UK Market News

Wednesday October 21, 07:44 AM
Glance-Europe Factors-Shares seen mixed; more earnings eyed

PARIS, Oct 21 (Reuters) - European equities were seen mixed on Wednesday, following a dip on Wall Street where weak housing data prompted investors to cash in recent hefty gains spurred by strong company earnings. By 0612 GMT, futures for the DJ Euro Stoxx were down 0.07 percent, futures for Germany's DAX (Xetra: news) were up 0.08 percent and futures for France's CAC were down 0.01 percent, while financial spreadbetters expected Britain's FTSE 100 to open 2 to 11 points lower. 'A lower start expected this morning mirroring losses on Wall Street and in Asia overnight as weaker-than-expected U.S. housing data weighed on sentiment,' said Simon Rossington, trader at Spreadex. Investors were bracing for more corporate results on Wednesday, with bellwethers such as eBay, Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS - news) and Boeing Co (NYSE: BA - news) . due to report results. After the bell on Wall Street on Tuesday, Yahoo Inc (NASDAQ: YHOO - news) beat Wall Street's profit and sales expectations, sending its shares rising in extended trade. The mining sector will be in the spotlight on Wednesday after BHP Billiton (LSE: BLT.L - news) reported near flat quarterly output of iron ore. 'Downbeat comments from BHP Billiton along with its quarterly production update suggesting that it's yet to see a sustainable increase in demand for metals despite the signs of global economic recovery has the potential to weigh heavily on the mining sector,' Ben Potter, analyst at IG Markets, wrote in a note. U.S. stocks dipped from 12-month highs on Tuesday despite strong results from companies including Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT - news) . European stocks fell from one-year highs on Tuesday, with a sharp decline in Barclays (LSE: BARC.L - news) on a stake sale by Qatar dragging down financials. The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares is up 23 percent so far this year, but is still down 38 percent from a multiyear high reached in mid-2007. ------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT AT 0615 GMT------------------- LAST PCT CHG NET CHG S&P 500 1,091.06 -0.62 % -6.85 NIKKEI (news) 10,333.39 -0.03 % -3.45 MSCI ASIA EX-JP 473.09 -0.67 % -3.19 EUR/USD 1.4937 0.03 % 0.0004 USD/JPY 90.69 0.00 % 0.0000 10-YR US TSY YLD 3.335 -- -0.01 10-YR BUND YLD 3.244 -- 0.01 SPOT GOLD $1,056.30 0.22 % $2.30 US CRUDE $78.74 -0.48 % -0.38 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Wall St ends lower on profit taking; Yahoo up late GLOBAL MARKETS-Profit taking halts Asia stocks rally Nikkei flat in quiet trade before earnings Oil falls 0.6 pct to below $79 as stocks weigh Dollar steadies as profits booked on high yielders PRECIOUS-Gold steadies at $1,050/oz, earnings eyed Copper steady; investors weigh dollar, BHP news TREASURIES-Edge up in Asia after bleak U.S. data COMPANY NEWS: PSA PEUGEOT CITROEN French carmaker PSA Peugeot Citroen said a fall in revenues eased in the third quarter and it boosted market share in Europe, where governments have launched scrapping schemes to spark car sales. For details, see: STMICROELECTRONICS The top European computer chip maker posted its seventh consecutive quarterly loss, but its revenue and outlook topped expectations and bolstered hopes the semiconductor industry is on the rebound. For details, see: CADBURY (LSE: CBRY.L - news) Britain's Cadbury surprised investors with bumper third-quarter trading beating forecasts and raising targets, putting pressure on Kraft to come up with a much bigger bid to win its takeover battle. For details, see: DEUTSCHE BANK (Xetra: 514000 - news) Deutsche Bank looks set to buy a stake of about 75 percent in Sal. Oppenheim for about 1 billion euros as soon as next week, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday. For details, see: Separately, the European Commission on Tuesday further extended its deadline for the Dutch government to sell ABN AMRO (Amsterdam: AABA.AS - news) assets to Deutsche Bank. For details, see: PPR (Paris: FR0000121485 - news) The retailer which owns luxury brand Gucci said it would continue to cut costs and boost competitiveness after posting lower third-quarter sales, slightly below forecasts. For details, see: PUMA Puma (Frankfurt: PUMV.F - news) 's third-quarter sales fell 9.8 percent on a like-for-like basis due to a weaker performance in Asia Pacific and Latin America, which suffered from lower tourism business and higher trade barriers, PPR (PP.NX - news) said on Tuesday. For details, see: CREDIT SUISSE The bank said it was increasing the base salary component of its executives' pay and linking deferred bonuses to business performance and its share price. For related news, click on SEB (Stockholm: SEBA.ST - news) Swedish banking group SEB (SK.NX - news) posted a better-than-expected third-quarter operating profit and said growth in non-performing loans in the troubled Baltic region was slowing. For details, see: VIVENDI (VIV.NX - news) The media group is gauging its options for the potential purchase of Brazilian telecom firm GVT and is in no hurry to lock down the deal, a person with direct knowledge of the situation told Reuters. For details, see: VALEO The car parts maker raised its production forecast for the second half after posting third-quarter net income of 4 million euros after three consecutive quarterly losses. For details, see: SANTANDER Spain's Santander (Madrid: SAN.MC - news) is considering using a surplus of core capital to pay a special dividend in 2010, Chief Executive Officer Alfredo Saenz said in an interview with the Financial Times on Wednesday. EADS (EAD.NX - news) The company still has the ambition to buy 'significant targets' in the United States, but for the moment remains focus on maintaining a large enough cash position that allows it to weather the economic crisis, EADS Chief Executive Louis Gallois said on Tuesday. For details, see: (Reporting by Blaise Robinson) Keywords: MARKETS EUROPE FACTORS