Business & Financial News

List of stocks followed Friday the Paris Bourse, where the CAC 40 index lost 0.1% to 3008.86 points to 12.30, after posting a new low for the year to 2,970.10 points early trading as risk aversion is increasing in Europe, Fitch has downgraded Greece Moody's and that of several Spanish banks.

* Many CYCLIC and / or values ​​at high risk of suffering INTERNATIONAL also fears about the U.S. and Chinese growth after the publication of several unfavorable statistics.

Pernod Ricard was down 2.74%, largest drop in the CAC 40, PPR of 2.18%, 1.82% LEGRAND, and CAP GEMINI of 1.63%. The Stoxx European car sector (-1.93%) shows the largest sector decline in Europe.

* The oil services also receding in the wake of oil prices. TECHNIP loose 1.4%, 0.6% MAUREL AND PROM and CGG VERITAS 2.35%.

TF1 * still leaves 4.75%, after pressing an important technical support around 6.60 euros, according to technical analysts. Since the announcement May 15 of its withdrawal from the MSCI at the end of the month, the value lost almost 13%.

* A reverse trend, financial stocks have regained some color after the first exchange in the red, traders citing a report in the Spanish newspaper Cinco Dias that Spanish banks want a ban on sales to ; discovered. In addition, the trade commissioner, Karel De Gucht, said the European Commission and European Central Bank are working on a contingency plan in case Greece should leave the eurozone .

SOCIETE GENERALE advance of 4.75%, largest increase in the CAC 40 and SBF 120, BNP Paribas took 4.08% and Crédit Agricole, who scored early Matiné e a new record low at 2.934 euros, were up 2.73%. The Stoxx index of European banking sector sign up only in Europe (+0.4%).

* ARCELORMITTAL grants to 1.55%. The steelmaker Nucor has announced the acquisition of Skyline Steel LLC, a steel foundation, with ArcelorMittal for about $ 605 million (478 million).

* EDF, which had lost over 3% yesterday, back to 1.78%. Edison (-0.06%), which the French group is preparing to take control, has expressed interest in gas reserves off the Israeli coast.

Greece still has no government. The risk of bankruptcy and the issue of leaving the euro area is raised again. Result: the stock prices fall and investors flock to German bonds, even if they yield nothing. The Eurogroup meeting will be devoted to Greece and Spain

After a difficult week, the stock markets reopened on Monday sharply lower against the backdrop of prolonged political stalemate in Greece, epicenter of the debt crisis, while be held a meeting of the Eurogroup.

Monday morning, Paris was losing more than 2% in early trade, London 1.33%, 1.31% Frankfurt. In Milan (-2.02%) and Madrid (-2.47%), the decline was more pronounced after banks have announced they will place new provisions because of subprime mortgage they hold in their portfolios. The day promises to be difficult, while "the risks to the euro area are still very real," said Chris Weston of IG Markets.

More than a week after the parliamentary elections, Athens still has no government. But the prolonged absence of government raised concern among investors in a delay or suspension of financial aid promised in Athens to enable it to meet repayment dates and ensure payment of arrears.

Monday, the Greek President, Karolos Papoulias, will try to snatch a coalition government during the final meeting between the country's political leaders. But many observers believe the country is moving towards new elections in June as the positions between pro-and anti-austerity diverge.  

Another sign of market nervousness, the 10-year rate of German bond (Bund) fell Monday morning at their historic low (1.47%). The political situation seems to push investors to turn to these securities deemed safe. "Investors plébiscitent increasing security even if the debt did their German report anything," said Nordine Naam, bond strategist at Natixis. He added: "Fears of an output of Greece of the euro are strong and, in case of persistent political deadlock in that country, the Bund interest rate expected to fall further in the coming days".

It was in this tense situation the finance ministers of 17 member countries of the euro area shall meet this afternoon in Brussels. A signal strength should be sent to Athens, to push the Greek authorities to put in a faster end to this in-between chaotic. Spain will, too, part of the program. The Spanish Minister of Finance, Luis de Guindos, will try to reassure, giving an overview of the reforms that Madrid will set up to consolidate its public finances. Is that Spain is in the viewfinder markets. The rate of its 10-year government bonds is back above 6%.

France Telecom has managed to limit the impact on revenues of Free Mobile launch in the first quarter in spite of numerous defections among its customers, tempering the market pessimism on its ability to pass through this turbulence.

The incumbent has suffered a decline in its overall turnover and profit margins as a result of declining revenues in France, whose magnitude was, however, revealed lower than market fears.

The group has particularly benefited from the roaming agreement concluded with the new entrant for the use of its network that pays more than expected at France Telecom.

At 10:50, the title gained 2.3% to 10.48 euros, while the CAC 40 and the European telecoms sector index are 0.96%. 

"The motive in France was stronger than expected," commented analysts at Jefferies in a note, acknowledging also the commercial cost control, remained stable over the period despite increased competition in early January with the launch of Free on the mobile market.

The results of France Telecom, the first operator to provide its quarterly, were eagerly awaited by the market for an initial diagnosis of the impact of entering the fourth on the French market, while France Telecom does not disclose details of its margins by division.

The incumbent has recorded a total loss of 615,000 mobile customers in France during the first three months of the year, a figure to compare to the 219.000 departures recorded on the corresponding period last year.

Applications portability "returned the last two weeks of March to the level before the arrival of Free market," said CFO Gervais Pellissier during a conference call with reporters.

"The customer losses are slightly higher than what we expected but what is most reassuring is that the group indicates that the tumult caused by the arrival of Free market seems to calm down, "said Guy Peddy, Macquarie, which says a bit more optimistic even though" much work remains to be done. " 

NEW PROSPECTS EXPECTED TO SUMMER

Throughout the first quarter, the total turnover stood at 10.92 billion euros, down 1.8%, while adjusted Ebitda stood at 3 , 43 billion (-7.0%), giving a margin of 31.4%, down 1.7 points.

The market expected a turnover of 10.81 billion euros and an EBITDA of 3.45 billion euros, according to Thomson Reuters I / B / E / S.

The group has suffered from the 4.2% decline in sales in France related to the impact of Free mobile subscriber base and its price, which has however been partially offset by income generated by the first roaming agreement concluded with Free Mobile, a subsidiary of Internet service provider Iliad. 

The operator now believes that he should yield about one billion euros over three years against the same amount over six years previously.

France Telecom, which reiterated a target operating cash flow of nearly 8 billion euros in 2012, has however confirmed that he no longer maintained the objectives for the period 2013 to 2015 announced ; s in May 2011 as part of its strategic plan.

"While the arrival of Iliad was expected, the price level at which it is set in January is lower than what we have anticipated in May, or even what we might anticipate yet at last November, "said Gervais Pellissier, adding that the group continued to anticipate an early recovery for next year. 

"We made an appointment to investors in the summer to tell them what would be 2013," he added.

Despite pressure on its margins and its sales, France Telecom does not provide for downsizing in the Hexagon, said the CFO.

Competitors Bouygues and SFR have undertaken a series of measures to reduce costs.

Wall Street opened slightly lower Monday, threatening to end a streak of four consecutive sessions of gains in a context of renewed tensions in Europe and mixed U.S. data es.

In early trade, the Dow dropped 0.07% to 13,218.93 points. The Standard & Poor's, wider, yielding 0.27% to 1,399.59 points points while the Nasdaq composite lost 0.22% to 3062.58 points.

The announcement on Monday's return to recession in Spain has revived fears about the sovereign debt crisis in the eurozone.

"The market took a break while a busy week looms in statistics," said Andre Bakhos at Lek Securities.

The U.S. household spending rose less than expected 0.3% in March while their incomes have emerged up 0.4%, according to statistics released by the De ; Department of Commerce.

Investors will also monitor the publication in the afternoon of the index of purchasing managers in manufacturing PMI in the Chicago area. 

Last week, the S & P has aligned four sessions in a row in the green due to good earnings reports of companies, who brought the index close to balance in April. He declined, however, still 0.4% on the month, poised to sign a fifth consecutive month of decline.

Values, Apple fell by 1.3% and Google was down slightly from 0.06%. Both groups could include the Dow Jones Industrial Average in the context of a revision of the index, joining the elite 30 companies at the expense of more traditional companies like Alcoa Inc. (-0.7%), Barron's said Sunday.

The title of Barnes & Noble jumped over 11% in early trade after Microsoft announced it would invest $ 300 million in university activities and digital chain libraries.

Samsung Electronics posted record quarterly earnings of $ 5.2 billion (3.9 billion) by selling over 20,000 per hour Galaxy smartphones in the first quarter, beating Apple and iPhone.

The South Korean group was pleased with Nokia as the world's largest maker of mobile phones, after 14 years of rule by the Finnish group, today distanced the smartphone market .

Samsung has sold around 93.5 million mobile phones in the quarter January to March, more than a quarter of those sold worldwide, including 44.5 million smartphones, according Strategy Analytics. It controls and 30.6% of the global market for smartphones, against 24.1% for Apple, which sold 35.1 million iPhones in the first quarter.

"Samsung and crush their main rivals Apple and the smartphone market is likely to become a two-horse race," said Neil Mawston to Strategy Analytics.

Samsung will launch next week in London the third generation of its flagship model Galaxy S. The group hopes to see its sales boosted by the Summer Olympics, he is one of the first sponsors.

Apple said this week that its iPhone sales 4S had led to quintuple its quarterly revenue in China. But on this first global market of mobile telephony, the group remains at the apple behind by Samsung, which is already allied with the three main TV operators coms in the country.

The operating profit of Samsung in the first quarter nearly doubled to 5,850 billion won (3.9 billion euros), after reaching 5,300 billion won in the previous quarter .

After the announcement of these results, the action Samsung surged 2.9% to a record high of 1.38 million won (1,200 dollars).

The group also competes with Sony and LG Electronics on the TV market, Toshiba and Hynix in the memories SK and LG Display the segment of flat screens. 

Its earnings in semiconductors has been more than halved, to 760 billion won, due to falling prices of memory cards, but its activity in the tee ; léviseurs and appliances has generated 530 billion won against 80 billion a year earlier.

Samsung and LG Electronics compatriot among the few TV manufacturers in the world to make profits and gain market share in favor of including the use of 3D and OLED displays.

Sony, Panasonic and Sharp expect their side to show a combined loss of $ 21 billion during the fiscal year that just ended.

The first tripartite round table on the future of the plant PSA Aulnay-sous-Bois has resulted in no concrete progress on Friday and the prefect of Seine-Saint-Denis set the next appointment in late June, after the presidential election.

The interview between the State, represented by the prefect, the direction of the automaker and the unions and local politicians, claimed for nine months by them, was stormy said Jean-Pierre Mercier, representative of the CGT, and five trade unions on these seven left the room before the end.

"The unions have called for PSA agrees in writing (…) To maintain all jobs at least until the end of 2016, officially ended production of the C3, and assign a new vehicle to replace the C3. But management does not want to commit to anything, "he said

." The next date falls after the presidential and the law, it is exactly the speech Peugeot: do not use that either in the middle of election campaigns, "he said

… In an attempt to …… get rid of this calendar, the CGT called for a rally next Thursday before the campaign headquarters of Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris

.

The Department of Industry, has said his side "fully alert and mobilized to the site's future automotive Aulnay-sous-Bois" and stressed in a statement, the group confirmed that it "does not consider the proposed closure of site in France." 

But at the roundtable, PSA Peugeot Citroëna again refused to discuss the C3 after repeating, as it has for several months, will still produce cars qu'Aulnay until 2014, unspecified beyond.

The builder also mentioned, the statement of the Ministry, the arrival on the surfaces of Aulnay-sous-Bois unused today, "new economic activities complementary ments ".

PSA declined to comment on the roundtable, but a spokesman said that about 40,000 square meters on the site now unused, 23,000 were de ja and 17,000 rental available for rental for industrial and real estate. 

The factory in Aulnay-sous-Bois, which produces the small Citroen sedan, employs 3,500 people and seems the most threatened European sites of PSA while the group was given two years to re ; Gler the issue of persistent overcapacity in Europe.

The fate of the Madrid plant also raises questions as no model has been announced to take forward over the last Peugeot 207 assembled therein.

European shares move in a disorganized mid-session after opening up while Wall Street is expected to have eased slightly.

In Paris the CAC 40 was down 0.15% (-4.99 points) to 3,418.82 points. In Frankfurt, the DAX rose 0.29% and London, the FTSE is virtually unchanged. The pan-European index Stoxx 50 was down 0.40%.

The index futures point to a New York opening spreads from Wall Street while the purchasing managers' index for manufacturing (ISM) will be published at 1400 GMT.

In Paris, Total continues to rebound and earn 1.27% after the announcement that British authorities will receive Monday representatives of the company to consider a proposal to send a team of experts on its platform of Elgin in the North Sea which had to be evacuated due to gas leak. The revelation of the leak on March 26 led to a drop of nearly 7% of Total's share price, the last week, despite a rebound of a , 06% Friday after the announcement of the termination of a flare which casts a risk of explosion of the installation.

PSA Peugeot Citroen fell by 3.77% after announcing a fall of 33.2% over twelve months of its new car registrations in France in March, while Renault sells 1 76% after a decline of 29.8% over the same period against -23.5% for the whole French market.

Cimpor jumped nearly 9% in mid-session after the announcement Friday by the second group of Brazilian Camargo Correa construction of its intention to launch a bid for 68.1% capital of the Portuguese cement that does not already own. 

Originally worn by an official index of purchasing managers in China better than expected and reassuring thought on the growth of the first Asian economy, some European equity markets are ironed in led by the red squares of the peripheral countries of the south.

Information from press reports that the Bundesbank planned to take over the paper in several countries, including Portugal, have weighed heavily on the places of southern Europe, before being denied by the Institute of German issue.

The acceleration of the contraction of manufacturing in the euro area in March, reinforcing fears of a recession within the bloc while the slowdown has spread to Germany and France, has also affected the trend.

Wall Street finished slightly higher Friday, supported by buoyant energy stocks in the face of surging oil prices, but the gains of the day do not allow the S & P 500 finished the week in the green.

This index, which is the benchmark for fund managers, posted a weekly decline of 0.5%, thus interrupting a series of five consecutive weeks of growth. However, since the beginning of the year, he won about 11%. Compared to a low of October, its progress is more than 25%.

The Dow Jones industrials gained 30 0.27% or 34.59 points, to 13,080.73. The S & P-500, wider, took 4.33 points, or 0.31%, to 1397.11. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 4.60 point turn (0.15%) to 3,067.92.

For the week, the Dow has sold 1.1% while the Nasdaq posted a gain of 0.4%.

Despite the magnitude of the upward cycle bringing Wall Street for several months, most market participants do not believe the decline this week is the prelude to a more pronounced downturn.

They believe instead that the U.S. stock market should benefit next week cleanings portfolio at quarter end, which are usually fund managers trade shares with the sub- performed against those that have outperformed the market.

"Generally, people are well disposed towards the shares. They are ready to enter the market whenever there is a slight decline, "said Michael Matousek, a broker at Global Investors

.. Rising ……. daily was the fact the oil compartment, with the sector index gained 0.96%

…. ….. This is mainly due to the 1.5% jump in oil prices after the information saying that Iranian oil exports were down in March, the tightening of Western sanctions to against Tehran have led some customers to stop or reduce their purchases of Iranian crude

. values ​​related materials first turn have been supported by the good results of the largest copper producer Codelco. The sector index has been 0.98%.

The new home sales fell 1.6% in February to return to 313,000 on an annualized basis, said the Commerce Department, which has downgraded statistics January, to 318,000 against 321,000 originally announced. Economists polled by Reuters had expected 325,000 sales.

This indicator has sealed property values, the PHLX sector index yielded 0.57%. The action of KB Home fell 8.45% to 10.29 dollars after the number five in the construction of individual houses in the United States has reported a widening of its losses the first quarter.

The title Monster Worldwide has been 7.69% to 10.22 dollars after the agency offers online job, which has a market capitalization of approximately one billion dollars, has says ready to sell all or part of its capital.

Nike reported Thursday a profit above expectations for the third quarter of fiscal offset and an increase in its future orders.

But the title of the sporting goods company has closed down 3.22% to 107.42 dollars.

The deficit of Spain represented 8.51% of GDP in 2011, said Monday the Finance Minister Cristobal Montoro.

A first estimate gave 8.2% and the upward revision is mainly due to exceedances of regional budgets.

Montoro said that this figure of 8.51% was also provisional and would be circulated for consideration by the European Commission.

The objective of Madrid in 2012 is a deficit of 4.4% of GDP.

In 2010, the deficit represented 9.3% of GDP.

The New York Stock Exchange ended down slightly from 0.01% Friday, the Dow Jones 30 industrial yielding 1.74 points to 12,982.95. The S & P-500, wider, took 2.28 points, or 0.17%, to 1,365.74, a closing level since June 2008 unpublished.

The Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 6.77 points on its side of (0.23%) to 2,963.75.

For the week, the Dow was awarded 0.3%, as the S & P 500, while the Nasdaq took 0.4%.