UK Market News

Thursday October 22, 07:12 AM
Glance-European Factors -- Shares set for sharp declines

LONDON, Oct 22 (Reuters) - European shares are set to open sharply lower on Thursday, tracking a hefty sell-off in the U.S. and Asian equity markets, as a bigger-than-expected loss from Boeing (NYSE: BA

- news) hurt sentiment. U.S. stocks fell on Wednesday, hurt by a late sell-off in financials after an influential bank analyst recommended selling Wells Fargo shares. Rochdale Research analyst Richard Bove cut his rating on the stock saying loan losses were mounting. Financial spreadbetters expected Britain's FTSE 100 to open down 58 to 66 points, or as much as 1.3 percent lower, Germany's DAX (Xetra: news) to open 70 to 78 points lower, or off as much as 1.3 percent, and France's CAC 40 (Paris: news) to fall 50 to 57 points, or as much as 1.5 percent down. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 92.12 points, or 0.92 percent, to end at 9,949.36. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index lost 9.66 points, or 0.89 percent, to 1,081.40. The Nasdaq Composite Index shed 12.74 points, or 0.59 percent, to 2,150.73. Japan's Nikkei (news) average fell 1.1 percent on Thursday, with stocks hit across the board after U.S. financial shares slid. Online auctioneer EBay Inc (NASDAQ: EBAY - news) also disappointed investors who were hoping for a substantial turnaround for the holidays. The company forecast results for the fourth quarter at the low end of Wall Street estimates. The market was bracing for more results on Thursday from companies such as Credit Suisse, Nestle (4707.KL - news) , Novartis (Virt-X: NOVN.VX - news) , Ericsson , American Express (NYSE: AXP - news) , Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN - news) , AT&T, 3M Co., McDonald's Corp., Merck (MERK.JK - news) & Co. and Xerox Corp (NYSE: XRX - news) .. Investors awaited September U.S. leading indicators and the latest initial weekly jobless numbers later in the session, and digested Chinese growth data, though robust, offered few surprises. News that China's economy surged 8.9 percent in the third quarter, and retail sales and other indicators were robust in September, reinforced optimism Asia was on a sustainable recovery path. But the outcome was widely expected, giving investors little to trade on. The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares rose 0.5 percent to close at 1,025.88 points on Wednesday, recouping almost all the loss from the previous session, and taking it near to its highest close since Oct. 3, 2008. ----------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT AT 0544 GMT---------------------- LAST PCT CHG NET CHG S&P 500 1,081.40 -0.89 % -9.66 NIKKEI 10,251.76 -0.79 % -81.63 MSCI ASIA EX-JP 466.13 -1.27 % -5.98 EUR/USD 1.4994 -0.03 % -0.0005 USD/JPY 91.18 0.20 % 0.1800 10-YR US TSY YLD 3.398 -- 0.01 10-YR BUND YLD 3.313 -- -0.01 SPOT GOLD $1,058.15 -0.02 % -$0.20 US CRUDE $81.04 -0.41 % -0.33 * GLOBAL MARKETS-Asia shares slip, China data fails to help * US STOCKS-Wall St see late sell-off, financials fall * Nikkei slides broadly, JAL (Berlin: JAY.BE - news) rising streak snapped * FOREX-Dollar up as China data offers no upside surprise * TREASURIES-Prices fall, worry monetary stimulus will wane * Oil falls 0.5 pct; around $81/bbl as dollar gains * Gold flat near $1,060/oz, weaker dollar supports * METALS-Shanghai copper hits 2-month high on LME gains COMPANY NEWS EADS (EAD.NX - news) U.S. aerospace major Boeing Co posted a larger-than-expected quarterly loss on costs related to its long-delayed 787 Dreamliner program, but the world's second-largest planemaker reaffirmed that the aircraft is on track to fly this year. Separately, Boeing estimates northeast Asia will need 1,200 airplanes over the next 20 years, which would be worth $190 billion, a senior company executive said on Thursday. For details, see: FIAT (Milan: F.MI - news) Car maker Fiat said it expected to boost trading profit 50 percent to 1.5 billion euros in 2010 from this year's target if Italy continued subsidies to buy cars, but still planned to stick to its tough cost control. U.S. auto sales are projected to rise nearly one-fifth to 11.8 million units in 2010, influential industry tracking firm CSM Worldwide said on Wednesday, citing signs that the worst of the economic downturn had passed. TECHNIP Oil and gas producers are likely to start making investment decisions again next year, but they are still pressuring contractors to keep costs down, the head of the French oil services group said on Wednesday. For details, see: DASSAULT AVIATION (AM.NX - news) Kuwait is hoping to buy advanced Rafale combat jets from France and is awaiting terms from Paris, Kuwaiti Defence Minister Sheikh Jaber al-Hamad al-Sabah said on Wednesday. The Rafale is Dassault Aviation's newest multirole combat aircraft. For details, see: VIVENDI (VIV.NX - news) Google Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG - news) is partnering with major music labels, like Vivendi's Universal Music Group, to launch a new feature to make it easier to discover, sample and buy songs on the search engine, according to two people familiar with the plan. For details, see: ESSILOR INTERNATIONAL The world's largest maker of corrective eye lenses posted 6.3 percent growth in third-quarter sales, below forecasts, lifted by acquisitions and predicted a better 2009 operating margin. For details, see: EDF (Paris: FR0010242511 - news) , GDF SUEZ (GSZ.NX - news) , POWEO EDF and its rivals have struck a deal on how to reform the electricity market in a move that will bolster competition, Les Echos newspaper said in its edition to be released on Thursday. For details, see: Separately, EDF and GDF Suez are set to throw their weight behind Europe's two largest gas pipeline projects as they seek to secure gas supplies by investing in new delivery routes. They said they were close to securing deals with Gazprom. For details, see: FINMECCANICA (Milan: FNC.MI - news) The defence group is talking to both Enel (Milan: ENEL.MI - news) and Areva (CEI.NX - news) over its plans to enter Italy's nuclear power generation sector, the group's CEO Pier Francesco Guarguaglini said on Wednesday. (Reporting by Atul Prakash) Keywords: MARKETS EUROPE FACTORS