UK/Euro Financial Market Daily Morning Briefing 25-05-2006

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London shares turn lower at open as Barclays weighs; oil price fall hits BP

Leading shares turned lower in opening deals as a mixed trading statement from Barclays dragged down the banking sector and a further crude price dip hurt oil heavyweights, dealers said.

At 9.05 the FTSE 100 was 17.9 points down at 5,569.2, having hit an early high of 5,623.7, with the broader indices all lower.

A reversal in fortunes at Barclays cast a shadow over the financial sector with the banking giant reversing initial gains to fall 10-1/2 at 584 as broker's digested the group's trading update.

The group revealed it expects full year 2006 income, impairment and expenses to be significantly ahead of current market consensus.

But JP Morgan said despite the positive top line outlook it does not see this as a great trading statement.

It argued the read across to other UK banks is that the asset quality in unsecured lending has still not touched the bottom.

As a result, it reiterated its 'underweight' stance on the UK domestic banks such as HBOS and Lloyds TSB.

In response, HBOS fell 12-1/2 at 890, Lloyds fell 3-1/2 at 361 and Standard Chartered slipped 14 at 1,273.

Cable & Wireless was another casualty, down 2-2/4 at 97-1/4 after the ailing telecoms group reported lower-than-expected full year underlying profits, hit by fierce competition in its domestic market.

Earnings before interest taxation, depreciation and amortisation fell to 411 mln stg in the 12 months to the end of March, down from 424 mln last year and below the 419 mln consensus forecast.

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Oil majors also took a hammering as crude prices fell further to below 70 usd as a jump in US gasoline stockpiles took the pressure off supply concerns ahead of the US summer driving season.

BP was down 7 at 613 and Royal Dutch Shell was off 9 at 1,790.

BAA also fell, down 18 at 816 on news the UK's competition watchdog, the Office of Fair Trading, is considering investigating the UK airports market.

The move could hamper a hostile bid for the group from Spain's Grupo Ferrovial.

In contrast, Tate & Lyle took the top spot on the risers board, up 33 pence at 567 after the sugar group's full year results comfortably beat expectations.

The group reported a 16 pct rise in pretax profit before exceptional items and amortisation of 295 mln stg against 254 mln a year ago, and above expectations of between 265-274.3 mln stg.

Peer AB Foods gained in sympathy, 15 to the good at 742, further boosted by an upgrade to 'buy' from 'neutral' by Merrill Lynch after a recent sell-off in the stock.

William Morrison was another winner, up 3-1/2 at 193-1/4 after Ken Morrison confirmed he is to step down as chairman by January 2008 and as the search for a new CEO appears to be coming to an end, dealers said.

Sentiment was further boosted as current trading at the struggling grocer came in ahead of market expectations.

In response, Citigroup reiterated its 'buy' advice and said the statement should be received positively, sales growth is moving in the right direction and it sounds as if the market should have some clarity on the future CEO shortly.

In earnings, Daily Mail took on 10-1/2 at 637-1/2 after the newspaper publisher gave a cautiously positive assessment of its prospects as it unveiled a 7 pct increase in underlying profits for the first half.

The group said pretax profit before exceptionals and a number of amortisation charges rose to 108.7 mln stg from 101.6 mln a year earlier as revenues rose 2 pct to 1.08 bln from 1.06.

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Elsewhere, broker comment provided the fillip for Gallaher and Imperial Tobacco -- 8-1/2 higher at 827-1/2 and 23 at 1,624 respectively.

UBS lifted its Gallaher to 'neutral' from 'reduce' and Imperial Tobacco to 'buy' from 'neutral' on valuation grounds.

And in pharmas, AstraZeneca took on 35 at 2,830 after Credit Suisse upgraded the drug giant to to 'outperform' from 'neutral' on valuation.

In M&A, Unilever firmed 14 at 1,185 on report in the Daily Telegraph claiming Capvest Equity Partners, the private equity wing of insurance group AIG, is in talks with rival Blackstone to launch a 1 bln stg bid for the group's frozen foods businesses.

On the second line, London Stock Exchange fell 84 at 1095 as better-than-expected full year profits were offset by concerns over news this morning that the London Investment Banking Association could launch an investigation into Nasdaq's interest in the LSE.

Earlier, LSE posted profits up 42 pct year-on-year at 120.1 mln stg, and ahead of the 118.7 mln stg consensus analyst forecast.

On the upside, Invensys took on 3/4 at 20-1/2 after reported a 11 pct rise in operating profit from continuing operations to 191 mln stg.

Invensys also announced a refinancing including a planned rights issue of up to 2.276 bln new shares at 15 pence each to raise 341 mln stg.

Meanwhile on Wall Street, stocks ended a volatile session higher after the latest economic data and a fresh pullback in commodity prices left investors unsure over the outlook for economic growth and interest rates.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 18.97 points at 11,117.32, while the S&P 500 Index added 1.99 points to 1,258.56.

And today all eyes will be on US first-quarter GDP, with the Commerce Department tipped to revise growth to 5.8 pct from 4.8 pct previously.

Investors will also watch the latest US jobless claims data and existing homes sales for April in an attempt to gauge the future direction of interest rates.

Over in Asia, Japan's Nikkei closed down 213.45 points at 15,693.75 while in Hong Kong the Hang Seng Index ended the morning off 139.21 at 15,683.43.

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FRANKFURT -  market data at 10.47 am   
   
Major indices:
   
DAX 30 - 5,607.17 up 19.94 points or 0.36 pct
MDAX - 7,854.57, up 10.35 points or 0.13 pct
TecDAX - 639.05, down 3.22 points or 0.50 pct
DAX future - 5,615.50, down 4.50 points or 0.08 pct

Major gainers:
   
BMW, up 0.57 eur or 1.46 pct at 39.53 after Credit Suisse hiked its price target on the stock to 52 eur from 48.
   
RWE, up 0.80 eur or 1.26 pct to 64.33
   
Fresenius Medical Care, up 1.08 eur or 1.25 pct to 87.75
   
Altana, up 0.50 eur or 1.09 pct to 46.18
   
Major losers:
   
Deutsche Boerse, down 2.24 eur or 2.28 pct to 95.83, trading ex-dividend after yesterday's annual general meeting
   
Deutsche Telekom, down 0.10 eur or 0.81 pct to 12.22  
   
Siemens, down 0.37 eur or 0.56 pct to 66.08
   
Henkel, down 0.48 eur or 0.55 pct to 87.48 after Credit Suisse cut its stance on the issue to 'underperform' from 'neutral'

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AMSTERDAM  - Market data at 09.52 am

Major indices

AEX 434.86, down 0.97 points
AMX Midcap 561.01, down 0.57 points
Government bonds Flat

Major gainers

Numico was up 1.25 pct to 34.71, recovering slightly form yesterday's losses.

Corio gained 1.41 pct to 46.61 eur as UBS upgraded the stock to 'neutral' from 'reduce'.

Hagemeyer was up 0.83 pct at 3.65 eur.

Oce put on 1.35 pct to 12.05 eur.

Fortis gained 0.50 pct to 28.20 eur.

TomTom added 0.36 pct to 33.64

Major losers

Rodamco Europe slipped 1.26 pct to 74.35 eur, losing some of the gains made yesterday.

ABN Amro was down 0.89 pct to 21.24 eur.

Royal Dutch Shell fell 0.59 pct to 25.21 eur as oil prices continued lower in Asia.

ING was down 0.76 pct at 30.23 eur.

On the midcap USG People led the decliners, down 1.46 pct to 57.30 eur.

Corus Group fell 0.57 pct to 5.24 eur.

ASML Holding fell 0.19 pct to 15.70 eur.

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Singapore 0810 GMT Tokyo 0345 GMT

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