Friday August 8, 12:53 PM
European midday: Carmakers gain on firmer dollar
LONDON (ShareCast) - The stronger dollar and falling oil prices are giving European carmakers a boost midday. BMW (Xetra: 519000 - news)
is leading the blue chips in Germany, closely followed by Daimler (Xetra: 710000 - news) and Volkswagen (Xetra: 766400 - news) . Renault (Paris: FR0000131906 - news) and luxury auto group Porsche (Xetra: 693773 - news) are also doing well. The drop in oil prices is also helping fuel hungry carmakers, though energy stocks Total and Eni (Milan: ENI.MI - news) are slightly lower. Crude is currently trading at around $120 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Sanofi (Paris: FR0000120578 - news) -Aventis advanced on news that the US Food and Drug Administration has given priority review status to the French firm's experimental heart drug Multaq. Meanwhile, Royal Bank of Scotland (LSE: 91ID.L - news) upped its stance on the group to 'buy' from 'hold'. Fellow pharmaceutical companies Novartis (Virt-X: NOVN.VX - news) and Roche (Virt-X: ROG.VX - news) are also on the rise. Aker Yards (Oslo: AKY.OL - news) ' second-quarter earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of 72m crowns missed expectations. The Norwegian shipbuilder also cut its target for margins in 2008. The German Dax is 13 points higher at 6,556, the French CAC gained 24 points to 4,482, while the Swiss market rose 60 points to 7,243. In economic news, Italy's GDP dropped 0.3% in the second quarter compared with the first and was unchanged year-on-year, according to preliminary data from statistics office ISTAT. Dutch manufacturing production rose a seasonally adjusted 0.8% month-on-month in June compared to a revised 0.5% drop in May, said Statistics Netherlands.
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