UK/Euro Financial Market Daily Morning Briefing 26-05-2006

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London shares open higher; Corus tops gainers on steel sector M&A

UK leading shares remained higher in opening deals, tracking a strong trading session yesterday on Wall Street, and as Corus Group PLC benefited from M&A activity in the European steel sector, dealers said.
   
At 9.06 am, the FTSE 100 was 43.3 points stronger at 5,721.0, while the FTSE 250 was up 104.5 points at 9,295.0.
   
In London, M&A action in the steel industry propelled shares in Corus to the top of the leaders board.
   
Shares in the steelmaker were 16 pence stronger at 389 as peers Arcelor and Severstal, the largest Russian steel company, unveiled plans that would see Arcelor take an 89.6 pct stake in the Russian group while Severstal's chairman and controlling shareholder, Alexey Mordashov will acquire a 32 pct stake in Arcelor.
   
The transaction values Arcelor at 44 eur per share, excluding a 1.85 eur dividend, representing a premium of 100 pct over Arcelor's closing price on Jan 26, the day before Mittal Steel announced its hostile offer, and 36.6 pct over Arcelor's closing price ex-dividend yesterday.
   
Earlier, Mittal suggested the deal would be dilutive and would ride roughshod over the best interest of Arcelor shareholders.
   
M&A focus extended to hares in BAA, gaining 24-1/2 pence at 812 after Spain's Grupo Ferrovial SA said its Airport Development and Investment consortium will cooperate fully with any review by OFT in the event that its offer for BAA PLC is successful.
   
Yesterday, the OFT said it was considering investigating the UK airports market, a move that could affect ADI's current 8.75 bln stg, 810 pence a share, hostile bid for BAA, the owner of Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted airports. 
  
Meanwhile, rampant commodity prices fuelled gains among mining issues, with gold reaching 651.3 usd per ounce from its New York close of 648.50, while copper futures closed almost 2 pct higher on the heels of Wednesday's losses of more than 6 pct.

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Shares in Kazakhmys climbed 44 pence at 1,120, Anglo American was 80 pence to the better at 2,154, Antofagasta was higher by 69 pence at 2,137, BHP Billiton added 25 pence at 1,060 and Xstrata was 45 pence stronger at 1,980.
   
Crude-oil prices also edged higher, above the 71 usd per barrel mark as the market revisited concerns about Iran's nuclear programme and the start of the US summer driving season.
   
BG Group firmed by 14-1/2 pence at 714, while BP was up 4-1/2 at 638-1/2.
   
Elsewhere, Unilever shares added 22 pence at 1,204 after Deutsche Bank upgraded the stock to 'buy' from 'hold' saying that an effectively run North American unit could deliver yearly sales growth of 4 pct compared to a historical average of 1 pct.
   
Over on the downside, Tate & Lyle ran back one penny at 563 following yesterday's strong gains after unveiling consensus-beating FY earnings.
   
Among the minnows, broker action also benefited shares in Croda, up 20-1/2 pence at 465 after Merrill Lynch upgraded to 'buy' from 'neutral', saying the current underperformance represents a good opportunity to purchase what it calls its favourite chemicals mid-cap.
   
Victrex was also 21 pence firmer at 675 following a double upgrade ahead of results on June 6.
   
Morgan Stanley upped the stock to 'equal-weight' from 'underweight' while Citigroup lifted the stock to 'buy' from 'hold'.
   
Among the midcap fallers, Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries was weaker after results today, shedding 10 pence at 1,255, whiled IG Group lost 2-1/2 pence at 229 on news its CEO Nat le Roux is to step down as chief executive.

US Summary

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

Diary of Events

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

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PARIS - Market data at 10.09 am:

Major indices:
  
CAC-40 up 28.07 points at 4,977.60
SBF-80 up 106.12 at 5,590.42
SBF-120 up 27.00 at 3,598.97

Volume: 1.1 bln eur
33 CAC-40 stocks up
7 CAC-40 stocks down

Major gainers:
   
Capgemini, up 1.02 eur or 2.4 pct at 43 and leading broad advance among technology issues after strong gains on bellwether Nasdaq composite overnight.
   
Michelin, up 0.72 at 50.60 and bouncing from sharp declines over past two weeks, seen as investors worry about the impact of rising raw material costs on earnings.
   
Natexis Banques Populaires, up 16.80 eur or 9.0 pct at 202.80 after French state-owned bank CDC agreed to sell its stake in Caisse d'Epargne holding company CNCE for 7 bln eur, paving the way for the merger of Caisse d'Epargne's corporate and investment banking merger with Natexis Banques, to create Natixis.

Major losers:
   
Arcelor, down 0.70 eur or 2.1 pct at 33.36 after announcing merger deal with Russia's Severstal, likely to defeat a takeover offer from Mittal Steel.
   
AGF, down 1.05 or 1.1 pct at 92.20, leading profit-taking among financial stocks after yesterday's gains.

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FRANKFURT - Market data at 10.24 am
    
Major indices:
   
DAX 30 - 5,737.54, up 31.48 points or 0.55 pct
MDAX - 8,113.89, up 111.58 points or 1.39 pct
TecDAX - 652.04, up 3.42 points or 0.53 pct
DAX future - 5,745.50, down 5.50 points or 0.10 pct

Major gainers:
   
ThyssenKrupp, up 1.04 eur or 3.96 pct at 27.33, following upbeat comments from Credit Suisse and shock news that peer Arcelor has found a way to try to fend off Mittal's hostile offer through an equity swap with Russia's Severstal. Credit Suisse reiterated its 'outperform' rating and 38 eur price target on ThyssenKrupp, arguing that it is one of its preferred stocks in the European steel sector.
   
Deutsche Boerse, up 3.74 eur or 3.83 pct at 101.49, after Credit Suisse upgraded its stance on the exchange operator's stock to 'outperform' from 'underperform'
   
Bayer, up 0.64 eur or 1.83 pct at 35.66, amid upbeat comments from Deutsche Bank, which reiterated its 'buy' recommendation and 44 eur price target on the chemicals and pharmaceutical hybrid's stock and argued that Bayer's current share price level is an "excellent entry point"
   
BMW, up 0.69 eur or 1.74 pct at 40.33
   
Commerzbank, up 0.41 eur or 1.40 pct at 29.74
   
Major losers:
   
Volkswagen, down 0.72 eur or 1.29 pct at 55.13
   
Lufthansa, down 0.17 eur or 1.24 pct at 13.56, as the price of oil rose as the market revisited concerns about Iran's nuclear programme and the start of the US summer driving season
   
Altana, down 0.37 eur or 0.80 pct at 46.08
   
DaimlerChrysler, down 0.25 eur or 0.61 pct at 40.99
   
Munich Re, down 0.32 eur or 0.30 pct at 105.88

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AMSTERDAM - Market data at 9.52 am
   
Major indices
   
AEX                 442.80, up 2.52 points
AMX Midcap          574.16, up 6.79 points
Government bonds    broadly Flat

Major gainers

Unilever was up 2.06 pct to 17.83 following an upgrade to 'buy' from 'hold' at Deutsche Bank.

TNT was up 1.58 pct to 28.99 eur.

Hagemeyer jumped 1.63 pct to 3.75 eur. Peer Rexel posted strong first-quarter figures Wednesday prompting analysts to look at recovery potential of Hagemeyer.

Nutreco put on 2.30 pct to 46.29 following an upgrade to 'outperform' vs 'in-line' at Goldman Sachs.

Mittal gained 2.77 pct to 25.20 on news that its takeover target Arcelor has sold a 33 pct stake to Severstal.

Corus moved 4.40 pct higher to 5.69 eur after the Arcelor-Severstal news.

Philips rose 0.90 pct to 24.67 eur.

TomTom rose 2.20 pct to 34.80 eur.

Euronext rose 2.27 pct to 67.50 eur after an upgrade to 'outperform' at Credit Suisse First Boston.

ASML rose slightly, up 0.25 pct to 15.79. Shares in the company have been upgraded to 'buy' from 'hold' by Citigroup, which also raised its price target.

Major losers

Heineken fell 0.35 pct to 31.59 eur.

Royal Dutch Shell was down 0.15 pct at 25.83.

VastNed Retail lost 1.95 pct to 57.90 eur.

Wereldhave lost 1.32 pct to 74.85 eur.

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