UK/Euro Financial Market Daily Morning Briefing 27-02-2007

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London shares open lower as US growth fears, heavyweight miners weigh

Leading shares opened lower, hit by fears over economic growth in the US and   as heavyweight miners suffered following reports South Africa could impose a "windfall tax" on the industry, dealers said.
   
At 9.07 am, the the FTSE 100 index was down 62.3 points at 6,372.4, with the FTSE 250 losing 205.8 at 11,406. Volume was solid with 452 mln shares changing hands in 74,904 deals.
  
Meanwhile, Wall Street failed to hold onto early gains as initial enthusiasm over a 45 bln usd buyout of electric utility TXU was offset by growth fears with oil prices spiking to two month highs.
   
Sentiment was further dented after comments from former Federal Reserve chief Alan Greenspan suggested the world's biggest economy may slip into recession later this year.
   
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 15.22 points to 12,632.26, The Standard & Poor's 500 index was down 1.82 at 1,449.37, and the Nasdaq lost 10.58 to 2,504.52.
   
The downbeat mood spilled over into Asia, as Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index closed off 95.43 at 18,119.92 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng was down 243.61 at 20,264.34 by midday.
   
Back in London, mining stocks dominated the blue chip fallers, after reports from South Africa suggested the government is considering imposing a "windfall tax" for all resources.
   
This follows on from news last week that South Africa's Sasol, the world's top producer of synthetic fuel from coal, could pay higher tax due to the spike in crude prices.
   
In response, BHP Billiton fell 30 pence at 1090, Xstrata lost 67 at 2,563, Anglo American was down 67 at 2,563, Kazakhmys was off 27 at 1168 and Rio Tinto eased 60 at 2,880.

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In financials, Standard Chartered fell 31 at 1478 after the Asia-focused bank delivered a 19 pct increase in full-year profit, in line with market expectations.
   
Standard Chartered, which is listed in London but generates over two thirds of its revenues in Asia, said pretax profit for the year to Dec 31, 2006 came in at 3.178 bln usd, up from 2.681 bln usd the previous year. Analysts had expected profit of 3.168 bln usd, according to a consensus forecast supplied by the company.
   
The news sent peers Barclays 14 lower at 775-1/2, Royal Bank of Scotland lost 25 at 2,078, HSBC was off 6-1/2 at 897 and Lloyds TSB fell 7 at 584-1/2.
   
Defence groups were also under the cosh after today's Times reported the Treasury is threatening to cut defence projects worth up to 35 bln usd in the Governments next spending round.
   
In response, BAE Systems lost 11-1/4 at 449-1/4, and Rolls-Royce fell 13-1/4 at 500-4/5, while mid-cap peers Qinetiq eased 2-1/2 at 195, Cobham was down 4-1/2 at 201-1/2, Meggitt was off 8-1/4 at 341 and Chemring slid 15 at 1,795.
   
Elsewhere, transport groups continued to be hit as crude prices continued to climb as world powers worked on a tougher UN resolution to curb Iran's nuclear program alongside news of further cold weather in the US.
   
Earlier this morning, New York Mercantile Exchange's main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in April, was 0.20 usd firmer to 61.59 usd.
   
British Airways fell 12 at 546 while cruise operator Carnival fell a further 32 at 2,478. But in contrast, oil stocks bucked the weak wider market trend, filling three of the four slots on the FTSE 100 risers board this morning.

BG was 1 higher at 731, Royal Dutch Shell gained 1 at 1,708 and Cairn Energy was 6 better at 1,636. The latter was further boosted after it unveiled unveiled plans for a 481 mln stg cash return from its float of Cairn India. In response, Merrill Lynch said the figure was 'in-line' with its expectations, adding the announcement serves as an opportunity to reiterate its 'buy' investment case.
   
Elsewhere, Reuters added 5 at 431  after the news provider was upgraded to 'outperform' from 'neutral' by Credit Suisse ahead of full year results this Thursday.
   
In a note to clients, the broker said the upgrade reflects the group's favourable revenue outlook for 2007 and the potential for share buyback extensions to enhance EPS by 1-5 pct.

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On the second-line, Avis Europe slumped 14 pct or 12-1/2 pence to 73 after the car rental group's full year profit fell by almost 50 pct and warned its 2005 guidance for margin improvement is no longer sustainable.
   
This morning, the company posted a pretax profit of 10.7 mln eur for the year ended Dec 31, compared with 20.1 mln eur last year, although underlying pretax profit rose to 38.9 mln eur compared with 37.8 mln.
   
Still in earnings, Ashmore Group lost 16 at 271-1/4 after slightly higher pretax profits at the specialist emerging markets asset manager failed to inspire.
    
This morning, the group said interim pretax profit was  60.2 mln stg, up from 59.0 mln stg last year but total revenue was flat at 73.9 mln stg compared with 73.7 mln stg a year earlier.
   
Partygaming was also lower, down 2-1/4 at 37-1/2 on news online gaming peer 888's non-executive director and former chief executive, John Anderson, has been asked to attend an interview with French authorities. The company also said it is in consultation with its legal advisers with regards to this inquiry.
   
In contrast, GKN topped the FTSE 250 leaders board following solid full year results from the automotive products group, prompting Cazenove to upgrade its stance to 'outperform' from 'in-line'. Earlier today, GKN posted an 8 pct rise in full year pretax profits, excluding exceptionals and amortisation to 221 mln stg. Shares took on 28-1/4 at 349.
   
In new issues, Sports Direct International, the UK's largest sports retailer, started conditional trading at 301 pence, a premium of a penny from its IPO price of 300p which was at the top end of the indicative range. At 301 pence Sports Direct has a market capitalisation of 2.17 bln stg and will enter the FTSE 250 index.

UK Diary of Events

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US Summary

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PARIS - Market data at 10.25 am:
   
Major indices:
   
CAC-40 down 89.33 points or 1.55 pct at 5,673.21
SBF-80 down 125.65 points or 1.77 pct at 6,980.51
SBF-120 down 66.77 points or 1.58 pct at 4,152.34

Volume: 1.6 bln eur
1 CAC-40 stock up
39 CAC-40 stocks down

Major gainers:
   
EADS, up 0.24 eur or 0.93 pct at 26.15, as it prepares to give details tomorrow of the long-awaited restructuring plan for its troubled Airbus unit.

Major losers:
   
Alstom, down 3.85 eur or 3.99 pct at 92.70. As the train wreck in the UK highlighted the safety features of its Pendolino carriages, the TXU deal in the US raised questions about the future market there for coal-fired power plants.
   
Arcelor Mittal, down 1.28 eur or 3.12 pct at 39.75, amid profit-taking after strong gains since last week's positive 2007 guidance.
   
Accor, down 2.02 eur or 2.85 pct at 68.92

Most active stocks:
   
Total, 150 mln eur, down 0.59 eur or 1.10 pct at 53.07
   
Carrefour, 106 mln eur, down 0.56 eur or 1.13 pct at 49.00
   
BNP Paribas, 102 mln eur, down 1.34 eur or 1.63 pct at 80.96

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German shares AFX at a glance

Forthcoming Events

Today
   
DaimlerChrysler publishes annual report
German Jan import prices
Henkel annual news conference

Tomorrow
   
Audi FY annual results news conference
Munich Re FY results and annual news conference
German Jan wholesale sales (0700)

Company News
   
Volkswagen recalls 800,000 vehicles

Market News
   
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*Source The Times, December 15th 2006

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