UK/Euro Financial Market Daily Morning Briefing 18-09-2006

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London shares remain slightly higher in early deals; miners, oils edge up

Leading shares remained slightly higher in early deals, encouraged by Wall Street's positive showing on Friday, while a slight recovery by miners and oil stocks also helped keep the FTSE 100 in positive territory, dealers said.
   
By 09.10, the FTSE 100 index was up 6.3 points at 5,883.3, while the broader
indices were mixed. Early volume was moderate, with 175.0 mln shares changing hands in 28,333 deals.
   
US stocks closed near their 2006 highs on Friday as benign inflation data and low oil prices boosted confidence that the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates unchanged at Wednesday's FOMC meeting, traders noted.
   
The DJIA closed 33.38 points higher at 11,560.77, leaving it 162.21 points away from its high close of 11,722.98, reached January 14, 2000, while the Nasdaq rose 6.86 to 2,235.59.
   
Across Asia overnight, the Hang Seng stood 158.72 points higher at 17,396.37 by midday, while the Nikkei 225 is closed for a public holiday.
   
Oil prices were higher in Asian trade as the market consolidated positions after recent sharp falls, dealers said.
   
New York's main contract, light sweet crude for October delivery, was up 12 cents at 63.45 usd a barrel from 63.33 in US trading Friday. Oil stocks staged a tentative recovery this morning, with BP adding 4 pence to 577, Royal Dutch Shell edging 3 pence to 1,786 and BG Group moving 11-1/2 pence higher to 651-1/2.
   
Mining stocks were also slightly higher, helped by a positive start to the week by metal prices, recovering slightly from last week's sell-off.
   
Kazakhmys added 10 pence to 1,217 ahead of tomorrow's interims, while BHP Billiton gained 7 pence to 917, Lonmin added 15 pence to 2,637 and Vedanta edged 8 pence higher to 1,229.

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PartyGaming topped the risers however, bouncing 3 pence higher to 103-3/4.
   
Shares in the online gaming group dropped nearly 10 pct late on Friday following the arrest in France of the joint CEOs of Austrian peer Bwin Interactive Entertainment because of an alleged violation of French gaming laws.
   
The news dealt another blow to the online gaming sector, coming after the recent detainment in the US of Sportingbet's non-executive chairman Peter Dicks.
   
Elsewhere, upbeat broker comment provided a boost to Wm Morrison, up 3 pence to 233-3/4, with Citigroup repeating its 'buy' recommendation ahead of Thursday's interims.
   
Marks & Spencer was also in demand, adding 2 pence to 626 after Deutsche Bank repeated its 'buy' recommendation and raised its target to 750 pence from 675.
   
The German-owned broker said it expects the group's interims on Nov 7 to confirm strong sales and profit progression and feels that M&S 'has the potential to switch form restructuring to growth.'
   
On the downside, Standard Life shares made an inauspicious start to life in the FTSE 100 index, trading 3-1/2 pence lower at 266-1/2.
   
Elsewhere, Pearson dropped 3 pence to 745 after Lehman Brothers downgraded its rating on the publisher to 'underweight' on valuation.
   
The US broker argued that although the group is performing well operationally, this is already reflected in its valuation, with the shares standing at a premium to its peers.
   
Vodafone was also weaker, down 0-3/4 pence to 115-1/2, after the Observer newspaper reported yesterday that the mobile phone giant faces record fines of up to 114 mln stg for its role in an espionage scandal that has shaken the mobile giant's Greek subsidiary.

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On the second line, Petrofac jumped 20-1/2 pence to 308 following a strong set of interim results.
   
Pretax profit in the half year to June rose 98 pct to 74.48 mln usd from 37.68 mln last time, ahead of the consensus figure of 58.6 mln usd.
   
In reaction, Lehman Brothers reiterated its 'overweight' stance and raised its target to 395 pence from 360, arguing that for a company that has only been public for one year, it is quietly forming a reputation for delivery ahead of expectations.
   
Shares in John Laing meanwhile, added another 11-3/4 pence to 335, after  the Sunday Telegraph reported that the construction group has agreed to be sold for about 800 mln stg to Henderson, the London-based fund manager.
   
The recommended bid, expected to be announced this week, is believed to be about 340 pence a share, the newspaper said.
   
On the downside however, CSR plunged 298 pence to 846 after downgrading its expectations for third quarter revenues.
   
The bluetooth market leader cut its revenue expectations for the third quarter to 210-215 mln stg from a previously forecast range of 225-240 mln stg, citing weaker-than-expected customer demand and revisions to its production schedules.
   
In reaction, Panmure Gordon downgraded its recommendation to 'sell' from 'buy' Fellow chip designer Wolfson lost 34-1/4 pence to 475-3/4.

UK Diary of Events

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US Summary

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PARIS - Market data at 9.42 am:

Major indices:
   
CAC 40 up 10.23 points or 0.20 pct at 5,155.11
SBF 80 up 21.05 points or 0.36 pct at 5,855.66
SBF 120 up 8.24 points or 0.22 pct at 3,730.00

Volume: 337 mln eur
20 CAC 40 stocks up
20 CAC 40 stocks down

Major gainers:
   
Atos Origin, up 1.14 eur or 2.72 pct at 42.99, after winning a major UK government IT services contract.
   
Vallourec, up 4.50 eur or 2.47 pct at 186.50. It said last week it will consider acquisitions, mainly outside Europe.
   
JC Decaux, up 0.24 eur or 1.12 pct at 21.63
   
Veolia Environnement, up 0.46 eur or 1.05 pct at 44.15, after Suez raised the prospect of acquiring Veolia instead of vice-versa. Veolia had said it would be interested in Suez assets that might be sold so Suez can merge with Gaz de France.
   
Suez, up 0.31 eur or 0.90 pct at 34.91.

Major losers:
   
EADS, down 0.31 eur or 1.32 pct at 23.19, after a report that Aeroflot has again delayed a decision on whether to buy 3 bln eur of Airbus or Boeing jets.
   
STMicroelectronics, down 0.13 eur or 0.98 pct at 13.17
   
Renault, down 0.70 eur or 0.78 pct at 89.10, after agreeing to sell its 2.85 pct holding in Scania to MAN AG.

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AMSTERDAM  - Market data at 10.07 am   

Major indices

AEX 475.45, up 0.60 points
AMX Midcap 577.00, up 1.01 point
Government bonds mainly lower

Major gainers
   
BAM and Heijmans put on 2.67 pct to 14.24 and added 1.84 pct at 38.20 respectively after Dutch competition watchdog NMa lowered fines for ten building companies involved in 'old' fraud cases, Dutch news agency ANP said.
   
USG People went 0.69 pct higher to 58.10 after the company said it wants to exercise its right to buy back the START operations in the Czech Republic and in Slovakia, which in 2002 became a separate entity from USG People through a management buy-out. SNS Securities estimates the takeover price at 4-6 mln eur.
   
ING rose 0.29 pct to 34.53 and Fortis lifted 0.64 pct to 31.35 after Rabo Securities upped its price target for both shares by 1.0 eur to 37.5 eur and 35.0 eur respectively, while keeping its 'buy' advice.
   
Oil stocks Royal Dutch Shell added 0.51 pct at 25.79 and SBM Offshore put on 0.58 pct to 20.85.
   
Aegon strengthened 0.14 pct to 14.36 after the banking group said it has started a share buy back programme, with the intention of buying back 11.6 mln shares by the end of the year.

Major losers
   
Wessanen went 1.51 off pct to 10.44.
   
Hagemeyer was down 0.78 pct to 3.82.
   
KPN fell 0.60 pct to 9.91 following a downgrade to 'hold' from 'accumulate' by F.van Lanschot Bankiers, with analysts expressing doubt the Dutch competition watchdog NMa will approve the takeover of Tiscali's Dutch operations, which KPN announced late Friday.
   
Boskalis Westminster shed 0.96 pct to 48.53.

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