UK/Euro Financial Market Daily Morning Briefing 14-06-2006

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London shares peek above parapet in early deals as bargain hunters emerge

Leading shares peeked above the parapet in early deals, encouraged higher by positive performances across Asian markets and bargain hunting in miners and financials, dealers said.
   
By 9.10 am, the FTSE 100 index was up 14.8 points at 5,534.4, while the broader indices were also showing slight gains.
   
Volume was moderate, with 295.2 mln shares changing hands in 34,998 deals.
   
Overnight in Asia, the Nikkei 225 index closed 90.96 points higher at 14,309.56, while the Hang Seng was up 162.08 points at midday.
   
However, US stocks ended deep in negative territory again last night, with Wall Street marking its third straight session of losses as declines in oil and gold prices did little to calm anxiety over higher interest rates after a mixed inflation reading.
   
The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 86.44 points at 10,706.14 and is now negative year-to-date for the first time in 2006, while the Nasdaq ended 18.85 points lower at 2,072.47.
   
Investors struggled to make sense of the US Labor Department's May producer price index, with the overall PPI for the month rising by a weaker than expected 0.2 pct, although core prices -- minus food and energy -- rose more strongly than forecast.
   
This afternoon's CPI reading should provide further clues about the health of the world's largest economy, while the US Federal Reserve's Beige Book reading will also help traders to determine the US central bank's course of action at its next meeting on June 28.
   
Oil prices fell further in Asian trading amid evidence that worldwide energy demand is growing more slowly, making the constraints on supply seem less worrisome, traders said.
   
New York's main contract, light sweet crude for July delivery, was down 0.28 usd at 68.28 usd a barrel from its close of 68.56 usd in the US overnight, when it had declined 1.80 usd.

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Metal prices bore the brunt of the commodity sell-off, with gold tumbling again to trade just above 550 usd an ounce, down more than 10 pct from yesterday.
   
Silver was also under pressure, losing more than 12 pct, while copper lost  7 pct.
   
For a change however, miners featured among the top FTSE 100 risers in London this morning as bargain hunters descended upon the sector after recent heavy falls.
   
Rio Tinto recovered 68 pence to 2,615, while Xstrata added 44 pence to 1,863 and BHP Billiton gained 15 pence to 925.
  
Elsewhere, financials were in demand, led by Lloyds TSB after Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock to "overweight" from "equal-weight".
   
The US broker said the bank could prove to be the top success story in the UK this year.
   
Lloyds TSB added 8 pence to 511, while Asian focused Standard Chartered moved 34 pence higher to 1249.
   
Royal Bank of Scotland however, eased 2 pence to 1710, weighed down by an HSBC downgrade to 'neutral' from 'overweight' following yesterday's trading statement.
   
The UK broker told clients that yesterday's update appeared to signal some weakening revenue momentum, albeit compensated by a better-than-expected outcome on provisions.
   
WestLB disagreed however, upgrading its stance to 'buy' from 'add'.
   
BAE Systems was the top faller, down 10 pence at 338-3/4, hit by news that Airbus, in which it holds a 20 pct stake, is delaying deliveries of the forthcoming A380 super-jumbo.
   
Airbus informed clients last night that deliveries of the A380 are to be delayed by six-seven months, due to production issues.
   
Engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce lost 1-3/4 pence to 383-1/4.

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Tesco was also under pressure, down 6 pence at 323-3/4, after an uninspiring trading update.
   
The supermarket said its first-quarter like-for-like sales excluding petrol grew 4.5 pct in the UK, in line with analysts' expectations, while UK like-for-like sales including petrol grew 5.5 pct.
   
"Solid, if unspectacular growth." Panmure Gordon told clients, repeating its 'buy' recommendation and 400 pence target.
   
On the second line, AB Ports jumped nearly 8 pct after a consortium involving investment bank Goldman Sachs Group announced that it has made a recommended 2.484 bln stg takeover offer for the group at 810 pence.
   
AB Ports shares were up 60 pence at 837 on hopes of a counterbid.
   
Woolworths was another gainer, up 0-3/4 pence to 30-3/4 after a trading statement.
   
In the 19 weeks to June 10 2006, the 806-store Woolworths mainchain saw sales on a like-for-like basis, which strips out the impact of new and closed space, fall 6.7 pct. They had fallen 3.9 pct in the year to end-January 2006.
   
Richard Ratner, analyst at Seymour Pierce, described the retail numbers as "awful" but stressed the first half is not that important to Woolworths. He is sticking with his full year profit forecast of 35 mln stg.
   
He also shifted his stance "unenthusiastically" from 'underperform' to 'hold'.
   
Spirent however, dropped 5 pence to 38-1/2 after warning that delay in orders, the competitive market and its increased investment in product development, sales and marketing, are likely to impact profitability in the short-term.

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

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AMSTERDAM - market data at 10.14 am
   
Major indices
   
AEX                413.63, up 0.75 points
AMX Midcap         526.99, up 3.95 points
Government bonds   flat

Major gainers
   
Pharming soared 12.29 pct to 3.29 eur after the US FDA gave orphan drug designations to Pharming's C1 inhibitor product
   
Hagemeyer put on 1.88 pct to 3.25 eur
   
Vedior gained 1.72 pct to 15.36 eur
   
Aegon lifted 1.64 pct to 12.43 eur
   
Buhrmann added 1.55 pct to 10.45 eur
   
TomTom put on 1.03 pct to 31.41 eur

Major losers
   
Fortis shed 0.44 pct to 25.09 eur
   
KPN dropped 0.90 pct to 8.80 eur
   
TNT lost 1.07 pct to 26.81 eur
   
Philips dropped 1.32 pct to 21.74 eur

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FRANKFURT - Market data at 10.32 am
   
Major indices:
   
DAX 30 - 5,305.43, up 13.29 points or 0.25 pct
MDAX - 7,206.06, down 79.83 points or 1.10 pct
TecDAX - 596.97, up 3.33 points or 0.56 pct
DAX future - 5,308.00, up 67.00 points or 1.28 pct

Major gainers:
   
Commerzbank, up 0.70 eur or 2.82 pct at 25.52, recovering from recent sharp losses, having been one of the worst performers yesterday
   
Hypo Real Estate, up 1.05 eur or 2.49 pct at 43.17, bouncing back from recent losses, as market participants welcomed news it has acquired the international business of Allgemeine Hypothekenbank Rheinboden AG (AHBR)
   
Schering, up 1.40 eur or 1.61 pct at 88.60, as Bayer said it is preparing a mandatory offer for the company if its original bid which expires today fails, after it secured 30 pct of the shares in the market at up to 88 eur per share -- 2 eur higher than its initial offer
   
Bayer, up 0.41 eur or 1.34 pct at 30.97, as some market participants concluded that it is now likely to secure a takeover of Schering, which prompted HVB to reiterate its 'outperform' rating and 44 eur price target on the stock
  
Lufthansa, up 0.16 eur or 1.17 pct at 13.88, as oil prices tumbled

Major losers:
   
Altana, down 0.53 eur or 1.19 pct at 43.91
   
Volkswagen, down 0.31 eur or 0.60 pct at 51.51
  
E.ON, down 0.48 eur or 0.58 pct at 82.34, amid news it is likely to be one of the the main losers among DAX 30 companies under new index weightings that take effect on Monday, with its weighting seen falling by 0.43 percentage points to 10.32 pct, though it will remain the heaviest weighted DAX component
   
Deutsche Telekom, down 0.07 eur or 0.55 pct at 12.65
   
RWE, down 0.28 eur or 0.45 pct at 62.60

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