UK/Euro Financial Market Daily Morning Briefing 06-09-2007

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London shares firmer in early deals, M&A talk lifts miners, BoE in focus

The FTSE 100 was firmer in early deals as investors shrugged off falls on US markets overnight to seek bargains ahead of today's BoE rate decision, with mining stocks leading the market amid renewed M&A talk.
   
At 9.05 am, the FTSE 100 was up 47.1 points at 6,317.8, having closed yesterday's session down 106.1 points at 6,270.7. The FTSE 250 was up 85.4 points at 11,385.7. Early volume was reasonable with 214 mln shares trading in 56,582 deals.
   
"It looks like another choppy session, with M&A talk lifting the miners and rumours of another Fed discount rate cut doing the rounds, but there's no real conviction to the rally," Lawrence Peterman, Investment Director at Eden Financial, told Thomson Financial News. "It's a case of hang on in there and ride out the volatility," Peterman added.
   
Later today, the Bank of England is expected to leave its benchmark rate on hold at 5.75 pct.
   
However, the turmoil hitting the credit markets means many market players are calling for the bank to clarify whether its policy stance going forward has changed since the August Inflation Report.
   
"If there was ever an occasion the MPC might release a statement to accompany an expected no-change decision, then it is this week," said George Buckley, UK economist at Deutsche Bank.
   
Last night on Wall Street, the Dow closed off 143.39, or 1.07 pct, at 13,305.47, after having fallen as much as 200 points in the session.
   
Broader stock indicators also lost ground. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 17.13 to 1,472.29, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 24.29 to 2,605.95.   

Meanwhile over in Asia, the Nikkei 225 index closed up 98.55 points at 16,257.00, while in Hong Kong the Hang Seng finished the morning down 101.43 points at 23,967.74.
   
Among early blue chip risers this morning, mining and oil stocks accounted for over half of the index's total, with the former lifted by M&A talk and broker upgrades.

Rio Tinto was the chief beneficiary, with the latest speculation centring on BHP Billiton teaming up with Brazil's CVRD in a joint bid for Rio. The companies declined to comment on the rumour and many market players were sceptical.   

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Rio's shares added 127 to 3,652, helped by an upgrade to 'outperform' from 'market perform' with a raised target of 2,900 pence from 2,700 at Sanford Bernstein on expectations of higher iron ore prices.
   
Elsewhere, peer Anglo American added 64 to 2,908 as the same broker raised its rating to 'market perform' from 'underperform'. Kazakhmys rallied 33 to 1842, Xstrata added 42 to 2,955 and Antofagasta took on 7 to 717.
   
Elsewhere, oil stocks rose, as crude oil continued to climb and ticked above the 76 usd per barrel level on expectations that OPEC will maintain its existing production quota at a meeting next week. BP added 5 to 564, while RDS took on 22 to 1986 and BG Group was up 21 to 808, after saying more oil was found in the Santos Basin, offshore Brazil.
   
Other early risers include ITV, up 1.7 at 113.1 after the UK's Office of Fair Trading said today that it has decided to conduct a review of ITV's Contract Rights Renewal Undertakings -- raising hopes the commercial broadcaster may be able to raise more money from advertisers.
   
The OFT said the review is expected to start in January 2008 and will be conducted in partnership with media regulator Ofcom.
   
And Reuters gained 9 to 636-3/4, after Lehman upgraded its stance in the multimedia giant to 'overweight' from 'equal weight' and raised its target to 770 pence from 660 ahead of the planned merger with Thomson.
   
In earnings news, Punch Taverns added 31 to 1097 after the group reported an expected slowdown in profits due to the smoking ban and poor weather.
   
On the downside, Drax slid back to trade 30 lower at 645, amid profit-taking following an in-line H1 trading statement.
   
Among midcaps, earnings accounted for most of the early movers, with Galiform ticking up 8.75 to 142.5 after reporting strong first half numbers this morning.
   
And AMEC added 38 to 693 after reporting record performance in its three core divisions and increasing overall expectations for full year pretax profit by 5 mln stg, mainly to reflect the strength of trading and the group's improved cash position.

On the downside, Abbot Group slid 10.75 to 276.75 after reporting a 30 pct rise in first half pretax profit on rising turnover, but cautioned that full year results would be at the lower end of expectations on higher interest costs.
   
Finally, Benfield eased 8.25 to 297.5 after the reinsurance broker reported a 5.6 pct fall in first half pretax profit.

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UK Diary of Events

For a diary of key financial and corporate events in the UK today, click here

US Summary

For a summary of US stocks at yesterday's close of trade, click here

Milan

MILAN - Milan shares TFN market data at 9.41 am

Main indices:
   
Mibtel up 0.75 pct at 31,006
   
S&P/Mib up 0.80 pct at 39,661

Main S&P/Mib gainers:
   
Enel up 1.43 pct at 7.45 eur, after the release of its first-half results, which showed a higher-than-expected net profit. The company also reiterated its dividend policy
   
Bulgari up 1.18 pct at 10.28, after comments by PPR's CEO Francois-Henri Pinault, who said the group would consider acquiring Bulgari if it was for sale. Bulgari has several times said it is not up for sale
   
Saipem up 1.04 pct at 27.22
   
Pirelli up 0.98 pct at 0.822, on expectations it is close to finalise the sale of its Telecom Italia stake
   
Fiat up 0.93 pct at 19.72, after it was upgraded to 'buy' from 'hold' at Citigroup

Main S&P Mib losers:
   
BPM down 0.38 pct at 10.46
   
Fondiaria-SAI down 0.32 pct at 34.20, as insurers underperformed the market
   
Alitalia down 0.12 pct at 0.818

Stocks in the news:
   
Prysmian up 2.04 pct at 19.38. CEO Valerio Battista told the MF daily the company is interested in expanding in South America, Middle East and Russia
   
Saras up 0.07 pct at 4.36, after its CFO said in an interview with MF the company could increase from next year its investment plans
   
Safilo up 0.08 pct at 3.59, after it was upgraded to 'neutral' from 'underperform' with a 4.10 eur target at Exane BNP Paribas

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PARIS -  Market data at 10.13 am
   
Major indices:
   
CAC-40 up 38.68 points or 0.70 pct at 5,590.23
SBF-120 up 29.35 points or 0.72 pct at 4,081.73
SBF-80 up 54.58 points or 0.83 pct at 6,769.21
   
36 CAC-40 stocks up
4 CAC-40 stocks down
   
Major gainers:
   
Lagardere up 1.01 eur or 1.71 pct at 59.91 eur after French magazine Challenges reports that French president Nicolas Sarkozy is pushing for Safran and Thales to merge and later take Lagardere's place in EADS.
   
JC Decaux up 0.36 eur or 1.6 pct at 22.83 eur after winning contract worth 1.5 bln eur to manage advertising in the entire Shanghai metro system.

Major losers:
   
BNP Paribas down 0.31 eur or 0.41 pct at 75.91 eur
   
Arcelor Mittal down 0.02 eur or 0.04 pct at 47.54 eur

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FRANKFURT - Market data at 10.19 am

DAX - up 41.31 points, or 0.54 pct, at 7629.34
MDAX - up 100.38 points or 0.98 pct at 10,339.45
TecDAX - up 9.269 points or 1.00 pct at 931.44
DAX futures - up 22.00 points, or 0.29 pct, at 7643.50

Major Advancers:
   
Infineon, up 0.37 eur or 3.21 pct at 11.91, after Dresdner Kleinwort raised its stance to 'buy' from 'reduce' and lifted its price target to 18 eur per share from 10 saying that it expects the chipmaker's wireless semiconductor business to help drive a turnaround at the company.
   
Adidas, up 0.58 eur or 1.34 pct at 43.93
   
Metro, up 0.79 eur or 1.29 pct at 62.10, after Morgan Stanley raised its stance on the retailer to 'equal-weight' from 'under-weight' and lifted its price target by 18 pct to 66 eur per share saying that it believes the Haniel and Schmidt Ruthenbeck families will be more active in unlocking value having secured control of the retail giant.
   
TUI, up 0.24 eur or 1.26 pct at 19.26
   
SAP, up 0.47 eur or 1.20 pct at 93.76

Major Decliners:
   
Bayer, 0.19 eur or 0.33 pct at 56.89
   
Volkswagen, 0.20 eur or 0.13 at 150.15, after Citigroup downgraded the automaker to 'sell' from 'hold' as part of a review of the European auto sector.
   
RWE, down 0.09 pct at 0.11 pct at 80.24

Other Major Movers:
   
Merck, up 0.96 eur or 1.03 pct at 93.92, after Morgan Stanley resumed its coverage of Merck with a 'overweight' rating and a 112 eur per share price target which implies a 19 pct upside as it said the pharmaceuticals/chemicals company's numbers compare favourably with the broader pharma sector.

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AMSTERDAM - market data at 10.02 am

Major indices
   
AEX 526.56, up 0.68 pct
AMX Midcap 722.38, up 0.74 pct
Government bonds mostly lower

Major gainers
   
ASML added 1.66 pct to 22.71 eur
   
Shell gained 1.31 pct to 29.32 eur. Shell India Marketing signed a four-year agreement on the supply of petrol and diesel with India's Mangalore Refineries and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL), a unit of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp Ltd
   
ING put on 0.54 pct to 29.79 eur, as reports said it is in talks with Thailand's fifth-largest bank, TMB Bank, about ING taking a strategic stake, Singapore's Business Times said
   
BAM led midcap gainers, up 2.72 pct at 20.77 eur as the market welcomed the Dutch builder's better-than-expected first-half results and raised net profit guidance for the full year
   
Boskalis Westminster gained 1.56 pct to 31.90 eur
   
Heijmans put on 1.41 pct to 37.44 eur

Major decliners
   
Akzo Nobel was off 0.32 pct at 56.04 eur
   
ArcelorMittal was flat, 0.08 pct down at 47.62 eur on news it received approval from the US Department of Justice for its agreement to sell its Sparrows Point steel mill in the US to Esmark Inc and that the deal is based on an enterprise value of 1.35 bln usd

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