Traders work at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in Frankfurt. Photographer: Hannelore Foerster/Bloomberg
March 7 (Bloomberg) -- Jonathan Golub, chief U.S. market strategist at UBS Securities LLC, talks about the outlook for U.S. stocks. Golub also discusses crude oil prices and the U.S. economy. He speaks with Matt Miller, Carol Massar, Dominic Chu, Adam Johnson and Julie Hyman on Bloomberg Television's "Street Smart." Doug Prskalo of Blue Capital Group also speaks. (Source: Bloomberg)
European stocks fluctuated, following two days of declines, as European Central Bank council member Axel Weber signaled that the ECB may raise interest rates several times this year.
National Bank of Greece SA (ETE) and EFG Eurobank Ergasias SA (EUROB) both lost more than 6 percent as the yield on Greek 10-year bonds surged to a record. Andritz AG (ANDR) rose 3.5 percent after reporting higher-than-estimated full-year net income. Aegon NV (AGN) gained 1.4 percent as Scor SE (SCR) was said to be in talks to buy a unit of the Dutch insurer.
The benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 0.1 percent to 281.11 at 3:57 p.m. in London, after earlier rising as much as 0.7 percent and falling as much as 0.5 percent. The gauge dropped yesterday as oil climbed above $105 a barrel in New York after forces loyal to Libya’s ruler Muammar Qaddafi repelled a rebel attack on the central city of Sirte.
“We have enormous pressure from the commodity side at the moment,” said Andreas Lipkow, an equity trader at MWB Fairtrade Wertpapierhandelsbank AG in Frankfurt. “The ECB and the Fed have to react right now and have to raise interest rates. Investors are very nervous and the way central banks will formulate the next steps is very important.”
Weber said he doesn’t want to correct market expectations for as many as three quarter-point increases this year in the bank’s benchmark interest rate this year. ECB President Jean- Claude Trichet yesterday said that the world’s central bankers are united in their aim to prevent surging oil prices from fanning broader inflation.
Oil Falls
Crude fell in New York after Kuwait’s Oil Minister confirmed that the Persian Gulf country has held talks to boost production. Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries are holding “consultations” and have yet to decide to raise output, Sheikh Ahmad al-Abdullah al-Sabah said.
National benchmark indexes decreased in 9 of the 18 western European markets today. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index slipped 0.4 percent, Germany’s DAX Index retreated 0.2 percent while France’s CAC 40 Index added 0.2 percent.
European stocks erased an earlier advance as Greek government bonds slid, driving the yield on the 10-year security to the highest level since Bloomberg began collecting the data in 1988. The yield jumped as much as 48 basis points to 12.82 percent, while credit-default swaps insuring Greek government bonds rose 5 basis points to an all-time high of 1,037.
National Bank of Greece, Greece’s biggest lender by market capitalization, slid 6.8 percent to 6.15 euros. Eurobank and Alpha Bank SA lost 6.1 percent to 4.30 euros and 4.3 percent to 4.69 euros, respectively. Moody’s Investors Service yesterday downgraded Greece’s government bond ratings to B1 from Ba1, and assigned a negative outlook. The Greek equity market was closed for a holiday yesterday.
Randgold Retreats
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS), a producer of the metal in West Africa, sank 8.6 percent to 4,462 pence, the biggest decline in the Stoxx 600. Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo took control of local purchases and exports of cocoa and coffee, escalating his conflict with rival Alassane Ouattara, the internationally recognized winner of November’s election.
Andritz jumped 3.5 percent to 63.71 euros. The Austrian maker of machines for the paper and steel industries reported full-year net income of 179.6 million euros ($249.6 million), beating analysts’ estimates. Andritz also forecast that its 2011 sales will “increase substantially compared to 2010” and that its profit will rise.
Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone
Deutsche Telekom AG soared 4 percent to 10.02 euros. Europe’s largest telecommunication company has held talks to sell its T-Mobile USA unit to Sprint Nextel Corp. in exchange for a major stake in the combined entity, said people with knowledge of the matter.
Telecommunication stocks advanced after Morgan Stanley raised its recommendation on the industry’s shares to “maximum overweight.” BT Group Plc (BT/A) advanced 3.4 percent to 190.1 pence and Vodafone Group Plc (VOD) gained 1.8 percent to 181.9 pence.
“Telecoms is our preferred defensive sector as we think it offers greater potential for a positive growth surprise as well as offering a substantial dividend yield boost over other sectors,” strategists led by Morgan Stanley’s London-based head of European equity strategy Graham Secker wrote in a report.
Aegon rose 1.4 percent to 5.60 euros, erasing yesterday’s decline. Scor, France’s largest reinsurer, is in talks to buy Dutch rival Aegon’s Transamerica Reinsurance unit, said four people with knowledge of the matter. Scor dropped 3.6 percent to 20.30 euros as the company said that catastrophes in Australia and New Zealand will cost it a total 200 million euros, net of retrocession.
Lundin Petroleum AB (LUPE) surged 4 percent to 82.80 kronor after BofA Merrill Lynch Global Research upgraded the company to “buy” from “sell.”
Wacker Chemie AG (WCH) climbed 2.5 percent to 137.80 euros as UBS AG lifted its recommendation on the chemicals company to “buy” from “neutral.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Julie Cruz in Frankfurt at jcruz6@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew Rummer at arummer@bloomberg.net
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment