European Indexes End Higher in Volatile Session

A roundup of Thursday's activity on major European exchanges

by S&P MarketScope Europe Staff

London

The FTSE 100 closed higher supported by mining and energy stocks. Support also came from higher Wall Street stocks. WTI traded at US$92.91 a barrel following a US pipeline fire. At home, in company updates, ALLIANCE & LEICESTER (+7.55%) said core operating profit will be lower than the current range of analyst forecasts, hit by losses on Treasury investments. Mortgage lender BRADFORD & BINGLEY (+0.25%) said its fiscal underlying profit will be in line with current analyst expectations. KINGFISHER (-1.50%) posted third quarter retail profit of £171.7 million, ahead of analyst expectations, but added that it expects consumer demand to soften further. BRITVIC (+2.81%) reported a 9.7% rise in fiscal pretax profit, but said conditions in the soft drinks market continue to be challenging. UNITED UTILITIES (+2.21%) said first half operating profit rose 5% and will return £1.5 billion. MITCHELLS & BUTLERS (-6.04%) fell after unveiling fiscal pretax profit of £207 million, down 0.5%, saying the outlook for consumer spending remains uncertain. The company put its property deal on hold. In macro data, UK
October mortgage approvals fell to their lowest in three years.

Paris

The CAC 40 (+0.66%) closed a volatile session in positive territory. Meanwhile, Wall Street trades slightly higher. This side of the pond, financials added support: BNP PARIBAS (+1.63%), SOCGEN (+1.65%). Elsewhere, JP Morgan initiated ARCELOR MITTAL (+2.78%) with outperform and €55 target. SCHNEIDER (+2.67%) raised fiscal 2009 sales target for its Critical Power & Cooling Services Business unit to US$4.3 billion-US$4.5 billion. PSA's (+2.36%) 4x4 models launched in mid-July are ahead of sales targets, Le Figaro reported. The construction sector was also in fine fettle: LAFARGE (+2.51%), BOUYGUES (+2.10%). The latter has won a €500 million order to build and run two tunnels in UK
. On the downside, France
TELECOM (-0.92%) weighed heavily after yesterday's surge ahead of the release of the iPhone. SANOFI (-0.21%) increased its stake in US Regeneron. AIR France
-KLM (-3.43%) also fell amid rising oil prices. WTI jumped c.2% to c.US$92.65/bbl after an explosion at an Enbridge pipeline from Canada to the US. TOTAL (+0.87%) added six index points.

Frankfurt

Xetra-Dax (+0.54%) ended the session higher on Thursday, as Wall Street was trading flat to higher, amid rising oil prices on a US pipeline fire. Of local note, THYSSENKRUPP (+2.33%) was once again subject of market rumours POSCO is planning a bid, albeit denied by the South Korean steel maker. FMC (-1.31%) has agreed to acquire Renal Solutions for a total consideration of up to US$190 million. DEUTSCHE BOERSE (+0.66%) will sell Clearstream's HQ in Luxembourg for €350 million to IVG IMMOBILIEN (+1.96%) in a sale-and-leaseback deal. SIEMENS (+1.46%) is paring the size of its board and realigning its operations into three sectors. This is the first major move by new CEO Peter Loescher. MERCK (+2.22%) receives positive data results for both Erbitux and Cyanokit. IKB (-1.24%), having hit an all-time low this morning, is higher now on hopes the announced banking pool will rescue it from subprime woes. On the earnings front, PROSIEBEN (+4.14%) reported solid third quarter EBITDA of €124.8 million. The broadcaster believes it may beat the consensus view for 2007. Finally, Apax is examining various options for VERSATEL (+8.6%), including a sale, a merger with UNITED INTERNET (+3.25%) or buying more telecom assets, according to reports.

Spain

Spanish shares ended the session in the black amid gains for BBVA (+1.51%) and IBERDROLA (+1.26%). Wall Street edges onto positive terrain at the European close, after some mixed macro data. Spanish inflation reached 4.1% in October, an 18-month high. BANKINTER (+3.82%) gained as Jaime Botin has asked for authorisation to reach a 29.9% stake in the bank. Meanwhile, Credit Agricole's CEO, Georges Pauget, has reportedly said the French bank does not plan to bid for Bankinter.