LONDON (SHARECAST) - -Moody’s confirmed Spain's government bond rating, with a negative outlook
-Conflicting reports regarding frictions ahead of EU summit
-Spanish risk premium drops below 400bp
-Italy 2 year bond yields fall below 2 per cent
FTSE-100: 0.48%
Dax-30: 0.13%
Cac-40: 0.22%
FTSE-Mibtel 30: 1.08%
Ibex 35: 1.43%
Stoxx 600: 0.18%
European equities are now registering moderate gains ahead of today’s avalanche of US company results (and a negative reaction to those out from IBM and Intel overnight) and following ratings agency Moody’s decision last night to maintain Spain’s investment grade rating on the country’s debt.
Worth noting, amongst the reasons cited by Moody’s for its decision, is that: “the rating agency believes that Spain will likely apply for a precautionary credit line from the European Stability Mechanism (ESM).”
Furthermore, Moody’s does not believe that the above would lead –in and of itself- to a downgrade, although it does warn that certain events could still see the rating drop to “junk,” with a potential exit of Greece from the single currency area posing a major event-risk.
Also of interest, in an interview with Il Corriere della Sera, International Monetary Fund (IMF) Chief Economist Olivier Blanchard said that in particular it was “crucial” to have a plan “in the short-term” that included guarantees that both Spain and Italy will be able to finance themselves while moving forward with their austerity measures.
Strong gains for Danone and AlcatelDanone is down by 4% after reporting a slowdown in revenues at its main dairy division.
Dutch semiconductor equipment maker ASML is dropping 2% after forecasting fourth-quarter sales that trailed behind projections. As well, the company will acquire Cymer for $2.6bn.
PSA Peugeot is advancing 3% as Le Figaro said the French government may bail out the automaker’s credit unit.
French phone equipment maker Alcatel-Lucent has won a contract to deploy the largest share of China Mobile’s new TD-LTE trial network rollout as it extends services to 10 cities.
From a sector stand-point the best performers are now to be found in the following industrial groups within the DJ Stoxx 600: Basic resources (2.4%), Construction&Materials (1.13%) and Oil&Gas (1.09%).
Eurozone construction output grew by 0.7% month-on-month in August, following a fall of 0.3% in the month before.
Sharp rise in the single currency
The euro/dollar is now slightly higher, up by 0.19%, to the1.3122 level.
Front month Brent crude futures are now down by 0.237 dollars to the 113.73 dollar mark on the ICE.
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