Friday July 18, 03:05 PM
German shares mixed, but blue chips defend gains helped by Citigroup figures
FRANKFURT (Thomson Financial) - German shares were higher in afternoon trade with the local market defending recent gains as better-than-expected quarterly numbers released by Citigroup (ASFZ.PK - news) helped ease financial sector jitters.
At 3.41 p.m., the DAX (Xetra: news) was up 93.09 points, or 1.48 percent, at 6,634.36, having traded between 6,236.94 and 6,391.28.
The MDAX eased 53.57 points, or 0.63 percent, to 8,412.38, while the TecDAX (Xetra: news) was 1.94 points, or 0.27 percent, weaker at 721.69.
DAX futures slipped 46.00 points, or 0.72 percent, to 6,402.00, while bund futures were down 0.51 points, or 0.46 percent, at 111.14. The euro traded at $1.5836, compared with $1.5852 in London morning trade.
Coming off disappointing post-session numbers by U.S. giants Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT - news) , Google (NASDAQ: GOOG - news) , Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER - news) , encouraging quarterly figures by Citigroup, helped ease concerns over fallout from the subprime crisis and put many investors in a buying mood.
The nation's largest bank by assets reported a $2.5 billion second-quarter loss due to write-downs tied to deteriorating credit markets. However, the headline numbers was still better than analysts' forecasts.
'Following JP Morgan, Citigroup is the second major bank which has surprised on the positive side,' said a Frankfurt-based trader.
'The figures have helped pushed the market to its current highs,' the trader said.
The trader, however, was sceptical that intraday highs would hold going into the weekend, as few investors would want to take large positions ahead of a busy earnings week in the U.S. next week when 150 companies on the Standard & Poor's 500 index will be issuing figures.
Atop blue chip advancers, Infineon (Xetra: 623100 - news) gained 0.359, or 8.04 percent, at 5.305, with analysts and dealers pointing to positive valuations of the European chip sector and a good amount of short sells that had to be covered.
Commerzbank (Xetra: 803200 - news) was up 1.04 euros, or 5.22 percent, at 20.96, as merger talk with Allianz's Dresdner bank continued to support the stock.
Allianz added 4.39 euros, or 4.14 percent, to 110.36.
Lufthansa (Xetra: 823212 - news) shares benefited from easing oil prices, as it gained 0.74 euros, or 5.14 percent, to 15.15.
Daimler (Xetra: 710000 - news) saw a 1.86 euro, or 4.70 percent, advance to 40.46 as traders noted the relatively low price its shares were trading at versus the sector.
At the other end of the DAX, E.ON surrendered 3.73 euros, or 3.10 percent, at 116.51, as interest in defensive utilities waned after the market's recent strong performance.
Peer RWE was 1.26 euros, or 1.64 percent, weaker at 75.60.
Thyssenkrupp (Xetra: 750000 - news) slipped 0.68 euros, or 2.05 percent, to 32.54.
Metro (Xetra: 725750 - news) slid 0.04 euros, or 0.10 percent, to 38.55, after Belgian supermarket group Delhaize SA cut its full-year profit outlook, noting a weakening consumer environment.
On the MDAX (Xetra: news) , industrial salt and fertilizer company K&S sunk 27.52 euros, or 8.24 percent, to 306.63, matching drops in the stock prices of some of its peers and with rumours of a share placement overshadowing a positive broker note from UBS (Virt-X: UBSN.VX - news) .
Although UBS initiated K&S earlier on Friday as 'buy' with a price target of 460 euros per share, traders said overnight losses at peers such as Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan, Mosaic and Uralkali was pressuring the share, along with talk of a large share placement in the company.
Fuchs Petrol was 3.78 euros, or 6.69 percent weaker at 52.71, after Cheuvreux downgraded it to 'underperform' from 'outperform'. ProSieben (Xetra: 777117 - news) rose 0.49 euros, or 8.89 percent, to 6.00 as the top performer.
Beiersdorf (Xetra: 520000 - news) was also under pressure due to L'Oreal (Paris: FR0000120321 - news) 's figures and slipped 2.03 euros, or 4.88 percent, to 39.61.
At the other end, ProSieben rose 0.48 euros, or 8.71 percent, at 5.99, as the top gainer.
Persistent takeover rumours surrounding MLP (Xetra: 656990 - news) lifted the stock up 0.57 euros, or 4.95 percent, to 12.08.
TecDAX listed Wirecard (Xetra: 747206 - news) lost 0.88 euros, or 14.67 percent, at 5.12, after a shareholders' advocacy group, Schutzgemeinschaft der Kapitalanleger (SdK), took legal steps against the internet payment services company.
Rofin Sinar was 0.68 euros, or 3.59 percent, higher at 19.69, as the top gainer on the index.
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