» ** MORNING WRAP ** dealingfloor.com

16 Aug 2006, 7:15am
Market Wrap
by webmaster

MORNING WRAP

** US MARKETS **
Dow 1,19%; Nasdaq 2,22%; S&P 1,37%; Soxx 3,72%; Russel2k 2,36%; DJAIG 0,15%;
10yr Bond -0,01%; 10yr Yield 4,93%; Crude future 72,98; Gold 626,14

** US: IN PLAY TODAY **

- Applied materials (+1% after hours) Co reported Q3 (Jul) earnings of $0.33 per
share, $0.03 better than the Reuters Estimates consensus of $0.30. Revenues
rose 55.8% year/year to $2.54 bln vs. the $2.44 bln consensus; gross margin was
48.1% vs. the street expectation of 47%. Guidance was however a bit cautious.

- Investors will again look for inflation data to set the tone for trading when
the influential CPI report is released. Also garnering attention at 14:30 CET
will be Housing Starts and Building Permits while Capacity Utilization,
which currently stands above the level historically consistent with the start of
bottlenecks and rising pricing pressures, will hit the wires at 15:15 ET. Last
but not least will be the Energy Dept.’s weekly oil report, which will be out at
16:30 CET.

After the close, Dow component Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) heads a limited list of
earners that also includes BEA Systems (BEAS), Limited Brands (LTD), Longs Drug
Stores (LDG), and Network Appliance (NTAP).

** ASIAN MARKETS **
Nikkei 1,61%; Kospi 1,67%; HSI 0,88%; Taiwan 1,23%; China 0,9%; India 1,59%;
Thailand 0,89%; Australia 0,43%

** ASIAN HEADLINES **
- Asian Stocks Advance to Two-Month High as Toyota, Samsung Electronics Rise
- Australian Consumer Confidence Tumbles Most in 17 Years on Interest Rates
- Australian Gas May Scrap Papua New Guinea Pipeline; Oil Search Shares Drop
- QBE Insurance First-Half Profit Rises 20 Percent to Record on Acquisitions
- Fuji Heavy to Spend $515 Million Renovating Its Japanese Auto Dealerships
- Australian Gas Light Co. Full-Year Profit Falls 50 Percent on Earlier Gain
- Shinhan Financial Set to Rival Kookmin After Planned Takeover of LG Card
- Lend Lease Second-Half Earnings Gain 67 Percent on Home-Building Projects
- Taiwan’s Economy Probably Slowed in Second Quarter on Consumer Debt, Oil

** EUROPE: IN PLAY TODAY **

- Lanxess reported 2Q net income of E77m, compared to E24m same time last year.
Revenue reached E1.75bln, against E1.86bln last year. Expects FY Ebitda to be
E660-680m vs a previous forecast of E640-680m, FY sales growth should be
moderate.

- KKR Private Equity Investors, a company that invests primarily in private
equity investments sponsored by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts reports its results for
the period from the date of its formation on April 18, 2006 through June 30,
2006.

- Synthes delivered 1H net income of $243.3m (+8.4%, towards the lower end of
expectations), on sales of $1.167bln (+13.7%). 2Q sales growth was 12.9% to
$591.2m. “All three product lines (Trauma, Spine & CMF) experienced double-digit
sales growth for the first half of 2006.”

- Endesa SA and Gas Natural SDG SA: Endesa
may be active after E.ON AG’s Chief Executive Officer Wulf
Bernotat said the German utility may consider raising its 26.9
billion euro ($34.4 billion) takeover offer for Spain’s largest
power company. E.ON may consider doing so if a competing bid by
Gas Natural is cleared and Spain’s market regulator allows both
contenders to increase their offers, Bernotat said on a
conference call.

- RWE AG: Germany’s second-biggest utility wants to
raise electricity prices 7.5 percent on Jan. 1, Westdeutsche
Allgemeine Zeitung said, citing people familiar with the matter.
The company also received at least three offers of about 7
billion pounds ($13.3 billion) for its Thames Water unit in the
U.K., three people with knowledge of the bidding said.