AIG, ArcelorMittal, CSX, Lloyds, Wachovia: U.S. Equity Preview

By Whitney Kisling and Elizabeth Campbell

Oct. 3 (Bloomberg) -- The following companies may have unusual price changes in U.S. trading today. Stock symbols are in parentheses, and share prices are as of 7:35 a.m., unless otherwise noted.

European banks rose after the Financial Services Authority raised the UK deposit compensation limit to 50,000 pounds from 35,000 pounds. Lloyds TSB Group (LYG US) rose 14 percent to $20.59. Barclays (BCS US) added 9.6 percent to $26.30. Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS US) gained 9.7 percent to $3.38.

American International Group Inc. (AIG US) climbed 9.3 percent to $4.37. The U.S. insurer bailed out by the government said it will focus on property and casualty coverage and sell ``a number of extraordinary businesses.''

ArcelorMittal (MT US) gained 4.9 percent to $42.87. The world's biggest steelmaker said temporary production cuts won't derail a plan to double steel output at its Kazakh unit by 2014.

CSX Corp. (CSX US) rose 2.1 percent to $48.20. The third- largest U.S. railroad was raised to ``overweight'' from ``neutral'' at JPMorgan Chase & Co. Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. (BNI US) was also raised to ``overweight'' by JPMorgan. The shares were unchanged at $83 in late trading yesterday.

Ford Motor Co. (F US): The second-largest U.S. automaker said results for its Volvo unit will worsen in the second half of this year from the first half, rather than improve as forecast earlier, because of ``deteriorating economic conditions.'' The shares dropped 4.4 percent to $4.35 in regular trading.

Interwoven Inc. (IWOV US): The provider of data-management software said preliminary results showed third-quarter sales reached as much as $66 million, topping its earlier prediction. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg estimated $64.2 million on average. The shares gained 2 percent to $12.99 in late trading yesterday.

KVH Industries Inc. (KVHI US): The maker of antennas for satellite television said in a statement of preliminary results that third-quarter profit missed its previous forecast because of lower sales. The stock fell 16 percent to $7.05 in late trading yesterday.

Lawson Software Inc. (LWSN US): The maker of business- management programs forecast second-quarter revenue that trailed analysts' estimates and said it's evaluating its outlook for the year that ends in May 2009. The stock lost 6.4 percent to $6 in late trading yesterday.

Ryder System Inc. (R US): The largest U.S. truck-leasing company agreed to buy all the assets of Transpacific Container Terminal Ltd. and CRSA Logistics Ltd., including operations in Hong Kong and Shanghai, for an undisclosed amount. The stock fell 5.9 percent to $55 in regular trading.

Saia Inc. (SAIA US): The Duluth, Georgia-based trucking company said it cut jobs by 5 percent in field operations and corporate offices because of a decline in shipping demand. The shares dropped 11 percent to $11.68 in regular trading.

UBS AG (UBS US): The European bank hardest hit by the credit crisis cut about 2,000 additional jobs in its investment banking unit and said it will stop over-the-counter trading in commodities, except for precious metals. The move is an effort to increase liquidity, as UBS posted $44.2 billion since the credit crisis began. The shares dropped 10 cents to $20.

Wachovia Corp. (WB US) gained 66 percent to $6.48. The Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank that sold its consumer business to Citigroup Inc. (C US) earlier this week agreed to merge with Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC US) in a deal valued at about $15.1 billion.

Wells Fargo gained 0.9 percent to $35.49. Citigroup fell 9.8 percent to $20.30.

To contact the reporters on this story: Whitney Kisling in New York at wkisling@bloomberg.net; Elizabeth Campbell in New York at ecampbell11@bloomberg.net