Date: Tuesday 13 Jul 2010
European shares closed with strong gains on renewed optimism after Alcoa and CSX got the US results season off to a good start.Alcoa beat analyst expectations with underlying profits of $137m, or 13c per share, in the three months ended 30 June. The aluminium giant made a loss of $312m, or 32m per share, this time last year. The Dow constituent was tipped to report earnings of 12c per share.
Freight transport firm CSX also posted results late Monday, with quarterly profit jumping by more than a third due to strong demand for cars and metals.
Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan said the emirate is considering making an investment in BP, according to press reports. “We are still thinking about it,” he was quoted by Bloomberg as saying when asked about buying a stake in the firm. “We are looking across the board. We have been partners with BP for years.”
BP’s closed higher on bid talk, asset sale rumours and hopes that the group is near to stemming the flow of oil spilling into the Gulf of Mexico
Across the markets, the Dax in Frankfurt closed up 114 points at 6,191, with the Cac in Paris 70 points higher at 3,638. The Swiss market added 70 points to 6,299.
Carmakers, including Peugeot, Renault, Volkswagen and BMW, were in demand.
BMW was the strongest riser in Frankfurt after the carmaker said it expects pre-tax profit in 2010 to rise more sharply than previously anticipated.
"In addition to the recovery of the worldwide markets, strong demand for new models such as the BMW 5 Series and BMW X1 has had a positive impact on the business development," the group said.
Unilever gained after Goldman Sachs upped its stance on the household product giant to buy.
Cosmetics firm L'Oreal posted a better than expected 12% rise in second-quarter sales late on Monday.
Revenue increased to €4.95bn from €4.4bn last year, thanks to a recovery in the luxury products market and foreign exchange gains. The figure was slightly ahead of analysts’ expectations of €4.897bn.
Air France and UK airline Flybe agreed a commercial tie-up that will give passengers of both carriers access to new routes.
The codeshare deal, effective by the end of October, will give Flybe passengers access to five additional routes between the UK and France as well as seven new domestic French routes and 11 international routes.
Elsewhere, Credit rating agency Moody's has downgraded Portugal's long-term debt by two notches, but said the outlook is now stable.
The agency cut the ratings to A1 from Aa2, saying the Portugal government's financial strength will "continue to weaken over the medium term, as evidenced by ongoing deterioration in the country's debt metrics."
German investor confidence dropped for a third time in a row in July, new figures show. The ZEW institute said its confidence index fell to 21.2 from 28.7 points in June.“This is in stark contrast to the economic situation. Positive data on industrial activity show the favourable development of the German economy during the second quarter 2010,” ZEW said in a statement.
CAC 40 - Risers
Dexia (DEXB) € 3.29 +5.79%
Peugeot (UG) € 24.37 +5.25%
Renault (RNO) € 35.28 +4.24%
Lagardere SCA (MMB) € 26.87 +4.01%
Suez Environnement Company (SEV) € 14.19 +3.81%
Credit Agricole (ACA) € 9.60 +3.72%
Accor (AC) € 24.25 +3.39%
Societe Generale (GLE) € 39.50 +3.24%
Technip (TEC) € 50.35 +3.01%
Veolia Environnement (VIE) € 20.50 +2.99%
CAC 40 - Fallers
Cap Gemini (CAP) € 36.56 -0.27%
Danone (BN) € 45.92 -0.24%
Essilor International (EI) € 49.43 -0.12%
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