European Indexes Finish Mixed

A roundup of Thursday's action in European bourses

London

The FTSE 100 ended Thursday's session slightly higher, but off the best levels of the day as VODAFONE (-1.17%) and miners weighed. The pound edges higher against the US$ after the Bank of England and ECB unsurprisingly kept interest rates steady at 5.75% and 4% respectively. By Europe's close, Wall Street was flat on slightly higher-than-expected jobless claims. Locally, BP (+0.9%) will announce a major restructuring in the next two weeks that will result in job losses throughout the group and the removal of levels of management, The Times writes. Banks were the best performers with bid talk supportive. Speculation is Bank of America is looking to bid £7.50/sh for BARCLAYS (+2.34%). The British bank's takeover offer for ABN Amro ended today. Citigroup is ready to provide over £5 billion in financing for a takeover of NORTHERN ROCK (+6.52%), The Times reported. In company updates, MICHAEL PAGE (+6.69%) said third quarter gross profit rose 38.5%, in line with estimates. ICAP (-3.1%) disclosed that fiscal pretax profit will be at the upper end of analyst estimates. HALFORDS (-2.12%) reported an in-line 5.5% rise in first half like-for-like sales. In broker action, YELL (+0.33%) gained on a positive ABN Amro note, despite a target cut from the broker. The directories publisher has also reportedly been upgraded to outperform at Cazenove. In other news, ABBOT (+21.85%) surged after confirming it has received bid proposals.

Paris

The CAC 40 (-0.03%) closed the session flat with Wall Street trading modestly higher. Initial claims came in higher than expected. The BoE held rates at 5.75% and the ECB stuck at 4%. At home, SOCGEN (+2.02%) reiterated its 2007-08 targets. Other banks also gained: BNP (+0.76%), CR. AGRICOLE (+0.64%). In broker news, JP Morgan upgraded EADS (+1.20%) to overweight from neutral, SocGen upgraded SANOFI (+1.12%) to buy from hold. ARCELOR MITTAL (-1.18%) weighed heavy. CARREFOUR (-0.93%) also fell. A source suggested it could be due to the fact that France is mulling an increase in taxation on property capital gains to 33%. STM (-1.12%) suffered amid fears of a price war in the chip sector. Intel's shares were trading some 0.89% lower. According to a Challenges article, GDF (-0.57%) may not be able to complete its merger with SUEZ (+0.07%) before June 2008. The magazine also reported that LVMH (+0.50%) has received five expressions of interest in buying La Tribune. Staying with luxury brands, HERMES (+4.68%) climbed amid rumour of it being a potential bid target. However, many traders said the stock was receiving technical support. PERNOD RICARD's (-0.80%) board is seeking to raise its new debt limit to €5 billion at the AGM on 7 November. MAUREL ET PROM (-1.14%) abandoned a Congolese exploration well due to its 'poor quality'. /JW & JM - S%P MarketScope, ems@sandp.com

Frankfurt

Xetra-Dax (-0.13%) closed a tad lower on Thursday, while DJIA traded flat as investors await tomorrow's key US jobs report. Auto stocks were the strongest performers today. DAIMLER (+0.3%) disclosed that its Mercedes Car Group division saw sales rise 7.4% year-over-year in September to a record 124,600 vehicles. At its EGM, shareholders approved the group's name change to Daimler AG from DaimlerChrysler. MAN (+1.31%) extended gains from the last two sessions on talk that VW (+0.4%) may take over the truck group without any involvement with Scania. VW is seen offering €120-125 per share. Tech stocks were among the worst performers: SAP (-1.56%) and INFINEON (-2.98%) down. There were fears of a chip price war, sending Intel's shares lower as Morgan Stanley talked of an inventory correction. In the pharma sector, India's largest biotech company, Biocon Ltd, is in talks with BAYER (-0.49%) about jointly developing biotech drugs, according to the Economic Times. SIEMENS (-0.48%) announced just before market close that it has to pay a fine of €201 million relating to questionable payments at at the Com Group. The broker action included Citigroup upgrading RATIONAL (+1.67%) to buy and ING lifting its targets on RWE (-0.08%) and E.ON (+0.07%).