UK/Euro Financial Market Daily Morning Briefing 28-04-2006

Trade shares for a living with Intelli-trend 250
Click Here to find out more.

London shares off lows as China growth fears offset by Wall St gain

Leading shares were weaker in early deals, but off opening lows, as the firmer tone to Wall Street last night helped offset Chinese growth concerns, with mining issues recovering initial losses after UBS upped its price target across the sector, dealers said.
   
At 9.00 am, the FTSE 100 was 15.2 points lower at 6,044.8, off its earlier low of 6035.9, with the broader indices also lower.
   
Early volume was moderate with 156 mln shares traded in 23,096 deals.
   
Last night on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed off its highs of the day but ended 28.02 points better at 11,382.51.
   
In Asia, the Nikkei 225 Stock Average closed down 208.31 points at 16,906.23, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index ended its morning session off 213.06 points at 16,529.79.
   
Among shares on the move this morning, Yell Group fell 21p to 508, after the UK telephone directories publisher agreed to buy Spanish peer TPI for 3.3 bln eur.
   
The owner of Britain's Yellow Pages said TPI's largest shareholder, telecoms giant Telefonica SA, has accepted Yell's 8.5 eur per share cash bid for its 59.9 pct stake in the company.
   
In response, Panmure Gordon reiterated its 'hold' advice and said the price is at a 22 pct premium to TPI's share price and as a result it feels "it is very full".
   
Smith & Nephew continued to feel the heat, off 3p to 459, after the orthopaedics group's shares were downgraded to equal-weight from overweight by Morgan Stanley after it said first quarter results raised key concerns.

As an ADVFN newsletter subscriber please click the link below to obtain your complimentary investment journals (usually £35 per issue). City Equities Limited have specialised in the Small Cap sector of the stock market since 1992. For a free report click here
City Equities is Authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.

Oil issues were also lower after crude prices extended losses in Asian trade as concerns over US stocks eased following the latest inventories data.
    
New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in June, was down 27 cents at 70.70 usd a barrel from 70.97 in US trading overnight where it lost 96 cents. BP eased 5p to 678, while RDShell fell 19p to 1974.
   
Meanwhile heavyweight mining stocks bounced from opening lows as UBS increased its price target across the sector.
   
Antofagasta rose 15p to 2373, Xstrata gained 32p to 2047, Kazakhmys rose 12p to 1180 and Rio gained 5p to 1173.
   
Also on the upside, life insurer Friends Provident was 2-1/2p higher at 198-3/4, after beating market forecasts with a 26 pct rise in life and pensions sales in the first quarter.
    
Friends, the UK's fourth-biggest listed insurer, said group life and pensions new business for the first three months of 2006 came in at 1.331 bln stg, up from 1.053 bln stg in the same period last year, and ahead of the 1.223 bln stg average analyst forecast.
   
In response, Merrill Lynch reiterated its 'neutral' advice and said the results were strong with sales hitting 1.33 bln stg, comfortably ahead of consensus estimates and compares with its flagged 1.216 bln.
   
But it added it expects that, given the strong results reported by peers during the past week, consensus expectations will have already been upgraded.
   
ICI however rose to the top of the leader board, up 10-1/2p to 368-1/2,  after Deutsche Bank upgraded the firm to 'buy' from 'hold'.
   
Gaming group PartyGaming rose 0-3/4 to 153-1/2 after Deutsche Bank confirmed its 'buy' rating on the back of the positive American Gaming Association statement.
   
Glaxo was buoyed by positive broker comment, up 16p at 1548, after Morgan Stanley upped its recommendation to 'overweight' from 'equal-weight' following
the UK healthcare groups better-than-expected first quarter earnings statement yesterday.

Everything half price at T.M.Lewin: Shirts, Ties, Shoes and more! Or take advantage of our 4 men’s shirts for £100 offer.

Click Here.

On the second line, shares in BBA were the worst performing midcap, off 11p at 260, after saying the current trading environment for Fiberweb remains  challenging and for the first half of 2006, expects profits to be substantially  lower than last year, principally due to higher energy and polypropylene costs,  together with lower volumes in the North American hygiene business.
   
On the upside, brewer Mitchells & Butlers gained 4-3/4p to 500, after announcing a raft of measures aimed at repelling the advances of property tycoon Robert Tchenguiz, whose recent hostile takeover bid was rebuffed by the UK pubs group.
   
The company plans to refinance in the second half of the year and return up to 500 mln stg to shareholders in calendar 2006.
    
On the macro front, the monthly survey from GfK/NOP is expected to report a modest improvement in consumer confidence in April, though tougher labour conditions will continue to weigh on the survey's main index.
   
The survey's main index is expect to be -6 in April against -7 the previous month. March's index deteriorated sharply in the wake of rising utility bills.
   
In the US later, April's final Michigan Sentiment index is seen easing to 58.8 from 60.4, according to a median of analysts.

US Summary

For a summary of US stocks at the close of trade, click here

Diary of Events

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

Then find it at Barclays Stockbrokers, where online trades cost as little as £7.50 if you place more than 10 trades per quarter (usual fee £12). Our award-winning service gives you a great rate, trading tools and much more.
Apply now. Click here.

PARIS - Market data at 9.42 am:

Major indices:
   
CAC-40 down 11.31 points or 0.22 pct at 5,202.24
SBF-80 down 18.00 points or 0.29 pct at 6,110.83
SBF-120 down 8.62 points or 0.23 pct at 3,786.36

Volume: 443 mln eur
12 CAC-40 stocks up
27 CAC-40 stocks down
1 CAC-40 stock unchanged

Major gainers:
   
Saint-Gobain, up 1.30 eur or 2.23 pct at 59.50, after its first quarter sales data prompted several banks to lift their price targets.
   
Schneider Electric, up 1.50 eur or 1.69 pct at 90.05
  
Peugeot, up 0.50 eur or 0.97 pct at 51.85, as analysts considered its first quarter sales report reassuring. 

Major losers:
   
Alcatel, down 0.23 eur or 1.98 pct at 11.40. Yesterday it reported a first quarter operating profit in line with expectations, but said sales growth will slow in the second half.
   
PPR, down 1.20 eur or 1.17 pct at 101.80
   
Total, down 2.50 eur or 1.13 pct at 219.70, as oil prices retreated from their peaks of recent days.

Trade Forex, Indices and Shares with zero commissions and 1% margin. Live dealing prices stream into GCI's state-of-the art trading software. Just click on a price to trade currencies, S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrials, DAX 30, Nikkei 225, IBM, Vodafone, Microsoft, and much more. To register for a free demo account Click Here

AMSTERDAM - Market data at 10.18 am:

Major indices:
   
AEX index             470.85, down 3.59 points
AMX Midcap index      625.17, down 3.23 points
Government bonds      narrowly mixed
 
Major losers:
   
Philips eased 1.47 pct at 27.53 after disappointing news from tech giants Microsoft and Sony
   
Oil stocks were lower, with Royal Dutch Shell down 1.02 pct at 27.26 and SBM Offshore easing 0.93 pct at 85.55
   
ABN Amro gave up 0.87 pct at 23.84 as the stock was downgraded to 'hold' from 'buy' at ING, which also cut its price target to 26.50 eur from 29
   
DSM slipped 0.19 pct at 37.25 after earlier rising on the back of a good set of first-quarter results and an upbeat outlook for the second quarter
   
Wolters Kluwer led blue chip fallers, off 69 cents or 3.23 pct at 20.68, trading ex-dividend of 55 cents
   
Second-line decliners were also led by stocks trading ex-dividend, with Corio falling 2.4 eur or 4.49 pct ex-dividend of 2.45 eur, CSM off 92 cents or 3.65 pct at 24.32 ex-dividend of 80 cents, and Heijmans losing 1.2 eur or 3.08 pct at 37.80 ex-dividend of 1.45 eur

Major gainers:
   
Vedior extended yesterday's advance on the staffing group's strong first-quarter results, rising 0.88 pct to 18.36 as ING raised its price target to 22.0 eur from 20.5 
   
ASML was the only other blue chip gainer, up 12 cents at 16.78
   
Crucell, up 1.77 pct at 21.79, recouped some of yesterday's losses posted on a higher-than-expected cash burn forecast for this year. Local broker Petercam put its rating under review for a potential upgrade after a "very strong supportive meeting" to the biotech company's trading update.

InterCasino gives every player up to £50 free every month. With 180 great casino games, huge progressive jackpots, real-time chat on multiplayer tables and 24/7 support, InterCasino is the player’s choice.
InterCasino – it’s Excitement You Can Trust - Click Here

FRANKFURT - Market data at 10.12 am

Major indices:
   
DAX 30 - 6,010.71, down 57.03 points or 0.94 pct
MDAX - 8,782.47 down 2.22 points or 0.03 pct
TecDAX - 730.58, up 4.02 points or 0.55 pct
DAX future - 6,061.50, down 27.50 points or 0.45 pct

Major losers:
    
VW, down 2.81 eur or 4.34 pct to 61.89 as its first quarter figures fell short of consensus estimates, dealers said.
    
DaimlerChrysler down 1.12 eur or 2.50 pct at 43.71, as investors sold auto sector shares following VW's disappointing Q1 earnings release.
   
Siemens down 1.76 eur or 2.28 pct at 75.58, after JP Morgan downgraded the shares to 'neutral' from 'overweight' on valuation and a report appeared in the German press that the industrial conglomerate has not found any buyers for it computer services unit.
   
BMW, down 0.93 eur or 2.11 pct to 43.25.  
   
SAP, down 2.36 eur or 1.33 pct at 174.64.

ADVFN Services