Drop In Jobless Rate May Mask Anemic Private Payroll Gains | RTTNews Daily Market Analysis, October 5th, 2012.

The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a higher opening on Friday, with sentiment expected to get a lift from the U.S. non-farm payrolls report for September, which showed job growth in line with expectations. Meanwhile, the jobless rate eased notably due to a strong increase in the household survey. The peripheral facts of the report could trigger strong buying early in the session. A detailed analysis of the report showed that private payroll gains were weaker than exp

Drop In Jobless Rate May Mask Anemic Private Payroll Gains 

ADVFN III Evening Euro Markets Bulletin -September 21st, 2012.

	ADVFN III	Evening Euro Markets Bulletin
	Daily world financial news

Friday, 21 September 2012

London Market Report

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

Stocks finish flat Market Movers techMARK 2,138.87 +0.48% FTSE 100 5,858.84 +0.07% FTSE 250 11,949.80 +0.17% Footsie's movements were being directed by the Grand Old Duke of York today and, as in the old nursery rhyme, ended the day more or less neither up nor down. Extra time often leads to penalties What was set up to be the big item of the day, the decision from the independent directors of mining group Xstata on whether to accept the merger proposals from commodities broker Glencore also turned out to be a damp squib, with the company pleading for more time to canvas key shareholders. The Takeover Panel duly granted a one week extension which means this time next week we could be sitting here experiencing a spot of deja vu. Elsewhere in the mining sector, Lonmin reported that more than 80% of miners turned up for work at its Marikana operations after workers called off their strike late on Tuesday following a settlement. The accord, however, will be quite costly for the company. Following the Marikana agreement Credit Suisse has this downgraded its 2012/13 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) forecasts from $218m to $95m in 2012 and from $195m to $29m in 2013. “A positive equity case on Lonmin in our view could be made if the company can grow to 950koz per year. which would require capex of $450m at a minimum.” That, however, would require an equity raise of at least $500m, together with some debt, or $1bn should all its debt be eliminated, the Credit Suisse scribblers suggest. Credit Suisse reiterated its "underperform" stance and 525p price target on the miner´s shares. M&A news The Sage Group has acquired EBS Empresa Brasileira de Sistemas, a provider of accounting, business management and tax software in Brazil. The acquisition will cost the group up to £10.6m, including a performance related sum of £1.8m. Guinness brewer Diageo was wanted on rumours that it is preparing to have another crack at Indian outfit United Spirits. The drinks brands colossus made an offer back in 2009 but was sent off with a flea in its ear. This time round it is said to be negotiating to buy a stake in the company, with United Spirits stakeholder Vijay Mallya apparently keen to sell to plug a financing gap in another one of his holdings, the Kingfisher airline. Lift platform firm going down Tanfield, a global manufacturer of powered access equipment and an investor in Smith Electric Vehicles, slumped after plans to float Smith were binned. "We received significant interest from potential investors, however, we were unable to complete a transaction at a valuation or size that would be in the best interests of our company and its existing shareholders," said Bryan Hansel, Smith's Chief Executive Officer. Things just keep getting worse for HMV, the retailer which left it too late to move away from its dependency on selling CDs, DVDs and books in their physical forms. The group saw like-for-like sales decline 11.6% year-on-year in the 20 weeks to September 15th. Including the impact of previously announced store closures, total group sales declined by 14.8%. "The like-for-like decline was less marked towards the end of the period and we should be helped in the remainder of the year by a strong pipeline of new releases in the music, DVD and games markets ahead of Christmas," said Trevor Moore, the group's newish Chief Executive. Slick numbers from oil companies Nighthawk, a US-focused shale oil development and production company, has said a continuous 24-hour flow test on the John Craig 6-2 well at its 75% owned and operated project at Jolly Ranch in the Denver-Julesburg Basin, Colorado, produced over 600 barrels of oil. The well tested commercial oil flow rates from the Cherokee shale formation, while three further potential oil-bearing zones have been clearly identified in addition to further Cherokee targets, which have not yet been tested. Shares in Texan oil firm Empyrean Energy moved to a 52-week high on the back of a production update for new wells completed recently on the group's Sugarloaf project. The group has nine wells on the go at the project and has a 3.0% working interest in each of them. The two biggest producers - Davila 1H and Davila 2H - produced an average of 1,123 barrels of equivalent per day over a 30-day period, the group revealed. Other markets The price of oil is back on the rise. The most widely traded futures contract for Brent crude rose $1.31 to $111.34 a barrel on the InterContinental Exchange. Gilts were friendless on a day when Bank of England Chief Economist Spencer Dale predicted the UK economy is set to show more signs of late later this year or the early part of next year. The yield on the benchmark 10-year gilt is up to 1.83% from 1.80% overnight. Yields move inversely to prices. FTSE 100 - Risers Evraz (EVR) 270.00p +3.53% Pearson (PSON) 1,220.00p +3.21% Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,084.00p +2.85% Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 275.30p +2.53% Amec (AMEC) 1,171.00p +2.45% Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 40.21p +2.26% Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,490.00p +2.02% Vodafone Group (VOD) 178.20p +1.83% Sage Group (SGE) 325.20p +1.82% BT Group (BT.A) 232.40p +1.75% FTSE 100 - Fallers Xstrata (XTA) 1,018.50p -2.91% Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 3,610.00p -1.61% Glencore International (GLEN) 363.00p -1.40% ITV (ITV) 89.90p -1.37% National Grid (NG.) 685.00p -1.30% Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 2,372.00p -1.13% BG Group (BG.) 1,247.50p -0.99% Weir Group (WEIR) 1,773.00p -0.95% Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,048.50p -0.93% Hammerson (HMSO) 449.60p -0.93% FTSE 250 - Risers Home Retail Group (HOME) 94.00p +4.85% Dixons Retail (DXNS) 19.59p +4.76% Imagination Technologies Group (IMG) 532.50p +4.11% Halfords Group (HFD) 268.20p +3.35% Homeserve (HSV) 224.20p +3.32% JPMorgan Indian Inv Trust (JII) 360.50p +3.30% Petra Diamonds Ltd.(DI) (PDL) 110.30p +2.99% Grainger (GRI) 109.30p +2.82% Ferrexpo (FXPO) 215.70p +2.81% Essar Energy (ESSR) 121.40p +2.71% FTSE 250 - Fallers Bumi (BUMI) 201.00p -19.63% Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 752.00p -6.58% Gem Diamonds Ltd. (DI) (GEMD) 178.80p -5.40% Avocet Mining (AVM) 88.25p -4.08% Bwin.party Digital Entertainment (BPTY) 106.60p -3.62% Aquarius Platinum Ltd. (AQP) 43.53p -3.27% SIG (SHI) 102.50p -3.21% Lonmin (LMI) 593.00p -2.87% Talvivaara Mining Company (TALV) 164.40p -2.78% African Barrick Gold (ABG) 467.90p -2.56% FTSE TechMARK - Risers AEA Technology Group (AAT) 0.060p +9.09% Emblaze Ltd. (BLZ) 49.50p +5.32% Optos (OPTS) 176.50p +3.82% E2V Technologies (E2V) 135.00p +3.65% BATM Advanced Communications Ltd. (BVC) 16.75p +3.08% FTSE TechMARK - Fallers Antisoma (ASM) 1.55p -5.84% Filtronic (FTC) 42.50p -5.29% Phytopharm (PYM) 12.25p -3.92% European Market FTSE 100 Euronext Dax perf CAC 40 European Markets Finished Mostly Higher On Reports Of Spanish Bailout Talks The majority of the European markets ended Friday's session in positive territory, after reports that the government of Spain is engaged in discussions over a potential bailout. Meanwhile, the discussions in Greece continue and while the situation is not yet resolved, some progress has been made. The Spanish government and the European Commission are in talks over measures that would be demanded by creditors if the country places an official bailout request, Financial Times reported Thursday citing unnamed officials involved in discussions. According to the newspaper, the plan will be unveiled next Thursday and will focus on structural reforms rather than new taxes and spending cuts. Discussions between the Greece government and international creditors to fix a deal on EUR 11.5 billion spending reduction reached no clear conclusion late Thursday. But some progress has been made on lifting the retirement age and pension cuts, which would together contribute a saving of EUR 9.5 billion. A final deal is crucial for Greece to receive a EUR 31.5 billion in aid. Officials from the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank, collectively known as the troika, will leave Athens this weekend. The troika mission is set to come back next week again to finalize the terms if it is not resolved soon. The Italian government on Thursday slashed the economy's growth forecasts, while sharply hiking its budget deficit targets. The government led by Prime Minister Mario Monti now forecasts the economy to contract 2.4 percent this year, double the April projection of 1.2 percent contraction. The recession is forecast to continue in 2013 with the gross domestic product shrinking 0.2 percent, in contrast to the previous projection of 0.5 percent growth. Rome, meanwhile, hiked its prediction for budget deficit this year to 2.6 percent of GDP from 1.7 percent projected in April. The deficit target for 2013 was lifted to 1.8 percent of GDP from 0.5 percent. In an interview to Channel 4 television on Thursday, Bank of England Governor Mervyn King said the U.K. is likely to experience a slow recovery. He also said that it is "acceptable" for the UK to miss debt target given the weak growth. The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks increased by 0.85 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, added 0.42 percent. The DAX of Germany climbed by 0.84 percent and the CAC 40 of France gained 0.59 percent. The SMI of Switzerland rose by 0.75 percent, but the FTSE 100 of the U.K. declined by 0.03 percent. In Frankfurt, MAN gained 0.63 percent after JPMorgan raised its price target on the stock. Adidas dropped by 0.40 percent, after the company slashed its 2015 sales target for the Reebok brand. Duerr finished lower by 2.78 percent. Berenberg downgraded the stock to "Hold" from "Buy." In Paris, Technip climbed by 2.01 percent. The company was awarded a contract by Statoil for the fabrication, installation and tie-ins of flowlines for the Gullfaks South field development. In London, BP lost 0.74 percent. Ireland-headquartered DCC has signed a conditional agreement with BP to buy its liquefied petroleum gas distribution business in the Netherlands and Belgium. National Grid fell by 1.08 percent, after JP Morgan downgraded the stock to "Underweight" from "Neutral." Hansard Global sank by 14.41 percent, after the specialist long-term savings provider reported a decline in fiscal 2012 profit. Essenden surged by 33.33 percent, after the company posted a significantly higher pre-tax profit for its first half, helped by lower costs. Kuoni rose by 1.15 percent in Zurich. The leisure travel company plans to explore exit options for its small loss-making tour operating businesses that are not of strategic relevance to the company. US Market Report Stocks Holding On To Gains After Initial Upward Move After moving higher at the start of trading, U.S. stocks have continued to perform well over the course of the trading day on Friday. While buying interest has remained relatively subdued, the markets continue to benefit from news out of Europe. The major averages have moved roughly sideways in recent trading, holding on to moderate gains. The Dow is up 35.69 points or 0.3 percent at 13,632.62, the Nasdaq is up 14.76 points or 0.5 percent at 3,190.72 and the S&P 500 is up 4.35 points or 0.3 percent at 1,464.61. The strength on Wall Street comes on the heels of a report from the Financial Times indicating that European Union officials are working behind the scenes to pave the way for a new Spanish rescue program and unlimited bond buying by the European Central Bank. Citing officials involved in the discussions, FT said the talks are focused on ensuring that the measures that will be required by international lenders as part of a new rescue program are in place before a bailout is formally requested. Peter Boockvar, managing director at Miller Tabak, said, "While discussions are ongoing, it doesn't mean Spain will be so quick to ask for the help as right now seems to be a fact finding mission for Spanish officials on what the conditions they will be subject to if need be." Nonetheless, trading activity has remained relatively subdued amid a lack of major U.S. economic data as well as continued uncertainty about the near-term outlook for the markets. Among individual stocks, Apple (AAPL) is moving moderately higher as the company's highly anticipated iPhone 5 hits stores around the globe. Shares of Apple are up by 0.9 percent. Earlier this week, Apple announced that pre-orders of the iPhone 5 topped two million in just 24 hours, more than double the previous record of one million held by the iPhone 4S. Business software giant Oracle (ORCL) is also moving higher after releasing its fiscal first quarter results after the close of trading on Thursday. Oracle reported first quarter adjusted earnings of $0.53 per share, in line with analyst estimates. However, the company said its revenues dipped 2 percent to $8.18 billion, coming in below expectations. Meanwhile, shares of MicroVision (MVIS) have come under pressure after the developer of miniature laser display and imaging engines announced that Jeff Wilson has resigned his position as Chief Financial Officer. MicroVision is currently down by 8.2 percent. Sector News While most of the major sectors are showing only modest moves, considerable strength is visible among housing stocks. The Philadelphia Housing Sector Index has advanced by 1.9 percent, reaching its best intraday level in almost five years. KB Home (KBH) has helped to lead the housing sector higher, with the homebuilder surging up by 8.5 percent after unexpectedly reporting a third quarter profit compared to a year-ago loss. Telecom stocks have also shown a notable move to the upside on the day, driving the NYSE Arca North American Telecom Index up by 1.7 percent. MetroPCS Communications (PCS) and Motorola Solutions (MSI) are turning in two of the sector's best performances. Health insurance, biotechnology, and electronic storage stocks are also seeing strength in mid-day trading, although buying interest remains subdued. Broker tips Burberry, JD Wetherspoon, Asian Citrus Analysts at Credit Suisse were left scratching their heads after a meeting with Burberry management and a visit to the Spring '13 showroom on Thursday night. What has gone wrong in the two weeks through September 8th, they ask themselves. “Our recent conversations with peers and initial checks with luxury operators makes us guess that Burberry's warning possibly reflects a combination of sector-wide factors (e.g. slowing economy and pull-back in gift giving in China, slowing US) and company-specific issues,” they write. Even so, they came away with the knowledge that Burberry's merchandising teams are analysing the potential factors above and accelerating initiatives to add more appealing items and greater wow factor to stores in coming months. Thus, for now, Credit Suisse opts to maintain its investment outlook (outperform) while it looks for more clarity after extra channel checks, particularly given that the stock has de-rated (to 14.4x the company´s estimated 2013 calendar year price-to-earnings multiple versus the luxury sector´s average multiple of 15x). Nevertheless, its analysts have cut their target to 1400p from 1600p previously. JD Wetherspoon has won the praise of analysts at Nomura for its “swift” reaction to the stagnant sales and margin pressures seen in the 2012 fiscal year. During that period the pub owner saw like-for-like (LFL) sales growth of just 3.2%, which was insufficient to fully offset pressure on gross margins, utility cost inflation and higher expenditure on repairs. As a result, margins fell by 50 basis points to 9%. There are 100 basis points to a full percentage point. However, in its fourth quarter LFL sales grew 6.1% and the company only saw 30 basis points of margin pressure. Furthermore, momentum continued into the start of fiscal year 2013 (six weeks to 9th September) with LFL sales up by 8.4%. That was materially better than the industry data (Peach Tracker +2.1% in August) and suggests that JD Wetherspoon is taking market share, the broker explains. For all of the above reasons Nomura has decided to raise its target to 465p and its recommendation to Neutral (from Sell), adding that it believes that there is risk to the upside if the current sales momentum can be maintained. Analysts at Seymour Pierce have issued a bullish note on Asian Citrus, highlighting both the “very encouraging” 8.7% rise seen in net profits, to RMB629.1m, as well as the “pleasing” 30% increase in its final dividend payment, for a yield of 5.2%. So, while the company´s outlook notes the slowing Chinese economy, which may result in a modest, if any, rise in orange prices, the poor winter harvest expected should see some rise by the end of 2012, the company's house broker notes. Furthermore, the broker has a positive view of the firm´s pursuit of synergistic benefits from the vertical integration into the fruit processing business. These analysts believe that investors will be encouraged by the results. So, given that the company is trading on a historic price-to-earnings (PE) multiple of just 6.6x (earnings per share (EPS) of RMB0.52/5.07p) and a prospective PE of 5.9x, Seymour Pierce has decided to maintain its BUY recommendation and 50p target.

ADVFN III Morning Euro Markets Bulletin for Wednesday, August 29 2012

	ADVFN III	Morning Euro Markets Bulletin
	Daily world financial news

Wednesday, 29 August 2012

London Market Report

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

London open: Glencore leads fallers early on Market Movers techMARK 2,089.87 -0.38% FTSE 100 5,741.83 -0.59% FTSE 250 11,348.30 -0.24% - Spain a concern as Catalonia needs aid - Markets await Bernanke - Ex-div Glencore a heavy faller early on Ex-div stocks and miners were weighing heavily on the FTSE 100 index in early trading on Wednesday morning with worries about Spain weighing on sentiment. It was revealed yesterday that the recession in Spain was deeper than first thought in the second quarter, with concerns intensifying after reports that the regional government of Catalonia would be requesting around €5bn from Spain's liquidity fund. "Catalonia also seems stubborn on political conditions relating to the emergency funds, causing some anxiety for potential future lenders to Spain as a whole. This is pretty big news for the Eurozone as any seemed resistance to conditions relating to any emergency funds could cause a pretty big headache down the line," said trader Simon Furlong from Spreadex. Economists at FxPro said in an e-mailed note this morning that investors are now waiting for Ben Bernanke for a lift: "As the Chairman of the US Federal Reserve gets up to speak on Friday, his words will determine whether markets are imbued with hope or despair ahead of the next US monetary policy meeting in September." FTSE 100: Ex-div stocks, miners down early on Ex-dividend stocks were providing a drag this morning, including heavyweights Croda International, Glencore, Legal & General and Xstrata. Nevertheless, Glencore and Xstrata were being pressured lower by reports that Xstrata shareholder Norges Bank Investment Management has raised its stake in the miner in the last few weeks. The Norwegian fund is expected to join forces with Qatari Holdings to vote to block the merger between the two groups. Copper producer Antofagasta was also lower despite beating EPS estimates in the first half as a decrease in copper prices was offset by higher levels of production. Outsourcing group Serco was higher after saying that it expects good growth in full-year organic revenues in 2012 despite a 2.1% fall in the first half. FTSE 250: RusPetro drops after swinging into the red West Siberia-focused oil and gas firm RusPetro was a heavy faller in the opening hour after reporting a pre-tax loss of $26.4m, compared with a profit of $0.6m in the first half of last year. Revenues, however, tripled as production ramps up. UK and Continental property investment firm Hansteen gained after reporting a sharp rise in half-year profit despite adverse currency movement. On a like-for-like basis, occupancy, values and rent all improved. A host of second-tier stocks went ex-dividend today and were trading in the red, such as African Barrick Gold, Devro, Ferrexpo, Henderson, Hikma, Hochschild Mining, Lancashire Holdings, Rotork, Wood Group, Micro Focus, Rank Group and Stagecoach. UK Event Calendar Wednesday August 29 INTERIMS 21st Century Technology, 888 Holdings, Chime Communications, Corin Group, DP World Limited, Grafton Group Units, Hansteen Holdings, IQE, OJSC Pharmstandard GDR (Reg S), Paddy Power, Serco Group, Zhaikmunai LP GDR (Reg S) INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE Arden Partners INTERIM EX-DIVIDEND DATE Acencia Debt Strategies Ltd., African Barrick Gold , Croda International, Devro, Downing Income VCT 3 E Shs, Ferrexpo, Glencore International, Henderson Group, Hikma Pharmaceuticals, Hochschild Mining, Kingspan Group, Lancashire Holdings, Legal & General Group, Low & Bonar, LPA Group, Mobeus Income & Growth Vct, Robinson, Rotork, Wood Group (John), Xstrata QUARTERLY EX-DIVIDEND DATE Anglogold Ashanti Ltd., Energy XXI (Bermuda) (Di), Premier Energy & Water Trust, Real Estate Credit Investments PCC Ltd, Schlumberger Ltd. INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS Beige Book Fed Survey (US) (19:00) Crude Oil Inventories (US) (15:30) GDP (Preliminary) (US) (13:30) MBA Mortgage Applications (US) (12:00) FINALS Mattioli Woods AGMS Coral Products, Green Compliance, Ingenious Media Active Capital Ltd. FINAL EX-DIVIDEND DATE Bloomsbury Publishing, City of London Group, Downing Absolute Income VCT 2, Downing Distribution VCT 1, Downing Income VCT 3, ECO Animal Health Group, Falkland Islands Holdings, Fletcher King, Micro Focus International, NCC Group, Park Group, Rank Group, Stagecoach Group Europe Market Report FTSE 100 Euronext Dax perf CAC 40 European shares are likely to open on a mixed note on Wednesday, as cautious optimism prevails ahead of revised second-quarter U.S. GDP growth numbers due later in the day and Fed chairman Ben Bernanke's speech at Jackson Hole on Friday before the Fed's September 12-13 policy meeting. Asian markets are trading mostly lower, commodities such as crude and copper are down modestly and the euro remains flat against major currencies. Traders are reluctant to make big bets after the Spanish region of Catalonia, the most indebted of Spain's 17 autonomous regions, sought a financial rescue from the government in Madrid. Catalonia requested for a EUR 5 billion bailout from the EUR 18-billion rescue fund, set up by Madrid to support its debt-ridden regions. Valencia was the first Spanish region to ask for a bailout, followed by Murcia. Meanwhile, both Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy Rajoy and European Union Council President Herman Van Rompuy denied that Spain is in talks for a broader bailout. Speculation about ECB action is gaining ground after ECB President Mario Draghi chose to stay away from this week's annual Jackson Hole Symposium in Wyoming, citing "heavy workload foreseen for the next few days". The ECB will hold its next Governing Council meeting in Frankfurt on Sept. 6 and investors expect hints on the proposed bond-buying program from troubled eurozone countries such as Italy and Spain in order to reduce borrowing costs. European Central Bank Governing Council member Erkki Liikanen suggested in an interview with Finnish daily Aamulehti that ECB should be more transparent in decision making and should make more information public than was the case earlier. The message on the irreversibility of the euro is very important and policymakers should be careful not to create uncertainty while speaking out on the euro crisis, he said. In corporate news, French cosmetics giant L'Oreal SA said its profit for the first half of fiscal 2012 increased 10.8 percent from a year ago, helped by robust sales of its beauty and cosmetics products in North America as well as new markets of Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe and Latin America. Bouygues SA posted first half 2012 net profit attributable to the Group of 278 million euros, down 29 percent from 391 million euros last year. Hotel group Accor SA posted first-half net loss, Group share of 532 million euros, as against a profit of 41 million euros a year ago. European stocks fell across the board on Tuesday after Japan lowered its growth forecast and Catalonia became the third Spanish region to ask for a bailout, fanning fresh worries over Europe's debt crisis. The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks slid 0.8 percent and the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, lost 0.6 percent, while around Europe, the German DAX, France's CAC 40 and Switzerland's SMI fell between 0.6 percent and 1.1 percent. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 ended little changed with a negative bias. U.S. stocks ended a lackluster session flat overnight, as investors digested a mixed batch of economic data and looked forward to the Fed statement for clues on future monetary policy. The tech-heavy Nasdaq inched up by about 0.1 percent, while the Dow slipped 0.2 percent and the S&P 500 edged down 0.1 percent. US close: Stocks tread water Market movers Dow Jones: -22 at 13,103 S&P 500: -1 at 1,409 NASDAQ Composite: +4 at 3,077 US stocks marked time as investors feel inclined to sit on their hands ahead of Friday's speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke at the central bankers conference in Jackson Hole. Markets will be looking for any signs that Ben Bernanke is tempted to increase stimulus by means of quantitative easing, until then it seems they are happy to keep their powder dry. Data from the Conference Board on consumer confidence was not conducive to chasing equity prices higher after the benchmark S&P 500 hit a four-year high last week. Confidence among US consumers fell in August, with the Conference Board's index falling to 60.6 from 65.4 in July, its lowest level since November of last year. The median forecast among a range of predictions from economists was for an August reading of 66. Also weighing on market sentiment was Japan's Cabinet Office decision to downgrade its assessment for the country's economy. Back in the USA, a survey of house prices in 20 US cities in June showed a year-on-year gain in prices in almost two years. Lexmark hopes to cut down on red ink Printer manufacturer Lexmark was the top blue-chip after revealing it would be slashing 1700 jobs and shutting a factory in the Philippines. Baked beans and tomato ketchup giant Heinz rose after it reported profits ahead of analysts' forecasts. AK Steel declined after UBS downgraded the stock to "sell" from "neutral". On a sector basis, raw materials, telephones, utilities and industrials were most out of favour; energy stocks improved in line with the oil price whule consumer stocks were also wanted. Other markets US Treasuries advanced on the back of the disappointing consumer confidence data, as a result of which the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury eased to 1.63% from 1.65% the day before. A US auction of $35bn of two-year notes got away successfully, with a yield of 0.273%, slightly less than the projected yield in pre-auction trading. The bid-to-cover ratio was a relatively healthy 3.94 versus an average ratio of 3.75 in the preceding 10 auctions. Hurricane Isaac, currently affecting oil production in the Gulf of Mexico, had its effect on the oil price, with the October contract for West Texas intermediate crude rising 0.9% to $96.33 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. S&P 500 - Risers Lexmark International Inc. (LXK) $21.62 +13.73% Tyson Foods Inc. (TSN) $15.62 +4.55% Juniper Networks Inc. (JNPR) $18.34 +3.32% Carnival Corp. (CCL) $34.98 +3.00% J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (JCP) $25.30 +2.64% Nike Inc. (NKE) $98.87 +2.53% E*TRADE Financial Corp. (ETFC) $8.60 +2.50% Autodesk Inc. (ADSK) $31.23 +2.36% Phillips 66 Common Stock (PSX) $41.96 +2.17% VF Corp. (VFC) $152.94 +2.14% S&P 500 - Fallers Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $145.12 -2.64% Hudson City Bancorp Inc. (HCBK) $7.26 -2.55% KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) $51.66 -2.49% Deere & Co. (DE) $73.81 -1.94% Peabody Energy Corp. (BTU) $22.36 -1.93% Dell Inc. (DELL) $10.91 -1.88% CONSOL Energy Inc. (CNX) $31.61 -1.86% Southwestern Energy Co. (SWN) $31.32 -1.82% Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) $16.90 -1.80% Alpha Natural Res (ANR) $6.09 -1.77% Dow Jones I.A - Risers Intel Corp. (INTC) $25.00 +0.64% Chevron Corp. (CVX) $112.35 +0.55% Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $88.10 +0.41% Kraft Foods Inc. (KFT) $41.86 +0.31% American Express Co. (AXP) $57.56 +0.24% Alcoa Inc. (AA) $8.50 +0.24% Boeing Co. (BA) $71.52 +0.20% United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $80.64 +0.10% Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $67.51 +0.03% Dow Jones I.A - Fallers Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) $16.90 -1.80% Bank of America Corp. (BAC) $7.96 -1.36% Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $19.22 -0.72% Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $86.01 -0.72% AT&T Inc. (T) $36.64 -0.62% Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $64.84 -0.52% Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $42.83 -0.51% McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $89.14 -0.45% Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $38.00 -0.45% International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) $194.87 -0.42% Nasdaq 100 - Risers Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $120.62 +3.18% Autodesk Inc. (ADSK) $31.23 +2.36% Altera Corp. (ALTR) $37.07 +1.62% Avago Technologies Ltd. (AVGO) $36.27 +1.40% Expedia Inc. (EXPE) $52.88 +1.34% Google Inc. (GOOG) $677.25 +1.20% Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) $54.09 +1.08% Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (BBBY) $67.24 +1.08% Amazon.Com Inc. (AMZN) $246.11 +0.90% Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $62.95 +0.90% Nasdaq 100 - Fallers KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) $51.66 -2.49% Dell Inc. (DELL) $10.91 -1.88% Sandisk Corp. (SNDK) $42.31 -1.49% Monster Beverage Corp (MNST) $59.48 -0.92% Warner Chilcott Plc (WCRX) $16.90 -0.88% Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) $14.72 -0.88% Randgold Resources Ltd. Ads (GOLD) $98.98 -0.84% Maxim Integrated Products Inc. (MXIM) $26.85 -0.81% Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE) $32.06 -0.80% Fiserv Inc. (FISV) $70.05 -0.79% Newspaper Round Up Wednesday newspaper round-up: Xstrata, Spain, Heathrow Pressure on Glencore over its $65bn merger with Xstrata intensified yesterday after a third party was revealed to be potentially muddying the waters for the commodities trader. Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM) has been steadily buying shares in Xstrata over the past few weeks and its most recent foray into the market triggered a regulatory announcement that showed that it now has just over 88 million shares. Combined with a small number of derivative instruments, the acquisition took NBIM's stake in the mining company to the 3 per cent that forces an investor to show its hand. NBIM, which is responsible for Norway's Government Pension Fund, said that it had a "general policy of not commenting on individual investments", and Glencore was unable to comment. Xstrata was also unavailable for comment. Reports claimed yesterday that the Norwegian move was replicating the policy of Qatar Holding, which has increased its stake in the miner and also opposed the deal in an attempt to force better terms, The Times says. Spain has suffered the worst haemorrhaging of bank deposits since the launch of the euro, losing funds equal to 7% of GDP in a single month. Data from the European Central Bank shows that outflows from Spanish commercial banks reached €74bn (£59bn) in July, twice the previous monthly record. This brings the total deposit loss over the past year to 10.9%, replicating the pattern seen in Greece as the crisis spread. The Bank of Spain said the fall is distorted by the July effect of tax payments and by the expiry of securitised funds. On the other hand, Julian Callow from Barclays Capital said the deposit loss is €65bn even when adjusted for the season: "This is highly significant. Deposit outflows are clearly picking up and the balance sheet of the Spanish banking system is contracting," The Telegraph reports. The Group of Seven nations last night said they "stand ready" to release emergency supplies of oil into the market, as Hurricane Isaac shuts down US oil production in the Gulf of Mexico. The extreme weather has intensified policy-makers' concerns around the oil price, which has climbed more than 20 over the past three months as sanctions on Iran stifle supplies. Finance ministers from the G7 group, which includes the US, Britain, Germany and France, last night urged the world's oil-producing nations to up their output and warned they were ready to sanction the release of strategic reserves to boost supplies, The Telegraph says. Scotland's first Alternative Investment Market (Aim) flotation of the year is to take place next week as an Aberdeen oil and gas group prepares to raise funds for a major acquisition. Shares in Eland Oil & Gas are due to begin trading on Aim next Monday and the group plans to use the £118m proceeds to buy a stake in an onshore mining lease in Nigeria. Eland began operations in May 2010 with the aim of identifying and acquiring interests in oil and gas assets in west Africa. Last April, the firm and its partner, Starcrest Nigeria Energy, successfully bid for a 45% stake in the Oil Mining Lease (OML) 40 licence following an auction by the Nigerian Agip Oil Company, Shell and Total E&P Nigeria. Canaccord Genuity has been appointed as the nominated adviser and broker. The shares are to debut at 100p. The move, first revealed by Scotland on Sunday in June, would see Eland valued at about £135m, The Scotsman says. The embattled chief executive of G4S said he was still unable to provide answers about why the company's Olympics security contract went so badly wrong as he revealed associated losses could run beyond £50m. Nick Buckles said he was taking "each week at a time" as he battles to save his job and repair the reputation in Britain of the FTSE 100 company after it failed to provide all 10,400 security guards it had agreed to under its contract with the Government. Commenting as G4S booked a £50m loss against the contract, he admitted the debacle could have a major impact on G4S's ability to win future contracts from the Government. But Mr Buckles claimed he could not comment on what happened – despite the end of the Olympics – until PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has completed a review on behalf of the company's board, which is due in the second half of September, according to The Telegraph. Nick Clegg has called for a new emergency "wealth tax" on richer Britons during the economic downturn. The Deputy Prime Minister said that "people of very considerable personal wealth have got to make a bit of an extra contribution" towards what he describes as the "national effort". Mr.Clegg will outline plans for his new wealth tax - which he suggests is necessary to ensure that British society remains "cohesive" - at the Liberal Democrats' party conference next month. The Coalition has already announced that the austerity program of public spending cuts, including pay freezes in the public sector, will last for at least another two years until 2017. The deputy Prime Minister says today that this is only fair if accompanied by higher taxes on the wealthy, The Telegraph reports. Only 8% of Lonmin's South African miners showed up for work yesterday, worried that they would be attacked by militant, striking colleagues if they clocked in. Miners attempting to go to work were physically threatened and in some cases searched by colleagues, who stole their clocking-in cards. Intimidation centred on the free buses that brings employees to work, several of which had been set alight in the run-up to this month's violence. The company is losing production of 15,000 ounces of platinum a week during the shutdown and expects to breach the conditions of its bank loans next month. Lonmin is unlikely to reissue an ultimatum to workers that they face the sack if they do not return to work. Instead, the company plans to deploy its security guards on buses today in an attempt to thwart militant workers, The Times writes. Efforts by HM Revenue & Customs to clamp down on alcohol tax fraud have been lambasted as inadequate by an influential House of Commons watchdog. The Public Accounts Committee, chaired by Margaret Hodge, the Labour MP for Barking, said that although alcohol fraud was costing as much as £1.2bn in uncollected duty, HMRC lacked reliable information on the most cost-effective ways of tackling the issue and seemed "reluctant to prosecute offenders". In its conclusions, published today, the committee says that although alcohol fraud is "big business", the strategy begun by HMRC in April 2010 to combat the fraud was "being seriously hampered by a lack of information," according to The Times. Greece is in talks with the European Commission to establish several special economic zones offering tax breaks to attract investors and help reinvigorate its economy after five years of recession, development minister Kostis Hatzidakis said on Tuesday. The proposal is one of 10 priorities, from accelerating EU-backed infrastructure projects to reducing bureaucracy for potential investors, aimed at creating jobs and putting the country on track for sustained growth from 2014 onwards. Antonis Samaras, the Greek premier, stressed during talks last week in Berlin and Paris with German and French leaders that Greece needs its partners' support to lay the basis for future growth within the Eurozone, following an unprecedented fiscal consolidation, The Financial Times explains. Nick Clegg rushed to the aid of embattled transport secretary Justine Greening on Tuesday, vowing the coalition would "stick to" its agreed policy of blocking a third runway at Heathrow. The deputy prime minister came out fighting after Tim Yeo, a senior Tory backbencher, mocked David Cameron for dithering over the expansion of the west London airport, asking whether the prime minister was "man or mouse," The Financial Times says.

RTTNews Forex Market Update for August 24, 2012.

Economic News August 24, 2012

China Studying New Measures To Intensify Property Control: Report

The Chinese government is closely monitoring the developments in the real estate market and is studying new measures to "strengthen" the property market controls, Xinhua reported Thursday citing unnamed official with the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development. (Aug 24, 2012) Full Article 

Spain July Producer Price Inflation Rises Marginally

Spain's producer price inflation rose to 2.6 percent annually from 2.5 percent in June, the statistical office INE said Friday. (Aug 24, 2012) Full Article 

Brazilian Consumer Sentiment Weakens For Fourth Month

Consumer confidence in Brazil deteriorated for the fourth successive month in August, data released by the Getulio Vargas Foundation showed Friday. (Aug 24, 2012) Full Article 

BoE's Weale Prefer Rate Cut To More QE: Report

Bank of England policymaker Martin Weale said he would prefer interest rate reduction to more quantitative easing. (Aug 24, 2012) Full Article 

U.S. Durable Goods Orders Jump 4.2 Percent In July, Higher Than Expected

The transportation sector continued to power a strong increase in U.S. durable goods orders in July, marking the third consecutive month of growth in a critical sector of the economy. According to figures released Friday by the Commerce Department, new orders for durable goods in July came in at $230.7 billion, a 4.2 percent increase from June levels. The increase was much higher than most economists had expected, with most forecasting growth of 1.9 percent, much closer to the 1.6 percent (Aug 24, 2012) Full Article 

Forex Top Story

New Zealand July Trade Surplus NZ$15 Mln

New Zealand saw a seasonally adjusted merchandise trade surplus of NZ$15 million in June, Statistics New Zealand said on Friday - representing 0.4 percent of exports. (Aug 24, 2012) Full Article 

RBA Stevens Sees Mining Boom Peaking Within Next 2 Yrs

Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Glenn Stevens said the ongoing mining boom will likely see its peak within the next year or two and the central bank is prepared to respond to significant deviations from this central forecast. (Aug 24, 2012) Full Article 

Germany, France Want Greece To Stick To Reforms

Germany and France retained pressure on Greece to strictly implement the reforms demanded by its international creditors ahead of this week's crucial meeting between its leaders. Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras is set to meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday and French President Francois Hollande on Saturday. The Greek premier will urge the leaders to consider extending the fiscal consolidation program. (Aug 24, 2012) Full Article 

Singapore Factory Output Growth Slows Sharply To 1.9% In July

Singapore' manufacturing production increased at a significantly slower pace in July, and the rate of growth was far below economists' forecast, as the export-dependent economy remained under pressure from falling demand for its products, especially in the biomedical and electronics industries, latest data showed Friday. (Aug 24, 2012) Full Article 

BoJ's Shirakawa Warns Against Persistent Upward Pressure On Yen

Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa on Friday reiterated his warning against prolonged gains in the yen, saying chronic upward pressure on the yen is placing downward pressure on Japan's economy. (Aug 24, 2012) Full Article 

U.K. Economy Contracts Less Than Estimated In Q2

The U.K. economy contracted less than initially estimated in the second quarter on smaller declines in construction and production sectors. (Aug 24, 2012) Full Article 

Commodities

Gold Slips From 4-month High

Gold was paring gains Friday morning after advancing to a fresh four-month high in the previous session as stimulus is expected to raise the inflation outlook, benefiting the yellow metal, which is seen as a hedge against rising prices. (Aug 24, 2012) Full Article 

Crude Slips Near $95

The price of crude oil was ticking lower Friday morning as traders await further cues over the likelihood of more economic stimulus for the U.S. economy. (Aug 24, 2012) Full Article

Political News

US: Pacific Rim Missile Defense Not Aiming China, But To Face N. Korean Threat

The United States has made it clear that its missile defense cooperation plans in the Pacific Rim are not directed at China and that its defensive systems will not respond unless missiles have been fired. (Aug 24, 2012) Full Article 

UN Experts Urge Bahrain To End Persecution Of Human Rights Defenders

A group of U.N. human rights experts have called on the Bahraini authorities to comply with the rights to peaceful assembly and expression and immediately release those arbitrarily detained for exercising their legitimate freedoms." (Aug 24, 2012) Full Article 

US, Macedonia Sign Open Skies Air Transport Pact

The United States and Macedonia have signed an Open Skies air services agreement that will formalize liberalization of their bilateral aviation relationship. (Aug 24, 2012) Full Article

ISAF Chief: Pulling Troops Away From Afghan Partners Not Best To Prevent Attacks

The Commander of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) says he does not believe pulling troops away from their Afghan partners is the best way to go about preventing insider attacks. (Aug 24, 2012) Full Article

No Let UP In Seoul-Tokyo Row Over Disputed Islands

In escalating diplomatic row between Seoul and Tokyo, South Korea on Friday protested Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba's claim that South Korea is illegally occupying a set of disputed islets in the Sea of Japan. (Aug 24, 2012) Full Article 

Currency Alerts

US Dollar Drifts Up On Safe-haven Buying

The initial direction for the U.S. dollar is rather bullish in early Asian deals Friday (Aug 24, 2012) Full Article

Australian Dollar Down On Risk-aversion

The Australian dollar remained a clear underperformer among major currencies in Asian deals Friday (Aug 24, 2012) Full Article 

Euro Slides On Risk Aversion

The euro lost ground against most major currencies in the European session on Friday as stocks fell on global growth worries. (Aug 24, 2012) Full Article 

General News

State Department Welcomes SEC Approval Of Rules On Conflict Minerals

The U.S. State Department has welcomed the approval by the Securities and Exchange Commission of final rules implementing Sections 1502 and 1504 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. (Aug 24, 2012) Full Article 

Three Killed In Newly-Built Bridge Collapse In China

A new bridge built less than an year ago in China's north-eastern Heilongjiang province collapsed early on Friday killing three people and injuring another five. (Aug 24, 2012) Full Article

Norway Mass Killer Sentenced To 21 Years In Jail

A Norwegian court has sentenced to 21 years in jail a right-wing extremist, who admitted killing of 77 people in a car bombing and shooting rampage in Norway last year. (Aug 24, 2012) Full Article

Greenpeace Invades Russia's Arctic Oil Platform

Six environmental activists led by the head of Greenpeace International Kumi Naidoo stormed a Russian oil platform in the northern Pechora Sea on Friday to protest against oil drilling in the Arctic. (Aug 24, 2012) Full Article

Stocks futures unchanged: Stocks and markets in the News | U.S. Futures Indications for August 24, 2012.

By William L. Watts, MarketWatch 

FRANKFURT (MarketWatch) — U.S. stock index futures traded near unchanged levels Friday amid uncertainty over prospects for additional stimulus by the Federal Reserve, while Apple Inc. shares were little changed in European activity after a South Korean court delivered a split decision in a patent battle with rival Samsung Electronics Co. 

Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJU2 -0.0077% rose 10 points, or 0.1%, to 13,049.

S&P 500 Index futures SPU2 -0.06% were 0.2 point higher at 1,400.20, while Nasdaq 100 futures NDU2 +0.03% added 1.5 points to 2,762.50. 

Apple iPhone 4, Samsung Galaxy S

Minutes of the Fed’s July 31-Aug. 1 policy meeting released Wednesday were viewed as a signal that an additional round of monetary easing was likely around the corner, boosting equities and other risk-oriented asset classes. But enthusiasm faded after St. Louis Federal President James Bullard, a non-voter this year on the FOMC, told CNBC that the minutes were “stale” and that recent data didn’t warrant a huge policy response. 

But Chicago Fed President Charles Evans, who is also a non-voter this year, on Thursday said the Fed should take action to bolster the economy. 

Customizing news on iPads A new app called Zite analyzes social network activity and reading behavior to create a personalized magazine. Katherine Boehret reports. 

“Given all the mixed messages, the Jackson Hole symposium next Friday is building up to be a key event as we look forward to the latest download from the chairman himself,” said James Reid, strategist at Deutsche Bank, referring to a scheduled Aug. 31 speech by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke at the Kansas City Fed’s annual symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyo. 

European shares edged lower, with the Stoxx 600 Europe index XX:SXXP -0.13% falling 0.1%. Fading hopes for stimulus from the Fed and nervousness ahead of a meeting between Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and German Chancellor Angela Merkel contributed to the softer tone, strategists said. Read: Europe stocks off on banks, miners; Nokia rises . 

Samaras has argued that Greece should see an extension of the deadline for implementing additional austerity measures and reforms. 

Merkel and French President François Hollande, who met in Berlin Thursday night, urged Greece to stick to reforms and said any discussion of making bailout terms more flexible can come only after the country's troika of international lenders issue a report next month. 

“While a similar tone following her meeting with Samaras would defuse escalation by pushing out the day of reckoning further into the future, such an outcome may still be seen as negative for the euro and wider risk appetite,” said Ilya Spivak, currency strategist at DailyFX. 

“Investors appear to be increasingly frustrated by the lack of directional cues—whether positive or negative—from euro-zone officials and markets may be approaching a juncture where price action forces policy once again,” Spivak said. 

Shares of Apple AAPL -0.56% traded at $662.33 in Frankfurt, down 30 cents from their U.S. close on Thursday. A three-judge panel in South Kora ruled that Apple had violated two Samsung patents, while Samsug violated one Apple patent. Read: Apple, Samsung tie in Korea verdict .

The court ordered both companies to halt sales of electronic products that infringe patents in South Korea and ordered Apple to pay a nominal 20 million won ($17,650) for each of its patent violations. Samsung was ordered to pay Apple 25 million won. 

Shares of Autodesk Inc. ADSK +0.62% may be in focus after it reported disappointing sales and issued a revenue target well below Wall Street expectations after Thursday’s close. 

The economic calendar features July durable goods orders at 8:30 a.m. Eastern. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch forecast a 3% rise after an increase of 1.3% in June. 

Spivak said a strong figure could serve to undercut sentiment, since it would be seen as another argument against additional easing by the Fed. 

Nymex crude-oil futures CLV2 -0.41% slipped 10 cents to $96.17 a barrel. Gold futures GCZ2 -0.32% declined 50 cents to $1,672.30 an ounce. 

The dollar index DXY +0.27% , a measure of the U.S. unit against a basket of six major rivals, rose 0.2% to 81.494. 

The euro EURUSD -0.45% traded at $1.2535, down 0.2%. The dollar fetched 78.55 Japanese yen USDJPY -0.02% , little changed from Thursday. 

 

William L. Watts is MarketWatch's European bureau chief, based in Frankfurt.

ADVFN III Morning Euro Markets Bulletin for Friday, August 24, 2012.

	ADVFN III	Morning Euro Markets Bulletin
	Daily world financial news

Friday, 24 August 2012

London Market Report

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

Footsie falls before GDP data Market Movers techMARK 2,102.92 +0.14% FTSE 100 5,764.20 -0.21% FTSE 250 11,441.23 -0.22% London's benchmark index slumped in early trading on Friday with mining stocks once again dominating the downward trend ahead of meetings of Eurozone leaders and the release of economic growth data in the UK. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras are due to meet later today in Berlin to discuss the Greek economy and the extension of meeting the bailout terms. French President François Hollande said yesterday that Eurozone leaders want Greece to remain in the single-currency region but stressed that “it’s up to the Greeks to make responsible efforts to achieve this goal”. According to media reports this morning, the German Finance Ministry has established a group to look at the impact of contagion from a Greek exit from the Eurozone. "These issues have surely been studied and discussed within the government for some time now, but the official confirmation of a working group putting together a 'Plan B' is a clear signal to the Greek government and its PM Samaras, who is visiting Chancellor Merkel today, that there is very little room for renegotiating the current Greek aid programme," said analysts at Barclays in en e-mailed note. Meanwhile, UK gross domestic product (GDP) data is due for release this morning. The first stab at estimating GDP suggested that the UK economy had shrunk by an eye-watering 0.7% during the quarter, after declining by 0.3% in the first three months of the year. "Since then subsequent data revisions seem to suggest that there will be an upward revision to the numbers with construction numbers being revised higher along with two to three months of retail sales numbers. These revisions are expected to still show a contraction but of -0.5%, or even -0.4%. Anything less than that level of adjustment would be a disappointment. FTSE 100: Miners and financials provide a drag Mining stocks were heavy fallers early on with Kazakhmys, Rio Tinto, ENRC, Antofagasta, Anglo American, Vedanta, BHP Billiton and Randgold falling sharply. Anglo American dropped after Jefferies downgraded the stock this morning from 'buy' to 'hold' despite yesterday's news that it had resolved a 10-month dispute with Codelco relating to assets in Chile. "While this outcome should be a modest positive for Anglo, we are increasingly concerned about the fundamental outlook for the company, " the broker said. Financials were also out favour with fund manager Ashmore among the worst performers after Citigroup lowered its rating to 'sell'. Global banking group HSBC was under the weather on rumours that it is in talks about a settlement concerning the allegations of laundering funds of sanctioned countries such as Iran and Sudan. FTSE 250: Berendsen gains; Stobart and Lonmin drop Work-wear and wash-room facilities provider Berendsen rose after increasing profitability in the first half of 2012, despite a small dip in revenues. Logistice firm Stobart fell after saying its short-term performance in transport is lower than market expectations as the current recessionary climate continues to hurt the sector. Platinum miner Lonmin was out of favour after appointing Simon Scott, the group's Chief Financial Officer, as Acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) while Ian Farmer is receiving treatment for his illness. In small caps news, upmarket cooker maker AGA Rangemaster dropped over 10% after deciding not to pay an interim dividend as revenues and profits slipped in the first half. FTSE 100 - Risers Diageo (DGE) 1,715.00p +1.00% Shire Plc (SHP) 1,943.00p +0.99% Centrica (CNA) 326.30p +0.96% SSE (SSE) 1,357.00p +0.89% Aggreko (AGK) 2,279.00p +0.89% GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,463.50p +0.86% Bunzl (BNZL) 1,111.00p +0.73% Severn Trent (SVT) 1,738.00p +0.70% Unilever (ULVR) 2,262.00p +0.67% Compass Group (CPG) 714.00p +0.63% FTSE 100 - Fallers Kazakhmys (KAZ) 650.00p -4.48% Ashmore Group (ASHM) 332.20p -4.13% Rio Tinto (RIO) 2,855.00p -3.45% Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 339.70p -3.36% Anglo American (AAL) 1,879.50p -3.19% Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,117.00p -3.04% Vedanta Resources (VED) 914.50p -2.76% BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,911.00p -2.52% Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 222.50p -2.37% Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 6,260.00p -2.19% FTSE 250 - Risers JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 685.50p +4.34% Perform Group (PER) 380.00p +3.49% Berendsen (BRSN) 525.00p +2.14% St. Modwen Properties (SMP) 208.40p +2.06% Devro (DVO) 309.80p +1.57% Redrow (RDW) 141.90p +1.36% COLT Group SA (COLT) 118.80p +1.28% PZ Cussons (PZC) 307.40p +1.28% Inmarsat (ISAT) 570.50p +1.24% TR Property Inv Trust (TRY) 163.50p +1.24% FTSE 250 - Fallers Aquarius Platinum Ltd. (AQP) 39.11p -4.84% Stobart Group Ltd. (STOB) 115.00p -3.44% Lonmin (LMI) 618.50p -3.36% Ferrexpo (FXPO) 185.90p -3.08% Avocet Mining (AVM) 90.40p -2.80% Soco International (SIA) 338.20p -2.62% SIG (SHI) 100.00p -2.53% Tullett Prebon (TLPR) 284.90p -2.33% Shanks Group (SKS) 90.40p -2.27% Premier Oil (PMO) 368.60p -2.20% FX round-up FTSE 100 Euronext Dax perf CAC 40 Euro strikes seven week high The euro rallied against the dollar on Thursday for the fourth consecutive session on reports that Spain is seeking a bailout. The euro climbed to $1.2564 from $1.2535 the previous session, the highest closing level since the start of July. Rumours circled throughout the session that Spain could seek a sovereign bailout. However there was no official confirmation about the reports. Meanwhile the dollar remained under pressure on increased expectations the US Federal Reserve could opt for more stimulus measures "fairly soon" after minutes on Wednesday showed most central bank officials were concerned about the lack of progress made by the US economy. Investors are increasingly expecting a third round of quantitative easing, otherwise known as QE3. The dollar index, which measures the US currency against a basket of six other major currencies, declined to 81.368 from 81.474 late Wednesday. Against the yen, the dollar bought ¥78.48 hardly changed from ¥78.43 the previous session. Sterling rose to $1.5866 from $1.5868 on Wednesday as appetite for perceived riskier currencies increased after the Fed indicated that more stimulus could be on its way soon. UK Event Calendar INTERIMS Aga Rangemaster Group, Berendsen, Henry Boot INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE Edinburgh UK Tracker Trust, Microgen, Throgmorton Trust QUARTERLY PAYMENT DATE Picton Property Income Ltd INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS Durable Goods Orders (US) (13:30) GMS Mouchel Group, Small Companies Dividend Trust FINALS Eurocommercial Properties NV ANNUAL REPORT Renishaw AGMS IRET Securities Ltd Zero Div Pref, Pathfinder Minerals , Pathfinder Minerals , Picton Property Income Ltd, Stagecoach Group UK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS GDP (output, income & expenditure) (09:30) Index of Services (09:30) FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE Aberdeen New Dawn Inv Trust, AEC Education, Heath (Samuel) & Sons, Latham (James), Puma VCT V, RIT Capital Partners, Volex US Market Report Stocks slump after Fed official dashes stimulus hopes Dow Jones -115.3 to 13,057.46 Nasdaq -20.27 to 3,053.40 S&P 500 -11.41 at 1,402.08 US stocks closed firmly lower on Thursday after an official from the Federal Reserve dashed hopes of further economic stimulus action. The Dow Jones ended down for a fourth consecutive session, with only two risers on the blue chip index, while Hewlett Packard led the fallers. St Louis Fed President James Bullard said the minutes from the latest Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting are now outdated because they do not pick up the stronger economic data that has been released since then. While Bullard is not a voting member on monetary policy, he has a track record for moving markets. Meanwhile, the dollar was down, with the ICE dollar index registering 82.368 comapred to 81.475 the previous evening. The situation wasn't helped by a rise in initial weekly unemployment claims, which grew by 4,000 to 372,000 last week, above the 365,000 expected by analysts. The previous week's figure was revised from 366,000 to 368,000, according to data from the Labor Department. The four-week moving average rose by 3,750 to 368,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 364,250, which was the lowest since late March. COMPANIES Hain Celestial Group rose sharply after Premier Foods announced an agreement to sell the company its sweet spreads and jellies business for $317m in cash and Hain shares. China Unicom was up after it posted a 32% leap in first half profits, ahead of expectations on the back of increased subscriber numbers. Synopsys was also higher after reporting a 45% jump in quarterly profits and an increased full year target. Meanwhile, heading lower was Hewlett-Packard following comments from the Chief Executive of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Meg Whitman, who said the PC market "remains weak and channel inventory is high across the industry". Supermarket chain Safeway dropped after Jefferies reduced its rating on the stock from buy to hold. Autodesk was significantly lower after the firm's sales came in below forecasts and the company issued a revenue target below expectations. OTHER MARKETS The October West Texas Intermediate crude futures contract fell by 1.02% to $96.27 a barrel in NYMEX trading. 10-year US treasuries rose by 4/32 dollars, with yields at 1.68%. Friday newspaper round-up Merkel, Breaking-point, Greece Putting aside the prospect of a clash with Athens, Angela Merkel has made a passionate appeal to the German public to back the Eurozone “dream.” The German chancellor today launched a bold marketing campaign with the slogan: “I want Europe”. “Europe is not just a matter of the intellect – Europe is and remains above all a matter of the heart,” she said in a video clip which launched a nationwide campaign. She added: “We have [European integration] to thank for our peace, our prosperity.” The campaign was backed by German companies, as well as celebrities, sports stars, former politicians and ordinary workers. Their clips ended with the phrase: “They know why Europe is good for us.” A raft of gloomy economic data showed why the rest of Germany needed the reminder. Manufacturing and services data showed that the powerhouse economy’s private sector shrank for the fourth month running in August, according to The Telegraph. Royal Bank of Scotland faces an even bigger bill than Barclays to settle allegations that it attempted to manipulate Libor, according to a Labour member of the Treasury select committee. MP John Mann said he had been told by “City insiders” that RBS would have to pay out even more than the £290m Barclays was handed in fines after settling the US and British investigations into Libor-rigging. Mr Mann claimed that the Government was already aware of the scale of the fines likely to be imposed on RBS, which is 82% owned by the state. “There is an obvious Government advantage in allowing Barclays to take the full flak and letting RBS sneak in later,” he said, according to The Telegraph. A £50 rise in monthly costs is all it would take to push one third of households to financial breaking point, according to a new study. With rising mortgage payments and utility bills, budgets are becoming so tight that millions of people would not be able to meet all their monthly bills were they bumped up by £50 or less. Of these, one in five is already finding it impossible to pay all their bills, with increasing numbers turning to debt to get them through the month, the survey by MoneySupermarket.com found. Although people are cutting back expenses where they can, 44% of adults said they have increased their use of credit over the last year to help them make it through each month. As many as 24% of those surveyed said they have relied more on credit cards and 17% have turned to authorised overdrafts to help them meet regular household outgoings. Thirteen per cent have relied on hand outs from friends and family. Household budgets have become increasingly tight as incomes remain stagnant while costs rise. Sir Howard Davies was under pressure to step down as a director of the Prudential last night after being named chairman of Britain’s biggest insurance funds consolidator, Phoenix Group. Leading shareholders in both insurers expressed concerns about potential conflicts of interest for Sir Howard, the former chairman of the City regulator, the Financial Services Authority. “It’s like the chairman of Marks & Spencer joining the board at Booker [the cash and carry chain],” said one top Prudential investor. “I find it extraordinary that the new chairman of the Prudential [Paul Manduca] has signed off on that appointment. It is bizarre,” he said. Several of Phoenix’s most senior shareholders said that they raised concerns about potential conflicts when they were told in advance, writes The Times. Greece will not be forced out of the single currency until after the US presidential elections at the earliest, according to senior British officials. Britain believes that any such preparations would prompt President Obama to force Europe to delay expulsion until after November 6. A report on the progress of the Greek economy by the IMF and EU officials is expected towards the end of September or early October. Any Greek exit is likely to happen over a weekend. “President Obama would bring a pretty large amount of pressure to bear on Germany if they tried to go before the elections,” a senior government source said. US officials are worried about the impact of a Greek exit across the Atlantic, and that they would not be able to focus on the inevitable turmoil it would trigger at the same time as the elections. Britain has told Germany that if Greece were to leave, Europe must increase the size of the firewalls to prevent contagion spreading to other Eurozone countries. There is speculation in Whitehall that the Eurozone may try to delay any Greek exit until after the German elections in September 2013, The Times reports. Germany and France pressed Greece last night to continue reforms as the Greek Prime Minister warned of “a nightmare” if it were forced from the euro.Chancellor Merkel and President Hollande met in Berlin in an attempt to formulate a joint response to Greece’s request for two years more to implement austerity measures in exchange for billions of euros in bailout funds. The leaders of the Eurozone’s two largest economies will hold separate meetings today and tomorrow with Antonis Samaras as Greece faces what has been called its “last chance” to avert expulsion from the euro. Mrs Merkel said yesterday: “It is important for me that we all stick to our commitments ... We will, and I will, encourage Greece to continue along its path of reform, which has demanded a lot of the Greek people,” according to The Times.