ADVFN Evening Euro Markets Bulletin Thursday, August 9 2012

	ADVFN III	Evening Euro Markets Bulletin
	Daily world financial news

Thursday, 09 August 2012

London Market Report

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

Footsie up, but Eurozone fears limit gains Market Movers techMARK 2,113.51 -0.14% FTSE 100 5,851.51 +0.10% FTSE 250 11,464.03 +0.24% FTSE 100 nudges higher for fifth straight gain Cooling inflation in China boosts stimulus hopes ECB cuts growth forecasts London's Footsie swung between gains and losses on Thursday as hopes of Chinese stimulus were offset by concerns about weak growth in the Eurozone; however, the benchmark index finished slightly in the blue as it extended its winning streak to five straight days. Chinese consumer price inflation slowed to 1.8% in July from a 2.2% increase in June, according to the National Bureau of Statistics in Beijing. While this was broadly in line with expectations, analysts are saying this morning that this has left the door open to more monetary easing in the world's second-largest economy. However, the European Central Bank's (ECB's) monthly report dampened sentiment today after the Bank downgraded its growth prospects for the Eurozone economy. The ECB now expects the region to contract by 0.3% this year, slightly worse than the 0.2% fall originally estimated, while 2013 growth will be 0.6%, under the previous forecast of 1%. "Survey indicators generally disappointed in July, hinting at a further weakening of momentum entering 3Q12. While we still project EMU-wide real GDP to shrink another 0.2% in the current quarter, we now see some modest downside risks to our forecast," said analysts at UniCredit in an emailed note this afternoon. The ECB's growth downgrades come one day after the Bank of England reduced its forecasts for gross domestic product in the UK, now expecting no growth for the economy this year. Meanwhile, DBRS has decided to cut Spain’s rating two notches to 'A (low)' and downgraded Italy by one notch to 'A', although it kept its negative outlook on both countries. The Canadian credit ratings agency is one of the four used by the ECB to determine the charges when accepting sovereign debt as collateral. FTSE 100: AMEC drops on slowing underlying growth Engineering and consultancy group AMEC may have reiterated its full-year revenue guidance but investors expressed their disappointment after it revealed that underlying sales growth would slow "significantly" going into the second half. Nevertheless, the group reported a 25% jump in first-half earnings and hiked its dividend by 15%. "Some investors are never happy but given the shares were trading just below one-year highs perhaps some of the value was already priced in," said market analyst Michael Hewson from CMC Markets. Under-fire bank Standard Chartered was a high riser as it continues to rebound from its 16% drop on Tuesday on the back of alleged dealings with the Iranian government. Gold miner Randgold Resources jumped after seeing profits surge in the first half of 2012 on the back of a record performance from its flagship Loulo-Gounkoto complex in Mali. Mining peers Glencore, Antofagasta and Xstrata were also higher on hopes that additional stimulus in China will boost the demand for commodities. Struggling insurance giant Aviva edged lower after reporting a 10% fall in half-year operating profits as foreign exchange fluctuations and restructuring costs hit the bottom line. FTSE 250: Ocado drops after downgrade Shares in online grocery group Ocado took a hit today after UBS downgraded the stock from 'neutral' to 'sell', saying that consensus estimates are too bullish for next year and there is evidence of demand growth slowing. Heavy rain has hit Bumi's output this year, causing shares to slip this morning. Nevertheless, an improved performance in the second quarter should continue into the second half (weather permitting), ensuring most of the miner's production shortfall is made good. Residential property owner and manager Grainger gained after saying it has put in a strong operational performance in the third quarter but did caution the fragility of the economic backdrop. FTSE 100 - Risers Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,363.00p +3.61% ITV (ITV) 83.20p +2.40% IMI (IMI) 899.50p +2.16% Glencore International (GLEN) 344.80p +2.04% Bunzl (BNZL) 1,167.00p +1.74% Resolution Ltd. (RSL) 217.00p +1.73% Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 2,255.00p +1.71% Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 6,290.00p +1.62% Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 2,532.00p +1.56% Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,369.00p +1.41% FTSE 100 - Fallers Amec (AMEC) 1,103.00p -4.83% Evraz (EVR) 273.10p -2.46% BT Group (BT.A) 216.30p -2.44% Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,057.00p -1.67% Centrica (CNA) 324.00p -1.61% Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 226.00p -1.27% International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 151.40p -1.24% British Land Co (BLND) 543.00p -1.18% Hammerson (HMSO) 464.00p -1.15% Kazakhmys (KAZ) 749.00p -1.06% FTSE 250 - Risers Imagination Technologies Group (IMG) 554.00p +5.02% Grainger (GRI) 97.00p +4.30% Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 3,323.00p +4.14% Salamander Energy (SMDR) 197.10p +3.36% Elementis (ELM) 215.00p +2.97% Cairn Energy (CNE) 305.00p +2.87% Bwin.party Digital Entertainment (BPTY) 95.80p +2.79% Home Retail Group (HOME) 83.15p +2.40% Chemring Group (CHG) 308.00p +2.39% Paragon Group Of Companies (PAG) 177.00p +2.31% FTSE 250 - Fallers Heritage Oil (HOIL) 164.00p -7.34% Petra Diamonds Ltd.(DI) (PDL) 104.80p -4.73% Ocado Group (OCDO) 73.00p -3.95% Afren (AFR) 128.20p -2.95% Computacenter (CCC) 366.00p -2.92% Rightmove (RMV) 1,579.00p -2.59% Shanks Group (SKS) 78.00p -2.50% Big Yellow Group (BYG) 322.00p -2.42% Gem Diamonds Ltd. (DI) (GEMD) 187.90p -2.39% Stobart Group Ltd. (STOB) 118.20p -2.31% Europe Market Report FTSE 100 Euronext Dax perf CAC 40 Nokia, Nestle surge; bond yields rise Stocks up slightly Nestle results drive sentiment Nokia surges on app business sale FTSE 100: +0.01% Dax 30: -0.06% Stoxx 600: +0.33% Cac 40: +0.47% Ibex 35: -0.63% FTSE MIB: -0.01% Most major European stock markets posted small gains on Thursday as Chinese inflation offered no surprises. The cost of living in China rose 1.8% in July, compared to the same month last year. This was broadly in line with expectations. There were some significant shifts for shorter term sovereign bonds on Thursday as investors pondered whether the European Central Bank (ECB) has the firepower and political backing to ease Europe’s debt crisis. The two-year Italian bond yield had climbed seven basis points by 15:23 in London to 3.27% while Spanish equivalents had gained 16 basis points to 4.03%. This implies investors are losing patience with the ECB’s protestation that it “would do whatever it takes to preserve the euro”. President Mario Draghi’s comments at the beginning of the month had brought borrowing costs down but, at the shorter end of the spectrum, they are rising once again. COMPANIES The strongest sector on the Stoxx Europe 600 was personal and household goods, which climbed 0.33%. The influential Swiss company, Nestle - the world’s biggest food business - climbed over 2% as sales gained 6.6% in the first half of the year, ahead of the 6.3% consensus forecast. Former mobile champion now struggling also-ran, Nokia, rose 6.5% after selling an app business. Deutsche Telekom, the owners of the T-Mobile brand, fell as it disclosed its US business had shed over half a million customers in the second quarter. OTHER MARKETS The euro fell 0.72% against the dollar to stand at $1.2276 by 16:57 in london. US Market Report Jobless boost keeps stocks onside Dow Jones: +4 at 13,179 S&P 500: +2 at 1,405 NASDAQ Composite: +8 at 3,019 US stocks kept their winning streak on the go in the morning session, though the advance was anything buyt convincing. Jobless claims gave a bit of support, falling unexpectedly to 361,000 last week; economists had been predicting a rise to 370,000. E*Trade marked up Stockbroker E*Trade was wanted after jettisoning its Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Steven Freiberg. CHairman Frank Petrilli will assume executive duties while the company looks for a new CEO. Monster Beverage released results after the bell yesterday and to say the soft drinks maker's figures fell flat would be an understatement. Second quarter profit rose 30$ to $110m, equivalent to 59 cenrts a share but the market had pencilled in a figure of 62 cents for ernings per share. That was the cue for proift takers to bale out of the high-flying shares. Gold miner Randgold Resources jumped after seeing profits surge in the first half of 2012 on the back of a record performance from its flagship Loulo-Gounkoto complex in Mali. Other markets US Treasuries are sliding back, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury rising to 1.72% from 1.69% yesterday evening. West Texas light sweet crude for September delivery is trading at $93.87 a barrel in New York, up 52 cents on the day. S&P 500 - Risers Alpha Natural Res (ANR) $6.83 +8.41% E*TRADE Financial Corp. (ETFC) $8.54 +6.48% PulteGroup Inc. (PHM) $12.77 +5.62% Nabors Industries Ltd. (NBR) $15.95 +4.87% Sprint Nextel Corporation (S) $4.79 +3.90% Interpublic Group of Companies Inc. (IPG) $10.74 +3.67% NRG Energy Inc. (NRG) $20.98 +3.66% Dun & Bradstreet Corp. (DNB) $77.08 +3.50% Juniper Networks Inc. (JNPR) $19.41 +3.41% Genworth Financial Inc. (GNW) $4.76 +3.36% S&P 500 - Fallers Monster Beverage Corp (MNST) $63.04 -6.98% Windstream Corp. (WIN) $9.35 -6.97% Dean Foods Co. (DF) $16.62 -4.81% Integrys Energy Group Inc. (TEG) $58.73 -3.96% Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) $4.30 -2.39% Visa Inc. (V) $128.17 -2.27% Edwards Lifesciences Corp. (EW) $98.51 -1.77% Pitney Bowes Inc. (PBI) $13.69 -1.76% Coach Inc. (COH) $55.48 -1.60% American Express Co. (AXP) $57.03 -1.52% Dow Jones I.A - Risers Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $17.53 +2.16% Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $88.54 +1.51% Dow Jones I.A - Fallers American Express Co. (AXP) $57.03 -1.52% AT&T Inc. (T) $37.19 -0.64% JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $36.95 -0.57% United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $77.07 -0.53% Nasdaq 100 - Risers Research in Motion Ltd. (RIMM) $7.97 +4.59% Randgold Resources Ltd. Ads (GOLD) $98.38 +3.86% Citrix Systems Inc. (CTXS) $75.23 +2.72% Warner Chilcott Plc (WCRX) $16.96 +2.57% Nasdaq 100 - Fallers Monster Beverage Corp (MNST) $63.04 -6.98% Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (GMCR) $24.03 -2.38% Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. (SIRI) $2.42 -2.02% Nuance Communications Inc. (NUAN) $22.80 -1.64% Thursday newspaper round-up Aviva, Ocado, TUI Travel Aviva despite first-half operating profits falling well short of consensus forecasts. Operating profit dropped 10% in the six months to June 30th to £935m, under estimates of £1,119m and slightly below Investec's £996m forecast. "In the absence of the restructuring costs, operating profit would have been £1,121m. We view this as a creditable result in a difficult trading environment," said analyst Kevin Ryan. A 'buy' rating and 517p target price is maintained. UBS has downgraded its recommendation for online grocery group Ocado from 'neutral' to 'sell', saying that consensus expectations for next year are 'too bullish' and demand growth is slowing. UBS's own forecast for EBITDA [earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) is some 25% under consensus. The target price is more than halved from 110p to just 51p. Jefferies has maintained its 'buy' rating and 300p target price for package tour operator TUI Travel, saying that upgrades to consensus underlying forecasts may be in order. "TUI Travel's 3Q12 IMS provides reassurance over full-year earnings, but also (more importantly) over the strengths of the business model. Progress on the Summer programme is encouraging and we think consensus upgrades would be in the offing, if not for a negative FX impact," the broker said on Thursday.