Morning Euro Markets Bulletin.

ADVFN III Morning Euro Markets Bulletin

Daily world financial news Friday, 13 September 2013

London Market Report

FTSE 100 Euronext Dax perf CAC 40 Please click on the images to view our interactive charts

Miners pull FTSE 100 back from one-month high The FTSE 100 dipped lower on Friday morning with the heavyweight mining sector providing a drag as metals´ prices weakened across the board. London's benchmark index opened with slight losses early on, pulling back from yesterday's close of 5,586.08 - its highest closing level since August 13th - as traders sit on their hands as they await a busy week next week. Investors' appetite for risk is being scaled back ahead of the all-important Federal Open Market Committee two-day meeting which concludes next Wednesday with the Fed's next move highly uncertain following recent mixed economic data. Last Friday's worse-than-expected jobs report sparked hopes that the Fed could delay scaling back quantitative easing at its September meeting, given that the central bank has explicitly called for a strong recovery in the labour market before it begins to 'taper'. However, last week's decline in US jobless claims to their lowest level since April 2006 revealed yesterday seems to have now dampened these hopes somewhat though the figures were affected by one-off factors. "With the Federal Reserve meeting next week to discuss potential reductions to monthly bond purchases, and with developments in Syria moving along at a snail’s pace, it is understandable that investors are tempted to hold fire for the next week or so ," said Max Cohen, a Financial Sales Trader at Spreadex. FTSE 100: Miners slump as metals weaken Falling gold and silver prices hit mining stocks this morning. Gold in particular was at a five-week low and looks set to record its worst weekly loss since June as speculation ramps up about the Fed meeting. Gloomy comments on the precious metal from Goldman Sachs also weighed on prices today, with the bank saying that gold will slip to $1,050 an ounce next year from the current $1,316 level (as of this morning). Randgold was among the worst performers on the FTSE 100, along with Anglo American, Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and Antofagasta. Glencore Xstrata was also lower after announcing a revised scope for its Zanaga iron ore project with a changed budget and efforts to finance work. The company said the project feasibility study is now being advanced on the basis of a staged development, substantially reducing the initial capital requirement and including the potential for initial production using existing infrastructure. Vodafone edged higher after winning enough shareholder support for its €7.7bn takeover of German cable company Kabel Deutschland to go ahead. The British mobile network giant has received the backing of more than 75% of Kabel shareholders. FTSE 250: Imagination rises on licence deal; Kentz continues to fall Imagination Technologies has signed a new licence agreement with MediaTek, a semiconductor company for wireless communications and digital multimedia, causing shares to jump on friday. Under the multi-year agreement, MediaTek will continue to deliver products to the group’s PowerVR Series6 division including graphical features such as OpenGL ES 3.0 support, while maintaining the low-power profile essential to mobile devices. MediaTek will be given access to graphics technology. Kentz was weaker this morning after German firm M&W Group pulled out of a potential bid for the engineering and project management company. M+W is the second company in two days to decide against bidding for Kentz after Amec withdrew its intention on Thursday.

FTSE 100 - Risers Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 4,508.00p +1.26% William Hill (WMH) 429.00p +1.16% Babcock International Group (BAB) 1,200.00p +0.84% Schroders (SDR) 2,472.00p +0.77% easyJet (EZJ) 1,331.00p +0.76% Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,370.00p +0.74% RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 122.60p +0.74% Standard Life (SL.) 343.00p +0.70% Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,018.00p +0.69% Intertek Group (ITRK) 3,415.00p +0.68% FTSE 100 - Fallers Anglo American (AAL) 1,585.00p -2.19% Glencore Xstrata (GLEN) 336.90p -1.96% Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 297.00p -1.82% Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,161.00p -1.78% Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,133.50p -1.66% Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 4,433.00p -1.40% Fresnillo (FRES) 1,178.00p -1.34% Antofagasta (ANTO) 852.50p -1.33% BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,898.00p -1.30% BG Group (BG.) 1,194.50p -1.08% FTSE 250 - Risers Imagination Technologies Group (IMG) 331.50p +7.84% Fenner (FENR) 406.40p +4.93% Bwin party Digital Entertainment (BPTY) 113.90p +3.64% Barratt Developments (BDEV) 321.80p +2.16% Ashtead Group (AHT) 644.50p +1.50% Salamander Energy (SMDR) 122.50p +1.32% Restaurant Group (RTN) 577.50p +1.32% TR Property Inv Trust (TRY) 212.90p +1.28% Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 329.10p +1.26% Dignity (DTY) 1,486.00p +1.23% FTSE 250 - Fallers African Barrick Gold (ABG) 162.00p -3.34% Ferrexpo (FXPO) 181.10p -2.90% Polymetal International (POLY) 714.50p -2.79% Kentz Corporation Ltd. (KENZ) 485.30p -2.75% Pennon Group (PNN) 706.50p -2.75% Centamin (DI) (CEY) 43.50p -2.25% Lonmin (LMI) 336.70p -1.98% Telecity Group (TCY) 824.50p -1.90% Hochschild Mining (HOC) 273.20p -1.66% Investec (INVP) 434.20p -1.59%

UK Event Calendar

INTERIMS Songbird Estates INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE 4Imprint Group, Moneysupermarket.com Group, Pearson, RM, Spirent Communications QUARTERLY PAYMENT DATE Barclays, Carnival, Energy XXI (Bermuda) (Di) INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS Balance of Trade (EU) (10:00) Business Inventories (US) (13:30) Manufacturing Inventories (US) (15:00) Producer Price Index (US) (13:30) Retail Sales (US) (13:45) Retail Sales Inventories (US) (15:15) U. of Michigan Confidence (US) (15:00) GMS JPMorgan Brazil Inv Trust FINALS Wetherspoon J.D. AGMS JPMorgan Brazil Inv Trust , ReNeuron Group, SVM UK Emerging Fund FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE Downing Absolute Income VCT 2, Downing Structured Opportunities VCT 1 'B' Shares, Downing Structured Opportunities VCT 1 'D' Shares, Latchways, New Century AIM VCT, Sweett Group

Europe Market Report

FTSE 100 Euronext Dax perf CAC 40

Stocks mixed ahead of US data FTSE 100: -0.14% DAX: -0.14% CAC 40: 0.04% FTSE MIB: -0.23% IBEX 35: -0.18% Stoxx 600: -0.11% European stocks were little changed on Friday morning ahead of the release of US retail sales and confidence figures. Retail sales in the world’s largest economy in August rose 0.4% compared to July when it climbed by 0.2%, a report is expected to show. The University of Michigan Confidence index is tipped to reveal a reading of 82 for September, down from 82.1 the previous month. The Federal Reserve is turning to economic indicators ahead of its policy meeting on September 17-18th to determine whether the US has recovered enough to begin tapering stimulus. Economists are mixed on whether the central bank will announce a scaling back of its $85bn per month in bond purchases at the meeting. Also on investors’ radars are talks in Geneva between the US and Russia on the situation in Syria. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday said they hoped the plan to put Syria's chemical weapons under international control could defer US military action. Syria has agreed to the Russian proposal to give up its chemical weapons. US President Barack Obama has insisted that if diplomacy failed he would support a move towards military strikes against Syria’s government for allegedly using chemical weapons against civilians on August 21st. “With the Federal Reserve meeting next week to discuss potential reductions to monthly bond purchases, and with developments in Syria moving along at a snail’s pace, it is understandable that investors are tempted to hold fire for the next week or so,” said Max Cohen, a trader at Spreadex. Wetherspoon falls on flat dividend Wetherspoon slumped after reporting a flat dividend as it released its annual results. Fresenius and Rhoen-Klinikum gained as the boards of the German companies endorsed the deal for Fresenius’s Helios unit to buy 43 hospitals from Rhoen-Klinikum. Carlsberg rallied after the brewer said it expects to sustain the 5% organic sales growth in the China from the first half. Other asset classes slide Brent crude futures fell $0.374 to $112.210 per barrel on the ICE. The euro dropped 0.05% to 1.3292 US dollars.

US Market Report

Stocks pull back after recent gains, Fed in focus Dow Jones: 0.17% Nasdaq: 0.24% S&P 500: 0.36% US stocks posted moderate falls on Thursday, pulling back after recent gains, as investors turned cautious ahead of next week's all-important Federal Reserve policy meeting. Reports that Syria might not so readily hand over its chemical weapons stockpile also impacted on trading. The S&P 500 snapped a seven-day winning streak, its longest string of consecutive gains since July, taking the index to within 1.2% of its all-time high. Traders seem reluctant to take on too much risk ahead of the two-day Federal Open Market Committee meeting. Employment data has been closely watched after Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said back in May that he was looking for a decent recovery in the labour market before beginning the 'tapering' of quantitative easing. Markets are hoping that - in light of last week's worse-than-expected US jobs report - policymakers might wait until later on in the year before pulling the plug on stimulus, as they await stronger signs of a recovery. Jobless claims drop Initial US weekly unemployment claims dropped by 31,000 in the week ended on September 7th to 292,000 - their lowest level since April of 2006. The consensus estimate had been for a reading of 323,000. However, markets gave a subdued reaction to the numbers today after the Labor Department said that work carried out on computer systems in two states caused those employment agencies to report fewer applications. Financial Sales Trader Lee Mumford from Spreadex said that the figures "should be taken with a pitch of salt". In other economic news, US import prices were unchanged month-on-month in August, instead of the 0.5% gain expected by markets. Syria still in focus Developments in Syria continued to rumble on in the background on Thursday as President Bashar al-Assad reportedly "confirmed" that he will agree to Russia’s plan to place chemical weapons under international control as long as the US agrees not to take military action. Later reports, however, indicated that in exchange al-Assad asks that the US stop supplying the rebels with weapons, which he claims America is doing. US intelligence says that Assad's regime was behind the attacks last month that killed around one and a half thousand people. Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday called on the US not to intervene in Syria, especially if action is not approved by the United Nations first, given that it could lead to more violence and "unleash a new wave of terrorism". "President Obama is not having an easy ride at the moment. It is one thing having your overseas policies questioned by the opposition, but having Russian President Vladimir Putin take a swipe at them in The New York Times is quite another," said Alastair McCaig, Market Analyst at IG. Pandora surges after appointing new CEO Pandora Media, the online radio service company, surged after appointing Brian McAndrews as its new Chief Executive, succeeding Joe Kennedy who announced his intention to step down in March. McAndrews is said to be a digital-advertising veteran. Barrick Gold and Newmont Mining were heavy fallers after the price of gold slumped its most in nine weeks. Entertainment group Walt Disney was a high riser after announcing a share buyback of as much as $8bn which will start next year. Apple was rebounding slightly after some heavy falls on Wednesday following the underwhelming release of two new iPhone models. The stock was hit by a number of broker downgrades the day before as analysts raised concerns about the high price of 'cheaper' iPhone 5C. S&P 500 - Risers Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD) $58.83 +5.43% Walgreen Co. (WAG) $53.29 +5.00% Sprint Nextel Corporation (S) $6.69 +2.92% Iron Mountain Inc. (IRM) $26.58 +2.67% Kroger Co. (KR) $38.62 +2.52% Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $65.49 +2.42% Pinnacle West Capital Corp. (PNW) $53.45 +2.16% Dominion Resources Inc. (D) $59.78 +2.00% Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $47.35 +1.78% Mylan Inc. (MYL) $38.72 +1.76% S&P 500 - Fallers Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. (CLF) $22.42 -5.16% Newmont Mining Corp. (NEM) $28.23 -4.18% Valero Energy Corp. (VLO) $34.70 -3.80% Textron Inc. (TXT) $28.43 -3.23% First Solar Inc. (FSLR) $38.34 -3.18% Crown Castle International (CCI) $70.83 -3.01% Corning Inc. (GLW) $14.49 -2.69% Tesoro Corp. (TSO) $44.82 -2.57% International Paper Co. (IP) $48.13 -2.49% Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $38.86 -2.48% Dow Jones I.A - Risers Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $65.49 +2.42% Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $47.35 +1.78% AT&T Inc. (T) $34.38 +1.19% Boeing Co. (BA) $109.80 +0.52% Home Depot Inc. (HD) $75.40 +0.48% American Express Co. (AXP) $75.29 +0.15% International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) $190.73 +0.02% Dow Jones I.A - Fallers JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $52.24 -1.92% Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) $21.96 -1.39% E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DD) $58.06 -1.31% Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $28.31 -1.26% Bank of America Corp. (BAC) $14.48 -1.16% General Electric Co. (GE) $23.85 -1.00% Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $87.98 -0.97% Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $38.44 -0.88% Intel Corp. (INTC) $22.63 -0.79% Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $83.12 -0.73% Nasdaq 100 - Risers Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD) $58.83 +5.43% Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) $81.40 +1.99% Mylan Inc. (MYL) $38.72 +1.76% Citrix Systems Inc. (CTXS) $73.72 +1.68% Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) $29.65 +1.58% Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $113.46 +1.33% Apple Inc. (AAPL) $472.69 +1.06% QUALCOMM Inc. (QCOM) $68.81 +1.06% Akamai Technologies Inc. (AKAM) $50.57 +0.89% Tesla Motors Inc (TSLA) $164.93 +0.86% Nasdaq 100 - Fallers Randgold Resources Ltd. Ads (GOLD) $69.92 -4.91% Sirius XM Radio Inc (SIRI) $3.78 -2.45% Nuance Communications Inc. (NUAN) $19.50 -2.35% Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $301.41 -2.24% Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $64.48 -2.07% Garmin Ltd. (GRMN) $42.40 -1.92% Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $144.50 -1.91% Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $16.20 -1.76% Expedia Inc. (EXPE) $51.18 -1.75% Sba Communications Corp. (SBAC) $77.24 -1.69%

Friday newspaper round-up

Syria, House price bubble, Vodafone UN inspectors will point the finger of blame at the Assad regime for a deadly chemical weapons strike that threatens to drag the US and other Western powers into the Syria conflict. The report, due to be published on Monday, will include a wealth of evidence that a chemical nerve agent was used in the attack, according to sources. Such a finding will throw President Putin on to the back foot as Russia and the US wrangle over how to force President Assad to rid himself of his chemical arsenal, The Times reports. The Bank of England should take action to cap house price rises at 5% a year in order to prevent a dangerous new property bubble, reckless lending and a build-up in consumer debt, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors RICS says. In the latest stark warning about the housing market, Rics – which represents surveyors and estate agents – is calling on the Bank to limit house price inflation to rein in consumers' and lenders' expectations and give a clear sign of when the Bank would use its new powers to calm the market. This week, the organisation warned that house prices are rising at their fastest rate since their 2006 peak, The Guardian explains. Vodafone has won a last-minute victory in the fight for Kabel Deutschland after securing 75% of the shares in Germany’s largest cable television business. The deal was poised on a knife-edge as the British company had until midnight on Wednesday night to gain control of the shares or face the prospect of its £6.6bn offer lapsing. Vodafone had fewer than 20% of the shares earlier in the day. Although it had given itself until next week to gauge whether it had secured enough votes, it revealed last night that it has sealed the deal, according to The Times. Royal Mail smoothed its path to the stock market with a £200m sweetener for prospective shareholders in what is set to be the biggest privatisation since the early 1990s. The Government said that Royal Mail would pay a maiden dividend of £133m next July, with a view to future payouts of £200m annually. With a market capitalisation expected to be about £3bn, that would put Royal Mail’s dividend yield far ahead of privatised European peers such as Deutsche Post DHL, The Times says. Twitter fired the starting gun on the internet’s most anticipated initial public offering since Facebook by filing preparatory documents to the Securities and Exchange Commission. “We’ve confidentially submitted an S1 to the SEC for a planned IPO. This Tweet does not constitute an offer of any securities for sale,” the messaging site tweeted from its official account, sending the site’s users into an immediate frenzy of speculation, The Financial Times writes. Britain now has a record number of estate agents, official figures have revealed, underlining fears that the fledgling economic recovery is based on inflating an unsustainable housing bubble. The number of people employed in "real estate activities" increased by 9.9% between March and June, the latest month for which data are available, according to the Office for National Statistics. That was the fastest percentage increase in any sector of the economy; and a rise of 77,000 in the number of estate agents over the past year has taken the total number of people employed in the sector to 562,000, the largest number since records began in 1978, The Guardian says.