.59% Sprint Nxtel Corp. (S) $3.65 +5.49% Mosaic Company (MOS) $58.21 +5.13% Interpublic Group of Companies Inc. (IPG) $11.53 +4.91% R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co. (RRD) $13.26 +4.12% Pioneer Natural Resources Co. (PXD) $88.36 +4.11% Range Resources Corp. (RRC) $62.50 +4.06% Avon Products Inc. (AVP) $16.45 +3.85% International Paper Co. (IP) $31.88 +3.84% S&P 500 - Fallers Supervalu Inc. (SVU) $2.28 -8.06% State Street Corp. (STT) $41.33 -6.37% MEMC Electronic Materials (WFR) $1.94 -5.37% Broadcom Corp. (BRCM) $29.60 -3.93% Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $5.77 -3.83% Cintas Corp. (CTAS) $38.00 -3.58% First Solar Inc. (FSLR) $14.46 -3.47% Tenet Hlthcre Corp. (THC) $4.89 -2.98% Apollo Group Inc. (APOL) $31.01 -2.94% Hillshire Brands Co (HSH) $26.57 -2.53% Dow Jones I.A - Risers Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $49.35 +3.11% Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $23.62 +2.12% Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $44.19 +1.94% E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DD) $48.35 +1.64% Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $77.69 +1.58% Bank of America Corp. (BAC) $7.92 +1.41% Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $63.31 +1.22% AT&T Inc. (T) $35.82 +1.13% 3M Co. (MMM) $88.98 +1.00% Intel Corp. (INTC) $25.38 +0.99% Dow Jones I.A - Fallers Home Depot Inc. (HD) $50.72 -1.42% International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) $183.65 -0.62% Alcoa Inc. (AA) $8.28 -0.60% JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $34.99 -0.28% Nasdaq 100 - Risers Mattel Inc. (MAT) $34.05 +9.70% Dish Network Corp. (DISH) $28.90 +4.63% Urban Outfitters Inc. (URBN) $30.59 +3.73% Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $26.77 +2.80% O'Reilly Automotive Inc. (ORLY) $92.53 +2.14% Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $41.71 +2.11% Virgin Media Inc. (VMED) $25.30 +2.02% News Corp. Class A (NWSA) $22.29 +2.01% Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $78.76 +1.93% Mylan Inc. (MYL) $22.50 +1.86% Nasdaq 100 - Fallers J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. (JBHT) $55.15 -5.45% Broadcom Corp. (BRCM) $29.60 -3.93% Cintas Corp. (CTAS) $38.00 -3.58% First Solar Inc. (FSLR) $14.46 -3.47% Apollo Group Inc. (APOL) $31.01 -2.94% Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $104.98 -2.21% Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $12.37 -1.79% CH Robinson Worldwide Inc (CHRW) $57.95 -1.65% Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD) $53.81 -1.57% Xilinx Inc. (XLNX) $30.89 -1.53% Wednesday newspaper round-up: HSBC, China, Fed HSBC was forced to apologise publicly today before the US Senate – and saw its compliance chief resign – over facilitating a multi-billion-dollar money-laundering operation for drug gangs, terrorists and rogue nations worldwide. Britain’s biggest bank was “pervasively polluted for a long time” as it allowed funds to be shifted to and from its branches in the United States as far afield as Mexico, Syria, the Cayman Islands, Iran and Saudi Arabia, the hearing was told. Issuing an apology, Stuart Gulliver, chief executive of HSBC, said: “We have sometimes failed to meet the standards regulators and customer expect… we take responsibility for fixing what went wrong.” HSBC, the only British bank with US branches, is now braced for a “substantial” fine which analysts said could be up to $1bn (£640m). The latest banking scandal comes in the wake of Barclays’ £290m fines for its role in rigging Libor, according to The Telegraph. China's job market could suffer a downturn and the government needs to step up efforts to create more positions, Premier Wen Jiabao said, underscoring official concerns about an economic slowdown. "Currently and in the future, China's employment situation will become more complex and more severe," the official China Securities Journalquoted Wen as saying. "The task of promoting full employment will be very heavy and we must make greater efforts to achieve it," he added. Compared with 2008/09, when a sudden collapse of exports sent some 20m Chinese migrant workers homebound, China's job market has remained relatively tight so far this year, partly reflecting the country's demographic shifts. But job cuts could be on the rise as small and medium-sized exporters are increasingly struggling with slackening orders, rapid wage increases and higher raw material costs, The Telegraph reports. Fears of a brain drain at Google have intensified after the defection of Marissa Mayer. The move of one of Google’s rising stars to become chief executive of its fading rival Yahoo! has been hailed as coup for the smaller company. Yet it also highlights an issue for the internet giant in keeping hold of its most-prized executives, given the impregnable position of its founders. Ms Mayer, 37, who revealed yesterday that she was six months’ pregnant, has switched from Google’s inner circle to run a company valued at a tenth of that of her former employer. Nevertheless, Eric Schmidt, Google’s executive chairman, told reporters after the news had broken that “she got a promotion,” The Times says. Pensions campaigners are warning of a potential outbreak of mis-selling scandals unless the Government tackles the lack of transparency within the industry. Research by a London-based think tank found that 21 of 23 pensions providers failed to reveal management costs that could wipe out more than a third of the overall fund. The report by the RSA came as the Government outlined plans to make it easier for workers to take their work pension with them when they change jobs. It is due to introduce auto-enrolment, in which millions of workers will join company pension schemes unless they opt out.Fears were raised that the latest move could create a pensions lottery, with workers unwittingly seeing their pots transferred into higher-charging schemes, The Times explains. Britain's regulators were “in denial” about widespread Libor rigging by banks in the build up to the financial crisis and frustrated US efforts to crack down on the problem, MPs said yesterday. Members of the Treasury Select Committee (TSC) also claimed the Bank of England and the Financial Services Authority (FSA) had been “asleep” in letting Barclays promote Jerry del Missier to chief operating officer last month, after establishing he had instructed colleagues to fix the key inter-bank lending rate. The criticisms came as Ben Bernanke, chairman of the US Federal Reserve, warned that banks’ “unacceptable behaviour” was “undermining confidence in financial markets” and applauded the “quick” response of the Federal Bank of New York, which first uncovered evidence of rigging in back in 2008, The Telegraph writes. Sir Richard Branson yesterday confirmed he was considering buying back Virgin Records, 20 years after he sold the label to fund his airline. Universal Music, the world’s biggest recorded music firm, is drawing up plans to sell the business to persuade regulators to give the green light to its £1.2bn deal for EMI, whose acts include the Beatles and Coldplay. The Virgin Records label was launched in 1972 and released its first album, Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells, the following year. In 1977 it signed the Sex Pistols after they were dropped by EMI and is now home to stars including Bryan Ferry and Joss Stone. In 1992, Branson sold the label to Thorn EMI for about £600m to help fund Virgin Atlantic’s battle with British Airways, but now he is interested in recapturing the business, The Scotsman says. Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke stopped short of promising fresh stimulus for the US economy even after admitting its performance is "disappointing." The world's most powerful central banker also forecast that the drop in the unemployment rate will be "frustratingly slow" in what was a downbeat assessment of the economy before Congress. Hopes had built in financial markets that the Fed chief would use today's apperance to offer strong clues that the bank is about to embark on another round of printing money. Instead, Mr Bernanke refused to elaborate on an earlier pledge that the central bank stood ready to do more if needed, The Telegraph holds.