** MORNING WRAP **
** US MARKETS **
Dow -0,22%; Nasdaq -0,84%; S&P -0,25%; Soxx -0,61%; Russel2k -1,17%; DJAIG
-0,78%; 10yr Bond 0,01%; 10yr Yield 4,6%; Crude future 60,03; Gold 590,1
| Telecom 1,02%| ConsStaples 0,01%| Financials -0,02%| ConsDisc -0,11%|
Utilities -0,11%| Materials -0,2%| Industrials -0,25%| Energy -0,46%| Healthcare
-0,63%| Technology -0,71%
** US: IN PLAY TODAY **
- Existing Home Sales at 16:00 CET, 6.2M expected, -2.1% MoM.
- Goldman, Merrill Predict Rally in Treasuries; 2-Year Yields as Low as 3.6%
- Oil Plunge Robs Mutual Funds of $4.5 Billion; Fidelity Declines 12 Percent
- Dollar Falls for Fourth Day Against Euro as U.S. Reports May Show Slowdown
- DaimlerChrysler May Sell Chinese-Built Cars in U.S., Europe, Person Says
** ASIAN MARKETS **
Nikkei -0,01%; Kospi 0,62%; HSI 0,35%; Taiwan 0,37%; China -0,04%; India -0,11%;
Thailand 0,21%; Australia 0%
** ASIAN HEADLINES **
- Asian Stocks Drop, Led by Komatsu and LG.Philips; Hardman Resources Surges
- CVC Asia Pacific Agrees to Buy Australia’s DCA Group for $1.3 Billion
- Tullow Oil Agrees to Buy Australia’s Hardman Resources for $1.1 Billion
- Singapore Inflation Slowed to 11-Month Low in August on Stronger Currency
- Asian Stocks Trail Global Markets in Quarter, May Fall on Growth Concern
- Yen May Fall to 20-Year Low as Japanese, Hedge Funds Seek Higher Yields
- Bank of Tokyo Sees Faster Yuan Advance as China Seeks to Restrain Economy
- Malaysia’s Zeti Says Abrupt Currency Adjustment Are `Highly Destabilizing’
** EUROPE: IN PLAY TODAY **
- UCB SA, the Belgian maker of the allergy drug Zyrtec, agreed to buy Schwarz
Pharma AG for 4.4 billion euros ($5.6 billion) in cash and shares, the third
takeover involving a German drugmaker in less than a week.
- Altana AG: The German chemicals company may consider buying large competitors
once the 4.5 billion-euro ($5.8 billion) sale of its drugs unit has been
completed, Chief Executive Officer Nikolaus Schweickart told Frankfurter
Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung.
- Deutsche Post AG: United Parcel Service Inc., the U.S. based package-shipper,
doesn’t plan to enter the German letter market, where Deutsche Post right now
has a monopoly, Chief Executive Officer Mike Eskew told Focus magazine.
- Aeroports de Paris SA: The operator of Paris’s airports said August traffic
rose 2.9 percent to 7.67 million passengers.
- Total SA: The oil company’s license to develop the Kharyaga oil field isn’t
under threat, Russian President Vladimir Putin said, after a Russian official
had said Total was inflating costs at the field and producing too little oil.
- Vinci SA: The world’s biggest construction company said it signed an agreement
with the Russian government that will involve building and operating a toll
highway between Moscow and St. Petersburg. No financial details were given.
- Permira LLP is joining a group of five other buyout firms to try to acquire
the mobile-phone division of Telecom Italia for 35 billion euros ($44.8
billion), The Business reported. Permira has joined forces with Blackstone
Capital Partners LP, Texas Pacific Group, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., The
Carlyle Group and Providence Equity Partners Inc., who are weighing an offer for
the unit, the newspaper said.
- Adecco SA: The world’s largest supplier of temporary workers is scheduled to
hold a conference on its business strategy on Sept. 28 and 29.
- Aegon NV: The second-largest Dutch insurer is one of two favorites to buy a 51
percent stake in Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA’s insurance unit, De Tijd
reported. The other contender is Fortis. The stake is worth between 600 million
euros ($768 million) and 700 million euros, the newspaper said.
- Royal Ahold NV: The owner of Stop & Shop and Giant stores in the U.S. hired
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to advise it, the Financial Times reported, without
saying where it got the information.
- Wolters Kluwer NV: Europe’s largest tax and legal publisher expects sales
growth of 4 percent next year despite an economic slowdown in the U.S., De
Telegraaf quoted Chief Executive Nancy McKinstry as saying.