UK/Euro Financial Market Daily Morning Briefing 13-07-2007

UK blue chips pushed higher in early deals, extending yesterday's gains following a record close in New York overnight, as investors cheered reassuring retail sales and mining M&A news, and after big advances today in Asia.

At 8.17 am, the FTSE 100 index was 35 points firmer at 6,732.7, with all the broader indices higher.

Early volume was solid, with 109.1 mln shares changing hands in 18,556 deals.

Overnight, stocks on Wall Street soared, catapulting the DJIA over 2 pct, or 283.86 points, to a record close of 13,861.73 points. The blue chip index marked its biggest one-day percentage gain since Oct 2003 and the biggest one-day point gain since Oct 2002.

The S&P 500 index also surged to a record closing finish, up 28.94 points, or 1.91 pct, to 1,547.70 points, while the tech-rich Nasdaq composite jumped 49.94 points, or 1.88 pct, to a robust finish of 2,701.73.

Traders erupted into boisterous cheers on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange at the close of the markets, which were buoyed by retail sales news and fresh deal making as Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto unveiled its 38.1 bln usd takeover offer for Alcan, trumping US rival Alcoa in a mammoth bid to create the world's largest aluminium company.

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UK Diary of Events

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

US Summary

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

Milan

Main indices

Mibtel at 33,276, up 0.33 pct

S&P/Mib at 42,329, up 0.45 pct

Main S&P/Mib losers:

Tenaris down 2.17 pct at 18.82 eur after Credit Suisse downgraded to 'underperform' from 'neutral' and advised switch from Tenaris to SSAB or Vallourec within the steel sector.

Main S&P/Mib gainers:

Italcementi was up 1.32 pct at 22.33 eur, on positive sentiment in the construction sector.

Impregilo rose 1.05 pct to 6.15 as reports say a board meeting today could replace current CEO.

Intesa Sanpaolo was up 0.84 pct at 5.40 eur. Reports say the bank is close to finalizing the acquisition of Carifirenze.

Fiat was up 0.46 pct at 23.82 eur following upbeat EU car data showing Fiat's sales up 9.9 pct on the year.

Finmeccanica was up 0.73 pct at 23.36 pct on reports it is interested in acquiring UK's Qinetiq

Vienna

Main Indices

ATX up 0.01 pct or 0.44 points at 4,918.62
ATX Prime up 0.21 pct or 5.21 points at 2,454.04

Main Gainers

Raiffeisen Intl up 1.23 pct at 120.01 eur, as part of upswing in European banking shares

Andritz up 1.19 pct at 53.63 eur, on raised investor interest following road show

BWIN up 1.04 pct at 23.39 eur, on bargain hunting

A-TEC Industries up 0.95 pct at 191.80 eur, as A-TEC says it will retain or even raise stake in Cumerio

Flughafen Wien up 0.81 pct at 75.00 eur

Main Decliners

Intercell down 4.42 pct at 27.00 eur, on downgrade to 'sell' at Goldman Sachs

voestalpine down 1.15 pct at 65.35 eur, on profit-taking following 5.44 pct gain yesterday

Verbund down 0.43 pct at 37.14 eur

Zumtobel down 0.41 pct at 29.03 eur

Erste Bank down 0.23 pct at 57.35 eur

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Main index

Bel 20 at 4,656.46, up 16.89 points or 0.36 pct

Bel 20 gainers

Dexia rises 0.23 eur or 0.99 pct to 23.40

Belgacom up 0.31 eur or 0.96 pct at 32.61

Umicore gains 1.43 eur or 0.82 pct to 176.01

Bel 20 losers

Omega Pharma 0.43 eur or 0.64 pct lower at 66.66

UCB off 0.14 eur or 0.34 pct at 41.34, launched minority buyout offer for German peer Schwarz Pharma AG.

Outside the Bel 20

EVS jumps 2.58 eur or 4.18 pct to 64.33 on strong Q2 sales, target raised to 75 eur from 64 at Petercam, 'buy' rating reiterated

Copenhagen

AP Moller-Maersk, DS Norden higher

Major indices

OMXC20 up 2.90 points at 506.10

OMXCB up 2.42 points at 485.54

OMXC up 2.38 points at 495.84

Turnover - 1.37 bln dkr

Major gainers

AP Moller-Maersk A up 800 dkr at 72,100 and B up 700 at 73,700 after new gains for Asian shipping peers

DS Norden up 9 at 424, also lifted by Asian shipping peers' rises

Novo Nordisk up 3 at 596. Goldman Sachs raised its target to 570 dkr from 550 on a reiterated 'sell'

Lundbeck up 1 at 142. Goldman Sachs raised its target to 135 dkr from 130 on an unchanged 'neutral'

Major losers

GN Store Nord down 0.5 at 66. Phonak could initiate a share buyback as one way to use its cash if its acquisition of GN Store Nord's Resound unit falls through, its CEO said

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AEX 561.24, up 0.20 pct
AMX Midcap 765.17, up 0.32 pct
Government bonds lower

MAJOR GAINERS

ASML rises 2.29 pct to 20.93

Hagemeyer up 2.15 pct at 4.27 following price target upgrade at ING, takeover speculation

Corporate Express 0.91 pct higher at 11.09

ABN Amro 0.08 pct higher at 35.30 ahead of Supreme Court ruling on LaSalle sale

Corio up 1.22 pct at 57.47

Tele Atlas 1.27 pct stronger at 16.71

Heijmans 1.09 pct firmer at 44.68 as construction sector is unaffected by disappointing Ballast Nedam results

Pharming surges 8.97 pct to 3.28 eur after announcing EMEA approval of Rhucin production facilities

MAJOR DECLINERS

SBM Offshore dips 1.33 pct to 29.71

Royal Dutch Shell down 0.55 pct at 30.72

Fugro off 0.50 pct at 50.15

bWessanen loses 0.32 pct to 12.46

Ballast Nedam off 4.00 pct at 38.87

Paris

mkt higher as telecoms see most volume

CAC-40 index:

Up 26.02 points or 0.43 pct at 6,129.07
32 stocks up
8 stocks down

Major gainers:

Schneider Electric, up 2.69 eur or 2.16 pct at 105.90, after an upgrade to 'buy' from 'hold' at Citigroup.

EDF, up 1.29 eur or 1.69 pct at 77.45, as the French power distribution network confirmed that less than 900 residential users out of 25 mln have left EDF for other suppliers in the deregulated market.

Axa, up 0.45 eur or 1.40 pct at 32.49

Major losers:

L'Oreal, down 2.90 eur or 3.27 pct at 85.84, after reporting second quarter sales that were slightly below consensus.
Danone, down 0.62 eur or 1.05 pct at 58.32,

Capgemini, down 0.46 eur or 0.82 pct at 55.75

Most active stocks:

Alcatel-Lucent, 2.75 mln shares, up 0.11 eur or 1.08 pct at 10.30

France Telecom, 2.37 mln shares, down 0.03 eur or 0.15 pct at 20.55

Vivendi, 2.22 mln shares; up 0.17 eur or 0.53 pct at 32.03

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