UK/Euro Financial Market Daily Morning Briefing 21-11-2006

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London shares up slightly in early deals; ICAP, British Land rally on H1

Leading shares gained in early deals, shrugging off a mixed close on Wall Street overnight, with ICAP, British Land and Experian among the top blue chip performers on well-received first-half trading updates.
   
At 8.47 am, the FTSE 100 index was 7.8 points firmer at 6,212.3, adding to yesterday's 12.5 point gain when it closed at 6,204.5, while the broader indices also rallied. Volume was firm, with 176 mln shares traded in 22,560 deals.
   
Overnight on Wall Street, US stocks ended mixed, putting an end to the Dow's recent run as markets wind down for the Thanksgiving holiday. However, a wave of merger-and-acquisition activity, including Freeport-McMoRan agreeing to buy Phelps Dodge for 26 bln usd and The Blackstone Group offering 20 bln usd for Sam Zell's Equity Office Trust provided a fillip for some stocks.
   
The DJIA closed 26.10 points lighter at 12,316.50, while the S&P 500 index was 0.70 points easier at 1,400.50 and the Nasdaq Composite ended 6.86 points higher at 2,452.72.
   
Meanwhile, across in Asia this morning, the mood was mildly buoyant as Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index closed 8.20 points firmer at 15,734.14 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng ended up 53.67 points at 19,008.30.
   
Hong Kong share prices finished the morning session higher on short-covering and bargain-hunting following yesterday's sell-off, with HSBC leading the market rebound, while Tokyo shares ended narrowly mixed after investors locked in morning gains.
   
Oil prices gained in Asian trading hours on market speculation that OPEC will announce further cuts in its production.
   
Earlier this morning, the New York Mercantile Exchange's main contract, light sweet crude for January delivery, was up 0.25 usd at 59.05 usd a barrel, while Brent North Sea crude for January delivery added 0.36 usd at 59.34 usd.
   
In London, ICAP led the blue chip risers, up 5 pence at 491-1/2 -- a rise of over 2 pct, after it reported a 23 pct uplift in first-half profit, buoyed by active trading conditions in global financial markets.
   
ICAP, which acts as a middleman for trades in derivatives and other securities between major banks, said pretax profit before exceptional items for the six months to Sept 30 came in at 120.8 mln stg, up from 98.2 mln stg in the same period last year.
   
British Land shares were also in demand, 17 pence higher at 1,621, after the property group said it is on "sparkling form" and on track for REIT conversion.

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The company said it sees first full-year REIT dividend not less than 33 pence per share, up 94 pct from 2005/2006, as it reported a 27 pct increase in underlying first-half pretax profit to 130 mln stg, with net asset value (NAV) up 11.0 pct to 1,624 pence.
   
Still on the reporting front, Home Retail Group added 3 pence at 429 after the owner of the Argos high street catalogue chain reported a 2 pct rise in first-half underlying operating profit.
   
But the group, which is mooted to be a takeover target for private equity firms Blackstone and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, said it is still cautious on the outlook for UK consumer spending.
   
For the six months to Sept 30, HRG made an underlying operating profit of 106.9 mln stg. This compares to analyst forecasts of 99-104 mln stg and 105.3 mln stg last time. In response, Merrill Lynch said the results were in line with its estimates and reiterated its 'buy' case on the stock.
   
And Experian Group took on 10 pence at 610 after the credit checking group unveiled a maiden first-half pretax profit of 202 mln usd and an EBITA profit of 388 mln usd in the period, beating the 379 mln usd forecast both by Oriel Securities and Morgan Stanley.
   
Earnings apart, Lonmin was the top performer, up 115 pence at 3,095, thanks to platinum prices hitting a record high in Asian trade -- up 10 pct at 1,382 usd an ounce -- amid continuing rumours about the launch of an exchange-traded fund (ETF). Mid-cap peer Aquarius Platinum also topped the FTSE 250 leaderboard, 48 pence better at 1,170.
   
Brambles Industries was also in fine fettle, 14-1/2 pence ahead at 526, as investors tidied up their portfolios ahead of the compay's departure from the London market this week. Brambles will re-list in Australia next Monday and yesterday announced a final cash alternative price of 520 pence per share for UK investors.
   
Meanwhile, buyers came for Scottish Power, 7 pence to the good at 762, after Spanish press reported that Iberdrola's executive committee will meet today to discuss a 12 bln stg cash and shares offer for the UK utility.
   
Expansion reported, without citing a source, that the final price will depend on the completion of due diligence on the UK firm.
   
On the downside, Enterprise Inns was among the fallers, down 5 pence at 1,162, as investors took its in-line full-year results as an opportunity to lock in profits after the stock's strong run.
   
The leisure group this morning confirmed plans to buy back at least 463 mln stg in shares in the coming year as it revealed figures for the year to end-Sept 2006 bang in line with market forecasts.
   
Separately, Robert Tchenguiz has agreed deals to acquire 183 pubs for a total of 150 mln stg from Enterprise Inns, Scottish & Newcastle and the Globe Pub Company, including Enterprise's entire presence of 137 pubs in Scotland.

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Elsewhere, mining heavyweights weighed on the market following yesterday's share price gains on the back of the M&A news from the US. This morning BHP Billiton was 9 pence lower at 963, Rio Tinto fell back 25 pence at 2,707 and Kazakhmys lost 3 pence at 1,152.
   
On the second line, SSL International traded 5-3/4 pence firmer at 338 after on a pleasing set of interim results. The maker of Durex condoms and Scholl footcare posted a 9.2 pct increase in first-half pretax profits to 18.9 mln stg, on revenues of 236.3 mln, up 6.8 pct from last year.
   
Solid results also boosted shares in Enodis, up 2 pence at 202, thanks to a pretax profit of 64 mln stg before exceptional items for the year to end-Sept 2006, up from 44.1 mln for the year previous.
   
The restaurant equipment manufacturer's chairman Peter Brooks said: "We will look to accelerate growth in shareholder value, we have enhanced financial targets, and will use our balance sheet for synergistic acquisitions and share buy-backs".
   
On the economic front, UK investors await the release tomorrow of the Bank of England's minutes from its last rate setting meeting, with eight of the nine members expected to have voted to hike interest rates by a quarter point to 5.0 pct.
   
But on today's agenda, the latest industrial trends survey from the Confederation of British Industry is expected to show some improvement in November after a very weak report in October, helped by lower oil prices and continued solid economic growth in the euro zone.
   
The number of firms reporting a rise in manufacturing orders over the month is forecast to improve to -12 in November from -20 in October, when it posted its worst reading since the start of the year.
   
Meanwhile, there is little economic data of note expected in the US ahead of tomorrow's consumer sentiment reading for November.

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

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AMSTERDAM - Market data at 9.28 am

Major indices

AEX 483.21, up 1.51 points
AMX Midcap 639.89, up 1.56 points
Government bonds traded flat

Major losers:
   
Crucell fell 2.06 pct to 18.07 eur as the biotech company launched a new share issue, aiming to raise 80 mln eur, partly to fund the takeover of Sweden's SBL Vaccin for 39.4 mln eur cash. Analysts welcomed the acquisition but some were puzzeld by the share issue, noting the company has a cash position of around 130 mln
   
Hagemeyer was 0.52 pct lower at 3.79 eur as Goldman Sachs initiated coverage on the stock with a 'sell' recommendation and 3.19 eur target, dealers said
   
TNT was 0.46 pct lower at 32.23 eur on news it will buyback and cancel 18.2 mln shares from the Dutch government, which announced it has now sold its remaining 10.9 pct stake in the Dutch postal services group
   
Local issue Laurus was 2.11 pct lower at 2.78 eur following a downgrade to 'sell' from 'hold' at local brokerage Petercam, which said it felt that the recent share price increase on takeover speculation was misplaced.

Major gainers:
   
Staffing group Randstad gained 0.65 pct to 49.85 eur after Morgan Stanley lifted its target to 63 eur from 59 in a review of the European staffing sector.
   
Sector specialist Vedior rose 1.45 pct to 14.74 eur
   
ASML put on 1.63 pct to 19.98 eur
   
Corio added 1.68 pct to 57.60 eur
   
Aegon was 0.56 pct up at 14.33 eur

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FRANKFURT -  Market data at 9.29 am 

Major indices:
   
DAX - up 11.21 points or 0.17 pct at 6,463.54
MDAX - up 12.49 points or 0.14 pct at 8,856.60
TecDAX - up 1.82 points or 0.26 pct at 703.29
DAX future - up 10.0 points or 0.15 pct at 6,479.0  

Major losers:
   
ThyssenKrupp, down 0.26 eur or 0.91 pct at 28.34. Market rumours surface that it could bid for Corus.
   
Deutsche Postbank, down 0.54 or 0.87 pct at 61.45
   
Altana, down 0.29 or 0.64 pct at 44.96
   
DaimlerChrysler, down 0.25 or 0.53 pct at 47.01
  
Continental AG, down 0.40 or 0.46 pct at 87.10

Major gainers: 
   
Henkel, up 1.55 eur or 1.53 pct at 109.70
   
Deutsche Boerse, up 1.87 eur or 1.48 pct at 127.87. Sueddeutsche Zeitung said Germany's Savings Banks Group is considering taking a stake in the company. Lehman Brokers reiterates 'overweight' with an upgrade on price target. Market rumours that Deutsche Boerse would bid 33 eur/shr for Spain's BME (Bolsa Y Mercados Espanoles).
   
Deutsche Bank, up 1.39 eur or 1.40 pct at 100.91
   
Metro, up 0.58 eur or 1.27 pct at 46.15
   
RWE, up 0.74 eur or 0.90 pct at 83.23

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PARIS - Market data at 10.05 am:

Major indices:
   
CAC-40 up 8.18 points or 0.15 pct at 5,462.92
SBF-80 up 24.61 points or 0.38 pct at 6,546.54
SBF-120 up 7.31 points or 0.18 pct at 3,983.03

Volume: 444 mln eur
22 CAC-40 stocks up
17 CAC-40 stocks down
1 CAC-40 stock unchanged
  

Major gainers:
   
Danone, up 2.00 eur or 1.71 pct at 118.80 eur, following Goldman Sachs' upgrade to 'buy' from 'neutral'
   
EADS, up 0.26 eur or 1.17 pct at 22.52 eur on award of SES Astra satellite contract to its Astrium division and press reports the company is moving towards committing some 9 bln eur to develop the Airbus A350
   
Lagardere, up 0.60 eur or 1.08 pct to 56.40, upward adjustment after yesterday's sell-off following its 865 mln eur acquisition of Sportfive

Major losers:
   
GDF, down 0.19 eur or 0.50 pct at 3.61 eur, as uncertainty mounts over the final terms of state-controlled group's merger with Suez
   
EDF, down 0.27 eur or 0.55 pct at 49.24
   
Carrefour, down 0.34 eur or 0.69 pct at 48.76

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