UK/Euro Financial Market Daily Morning Briefing 26-09-2006

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London shares open higher as oil, miners boosted by energy price rally

Leading shares were higher in opening deals, reflecting a strong performance on Wall Street overnight, with oil and mining heavyweights boosted by a recovery in commodity prices, dealers said.
   
At 9.09 am, the FTSE 100 was 49.1 points firmer at 5,847.4, mirroring the positive wider market sentiment.
   
Meanwhile, US stocks finished strongly after a Federal Reserve official hinted that inflation could be kept in check by a slowing economy. The DJIA closed 67.71 points to the good at 11,575.81, the S&P 500 rose 11.59 to 1,326.37 and the Nasdaq was 30.14 higher at 2,249.07.
   
Today all eyes will be on Conference Board's consumer confidence survey for September, which is flagged to reveal modest gains on the back of falling gas prices.
   
But the mood was more downbeat in Asia with the Nikkei 225 closing down 76.36 at 15,557.45 amid new Shinzo Abe has been elected prime minister to replace Junichiro Koizumi, while the Hang Seng was down 26.83 at 17,519.21 by lunch.
   
Still in Asia, oil prices bounced back from six-month lows below 60 usd overnight as the market tried to second guess what the OPEC oil cartel may do next on supply.
   
Earlier this morning, New York's main contract, light sweet crude for November delivery, was up 10 cents at 61.55 usd a barrel from 61.45 in late US trades Monday.
   
Back in London, the upturn in crude prices helped to boost oil heavyweights with BP up 5-1/2 at 569, Royal Dutch Shell added 13 at 1,753 and BG rose 6 at 628-1/2.
   
Miners also lent support as commodity prices similarly staged a recovery with BHP taking on 15 at 868, Vedanta firmed 18 at 1,130, Anglo American rose 31 at 2,091 and Rio Tinto was 33 better at 2,385.
   
But Hanson topped the risers board, up 34-1/2 at 722 after the Financial Times reported speculation the building materials group recently rejected an informal 840 pence approach Mexican cement manufacturer Cemex.

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Yesterday the stock was boosted by talk it was being courted by a 'Dubai consortium' with an offer price of 840 pence bandied around City dealing rooms.
   
And in financials, ongoing bid rumours continued to support Amvescap, 16-1/2 higher at 570, Legal & General 1-1/4 firmer at 136-1/2 and Prudential 7 to the good at 622.
   
Broker comment also helped to drive sentiment with Carnival up 43 at 2477 after UBS initiated on the cruise operator with a 'buy' rating and 2,800 pence target.
   
In contrast, Enterprise Inns fell 10 at 1046 as an in-line trading update from the pubs group prompted investors to cash on on recent gains.
   
Management confirmed it expects pretax and EPS to be in line with expectations, prompting Merrill Lynch to reiterate its 'buy' advice.
   
Tobacco groups were also under pressure after a US judge yesterday granted class action status to a potential 200 bln usd lawsuit for smokers of so-called 'light' cigarettes. The tobacco firms have been accused of hoodwinking smokers into thinking light cigarettes were healthier than regular brands.
   
In response, BAT fell 1 at 1454, but was off lows as Dresdner Kleinwort urged investors to use any weakness as a buying opportunity amid belief the court case could collapse on appeal. Peer Gallaher fell 1-1/2 at 859 in sympathy.
   
And broker comment knocked BT, down 2 at 256, after the telecoms group was downgraded to 'sell' from 'hold' by ABN Amro amid broadband competition concerns.
   
Likewise, Reuters fell victim to a downgrade to 'neutral' from 'buy' at Goldman Sachs on valuation grounds -- off 3 at 429-1/2.
    
In a note to clients, the broker said the information group is close to its price target, leaving little upside at current levels. The news helped to drive peer Reed Elsevier off 1 pence at 576-1/2.
   
But ICAP remained the top casualty, down 7 at 502 still reeling from confirmation yesterday it had held merger talks with the London Stock Exchange.
   
On the second-line, Informa rose 18-1/4 at 480-1/2 after the publisher and conference organiser posted forecast-busting interim profits.

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The group said adjusted pretax profit  was 83.8 mln, ahead of a 81.4 mln consensus forecast, and up from 39.6 mln stg in the same period a year earlier.
   
In response, Merrill Lynch said the figures were strong, and comfortably ahead of expectations as it reiterated its 'buy' advice and lifted its price target to 520 pence.
   
Elsewhere, Emap rose 20 at 742 having been upgraded to 'buy' from 'neutral' by Goldman Sachs, with an an improved target of 816 pence from 761 pence ahead of the group's update this Friday.
   
While Credit Suisse provided the spur for industrial pump maker Weir Group, 13-1/2 firmer at 478-1/2, after an upgrade to 'outperform' from 'neutral'.
   
The broker said Weir faces extremely favourable end markets going forward in mining, oil and gas and power and believes there is considerable upside potential to consensus EPS forecasts.
   
Meanwhile, JKX Oil & Gas took on 7 at 289 after the oil explorer said it  expects the second half of the year to meet expectations after it unveiled bumper earnings in the first half.
   
In contrast, peer Dana Petroleum fell 35 at 1087 after a disappointing drilling update at its operation in offshore Mauritania. Dana announced it failed to find commercial quantities of hydrocarbons in the Flamant-1 exploration well.
   
Likewise, a downbeat update hit RHM, off 9-1/4 at 274-3/4, after the maker of Hovis Bread and Mr Kipling cakes said it expects profit to be skewed towards the second half of the year even more so than last year.
   
Nevertheless, the group said it still expects to make progress for the year as a whole.

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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PARIS - Market data at 9.45 am:

Major indices:
   
CAC-40 up 44.67 points or 0.87 pct at 5,191.51
SBF-80 up 42.62 or 0.73 pct at 5,884.37
SBF-120 up 31.51 or 0.85 pct at 3,754.91

Volume: 520 mln eur
40 CAC-40 stocks up

Major gainers:
   
STMicroelectronics up 0.26 or 2.00 pct at 13.25 techs gain after strong gains on Nasdaq
   
Total up 0.66 or 1.33 pct at 50.40 as crude prices rebound
   
Alcatel up 0.12 or 1.30 pct at 9.37
   
Veolia Environnement up 0.54 or 1.17 pct at 46.62, adding to yesterday's gains

Major losers:
   
EDF down 0.04 at 42.71
   
NRJ Group down 0.77 or 4.89 pct at 15.04, H1 net profit slumps over 50 pct
   
Altran Technologies up 0.33 or 5.38 pct at 6.60 on rebound

Most active stocks:
   
Total up 0.66 or 1.33 pct at 50.40 in 65 mln eur
   
France Telecom up 0.18 at 18.00 in 33 mln
   
STMicroelectronics up 0.26 or 2.00 pct at 13.25 in 27 mln
   
Sanofi-Aventis up 0.55 at 69.75 in 24 mln

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FRANKFURT -  Market data at 9:43 am  

Major indices:
   
DAX 30 - 5,940.30, up 38.64 points or 0.65 pct
MDAX - 8,337.61, up 46.49 points or 0.56 pct
TecDAX - 642.39, up 9.27 points or 1.46 pct
DAX future - 5,975.50, up 32.50 points or 0.55 pct

Major gainers:
   
Linde, up 2.76 eur or 3.92 pct to 73.17, after Deutsche Bank resumed coverage for the issues with a "buy" rating and target of 85.00
   
Infineon, up 0.17 or 1.79 pct to 9.66, after the tec-stock driven Nasdaq closed 30.14 points or 1.36 pct higher at 2,249.07
   
Continental, up 1.52 eur or 1.71 pct 90.50
   
Volkswagen, up 1.07 eur or 1.62 pct at 67.09, after VW`s chief Pischetsrieder said MAN should abandon its hostile takeover of Scania in favour of private talks. Pischetsrieder favours a plan to combine Scania and MAN with VW`s Brazilian heavy truck operation. He has no intention to change his mind, he was cited.
   
Siemens, up 0.95 or 1.42 pct to 67.63
 
Major losers:
   
E.ON, down 2.39 eur or 2.49 pct to 93.58, on concerns the utility will have to raise its bid for Endesa after Acciona said last night it had acquired 10 pct of the sought-after Spanish utility
   
Commerzbank, down 0.07 eur or 0.26 pct to 26.38, after Credit Suisse lowered it rating for the bank to "neutral" from "outperform"

Other Movers:
   
MLP, up 0.45 eur or 2.65 pct to 17.40 , after a Focus-Money magazine report said that Deutsche Bank, UBS and Sal. Oppenheim are interested in acquiring the financial services provider
   
Schwarz Pharma, up 2.72 or 3.08 pct at 90.97, extending gains from yesterday when UCB SA's made its 4.4 bln eur bid for the German pharmaceutical.

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AMSTERDAM - Market data at 10.20 am
   
Major indices
   
AEX               477.57 up 3.75 points
AMX Midcap        579.85, up 4.57 points
Government bonds  Lower

Major gainers
   
Crucell rose 3.49 pct to 18.08 eur after news that its Ebola vaccine has entered Phase I clinical trials, while investors still await news about possible approval of the Quinvaxem child disease vaccine by the WHO, dealers said
   
ASML led blue chips, up 2.04 pct to 18.01 eur
   
Unilever added 1.67 pct to 19.43 eur
   
KPN gained 0.30 pct to 9.90 eur after a price target hike at Rabo Securities
   
Major losers
   
Wolters Kluwer dropped 0.36 pct to 19.59 eur after a downgrade to 'hold' from 'buy' at brokerage Van Lanschot
   
CSM dropped 0.36 pct to 25.01 eur a day after Dutch market regulator NMa said it will investigate the sale of CSM's sugar division to Cosun
   
Wereldhave lost 0.71 pct to 84.15 eur

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