European and North American Review – August 31st 2010

US Shares Flat as Market Awaited for More Data

European bourses ended up on Tuesday, helped by US data which came in above the expectation. German DAX was lifted 12.81 points to 5,925.22 (+0.2%), and FTSE 100 index was up 23.66 points to 5,225.22 or up 0.5%. European data released on the same day also showed improvements.

In August, GfK consumer confidence survey index was edging higher from -22 to -18, beating the consensus of a drop to -24. German data continued to be encouraging. The jobless number was down 17,000 in August, although the unemployment rate remained at 7.6%. Euro-Zone’s unemployment rate stayed high however, at 10% in August. Another economic data from Europe showed CPI slowed from increasing by 1.7% in July to 1.6% in August.

This Wednesday, along with US ISM for manufacturing sector, PMI for manufacturing sector will be released in Germany and UK. German PMI is expected to be unchanged at 58.2, the same as in July, while UK PMI is seen to slip to 57.0 from 57.3.

On the corporate front, Bayer AG successfully proved that its Xarelto was as effective as the old warfarin drug. The medication could land Bayer in a lucrative market worth $10 billion to $20 billion of annual profit. Bayer gained 2.43% by the end of the day and closed at €48.18.

Allianz SE aimed at China and India as potentially strategic markets with high potential of both life and non-life insurance business growth in Asia Pacific. Throughout the first half of 2010 Allianz achieved 31% increase in written premiums worth €5.6 billion with life insurance as the lead contributor. For Asia Pacific, life insurance worth $4.1 billion with Taiwan as the biggest contributor, while for non-life, India and Malaysia led the market. Allianz was at €80.94 at the end of the day.

Siemens Enterprise Communications, jointly owned by Siemens AG and The Gores Group acquired a contract to build communication infrastructures for 165,000 ports from the German Federal Employment Agency. The contract was worth over 100 million euros and will span for eight years. It will be a full service contract which includes provision of software and hardware as well as end-user devices. Siemens was up 0.59% to €71.78 on Tuesday.

HSBC planned to exit its entire consumer lending business in the US by the end of 2014. The most recent move from the British bank was to sell its auto loans business to Santander Consumer USA with the price tag of $3.56 billion. The value of the loans obtained by Santander was $4.3 billion. HSBC was settled at 643.70 pence or up 1.05%.

Joining Bayer and HSBC as the top gainers, Vodafone advanced 2.31% to 157.15 pence. At the bottom, Barclays Plc, BT Group, and the bourse operator Deutsche Boerse ended down 1.1%, 0.75% and 0.65%, respectively.

The North American market was boosted earlier by data from the Conference Board but unable to withhold the gains as the Dow pulled back to near flat along with S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite indexes. Dow Jones index inched up 4.99 points to 10,014.70, S&P 500 index went 0.04% higher to 1,049.33, but Nasdaq slipped 5.94 points to 2,114.03.

Consumer confidence improved in August, according to the data from the Conference Board. The index went up to 53.5 from the upwardly revised July’s 51.0. Initially, July’s index was at 50.4. The current situation index fell to 24.9 from 26.4, while the expectations index went up to 72.5 from 67.5. Another data due on Tuesday was the house prices from Case-Shiller. In June, prices went up 1% compared to May; while year-on-year the prices were 4.2% higher. Despite the data was positive, it should be noted that the data lagged two months as it reported June, not the most recent August market conditions. The Dow’s late slip back to the flat area was mostly due to the FOMC minutes which was lacking new leads to lift the mood, turning the market back to the cautionary mode as it waits for more data to come.

Motorola which would be split in early next year would have the mobile phone division some cash amounting to $3.5 billion, which would be used for operational needs and business expansions as well as potential acquisitions. Motorola stayed flat by the end of Tuesday at $7.52.

Microsoft was reportedly developing a search application for the Google Android platform. The application which going to be available for free for Verizon Wireless users will be the mobile version of Microsoft’s Bing. Microsoft ended at $23.47 or down 0.74%.

Google and Associated Press reached an agreement in the distribution of AP’s news materials. Google will have the right to host AP’s materials for two years ahead. Google was down 0.59% at $450.02 by the end of the session.

3M acquired Cogent in a deal worth $943 million. The maker of the fingerprint identification systems for government and civilians was bought at $10.50 a share, or 18% above Cogent’s closing price on Friday. 3M fell however, to $78.55 or 1.38%.

JP Morgan Chase & Co. would shut down its proprietary trading desk for commodities to abide the Volcker Rule. Consequently, all of its proprietary trading desk will be closed completely. Volcker Rule, which was a result of the recent banking reform in the US, was expected to reduce JP Morgan’s annual profit by $1.4 billion. JP Morgan was at $36.36 in late New York, up 1.42%.

On downgrades and upgrades, Intel Corp. was downgraded at Charter Equity from BUY to MARKET PERFORM on the back of the recent earnings revision for 3Q 2010. Gleacher & Co. maintained Intel at BUY, while FBR Capital also kept Intel at MARKET PERFORM. Intel was down 1.64% to $17.67.

Gainers on Tuesday include AT&T (+1.5%), JP Morgan & Chase (+1.42%), and Merck & Co. (+1.24%). Languishing at the bottom were AMD (-2.94%), Dell (-2.08%) and Starbucks (-1.92%).

Wednesday’s focus will be on the ADP employment data, a guide to Friday’s non-farm payrolls figure. Another key data for the day will be ISM for manufacturing sector. ADP employment figure is expected to show an increase of private sector’s hiring by 20,000 compared to July’s 42,000. ISM for manufacturing sector however, is seen to edge down to 53.0 from 55.5.