** EU & ASIAN WRAP **
July 25th, 2006** ASIAN MARKETS **
Nikkei 1,42%; Kospi 1,11%; HSI 1,03%; Taiwan 0,49%; China 1,39%; India 1,69%;
Thailand 0,76%; Australia 1,06%
** ASIAN HEADLINES **
- South Korea Economy Grows at Slowest Pace in a Year After Spending Cools
- Asian Stocks Climb on Earnings, Metal Prices; Nintendo, BHP Billiton Gain
- Honda to Sell Six-Person Jet for Corporate, Air-Taxi Services, Person Says
- Nintendo Shares Climb to 4 1/2-Year High on Sales of DS Handheld Player
- Japan Ruling Party Holds Talks With Harrah’s, Las Vegas Sands for Casinos
- BHP Fourth-Quarter Iron Ore, Copper Production Soars on Demand From China
- South Korea to Allow Brokerages to Trade Bond Futures in Deregulation Plan
- SK Corp.’s Second-Quarter Profit Falls 22 Percent After Refinery Shutdowns
- Bush’s Need for Farm Votes May Have Scuttled World Trade Organization Deal
- Australia’s Western Mining Boom Creates Rates Quandary for Central Bank
** EUROPE: IN PLAY TODAY **
- Earnings reports today: Schering, Telecom Italia, Yell Group, Arm Holdings,
STMicroelectronics, Outokumpu, Unibail, Mobistar, UPM-Kymmene, Norks Hydro & BP.
- LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA, the world’s largest luxury-goods maker,
boosted sales 10 percent in the second quarter as tourists visiting Europe spent
more on products including Tag Heuer watches.
Revenue rose to 3.4 billion euros ($4.3 billion) from 3.08
billion euros a year earlier, according to second-half figures
released by the Paris-based company today. A Bloomberg survey of
six analysts showed a median estimate of 3.42 billion euros.
- BP Plc, Europe’s biggest oil company said second-quarter profit climbed 30
percent as crude prices surged and refining earnings increased.
Net income rose to a record $7.27 billion, or 35.59 cents a
share, from $5.6 billion, or 25.94 cents, in the year-earlier
period.
- Inter-dealer brokers Creditex Inc. and CreditTrade Ltd. agreed to merge,
forming the world’s biggest brokerage specializing in credit derivatives.
The deal brings together New York-based Creditex, which
executes most of its trades by computer, and London-based
CreditTrade, which deals by telephone, Creditex Chief Executive
Officer Sunil Hirani said in an interview. The new company,
Creditex Group Inc., will be headed by Hirani, 39, according to a
presentation of the merger details seen by Bloomberg News. Terms
weren’t disclosed.
** EUROPE: UPS & DOWNS **
+ DSM RAISED TO `BUY’ FROM `ADD’ AT ABN AMRO
+ SAP RAISED TO `BUY’ FROM `HOLD’ AT ING
+ BNP PARIBAS RAISED TO `BUY’ FROM `HOLD’ AT ING
+ RYANAIR PRICE EST. RAISED TO EU9.7 VS EU9.1 AT MORGAN STANLEY
+ EASYJET PRICE EST. RAISED TO 450P VS 360P AT MORGAN STANLEY
+ RECKITT PRICE EST. RAISED TO 2,300P FROM 2,100P AT JPMORGAN
+ BRITISH AIRWAYS RAISED TO `EQUAL-WEIGHT’ AT MORGAN STANLEY
+ THYSSENKRUPP PRICE ESTIMATE RAISED 18% TO EU29 AT JPMORGAN
+ LOGICACMG RAISED TO `OVERWEIGHT’ AT MORGAN STANLEY
- WESSANEN CUT TO `HOLD’ FROM `ADD’ AT ABN AMRO
- ATI TECHNOLOGIES CUT TO `NEUTRAL’ FROM `BUY’ AT UBS
- THYSSENKRUPP CUT TO `NEUTRAL’ VS `OUTPERFORM’ AT CREDIT SUISSE
- BG GROUP PRICE ESTIMATE LOWERED TO 800P FROM 820P AT UBS
- INFINEON PRICE ESTIMATE LOWERED TO EU11 FROM EU13 AT UBS