| CATEGORY: MARKET REPORT - EUROPE SECTOR: BANKING |
European midday: Shares in tight range |
|
Wed 24 Feb 2010
|
LONDON (SHARECAST) - European shares are trading at a tight range as investors are cautious ahead of a congressional testimony by US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke later today.
Bernanke will speak about the shape of the US economic recovery over the next two days.
Over here, banks are mostly lower, with Commerzbank the biggest faller in Frankfurt, down almost 4%. Credit Agricole, BNP Paribas and Deutsche Bank are also on offer.
HSBC is an exception, the British bank is on the rise as reports circulate that the company is preparing to sell its train leasing business for around £2bn. Sentiment towards the bank is also sweetened by reports that the board is expected to scrap a pay rise of almost 40% for its chief executive Michael Geoghegan following shareholder protests.
In the car sector, Peugeot, Renault, Daimler and BMW are all stuck in the red.
The Dax in Frankfurt is 2 points lower at 5,602, with the Cac in France up 4 points to 3,711. The Swiss market is 20 points higher at 6,669.
On the positive side, Accor is in demand after the group announced that it will split itself in two, its hotels and services business, both of which will be listed on Euronext.
The group also swung to a 2009 net loss of 282m from a profit of 575m last year. Revenue fell 8.5% to 7.1bn.
Google could be facing the first serious challenge to its dominance in the online search engine market after the European Union launched an investigation following complaints that the US giant is abusing its market position.
The European Commission has written to Google to question how it operates after complaints from the three rivals: UK search site Foundem; Ciao, an online shopping site owned by Microsoft; and French company ejustice.fr.
Elsewhere, a massive strike has shut down air, rail and maritime transport in Greece as tens of thousands protest against the governments austerity measures. There are no flights in and out of the country's airports, with train, bus and ferry services also cancelled nationwide.
Government offices, schools and universities are all shut, while hospitals have brought in emergency staff. Journalists are also on a 24-hour strike, meaning that no newspapers will be published.
CAC 40 - Risers
Vallourec (VK) 137.70 +3.18%
Dexia (DEXB) 4.02 +2.06%
ST Microelectronics (STM) 6.28 +1.83%
Suez Environnement Company (SEV) 16.24 +1.28%
Societe Generale (GLE) 40.06 +1.26%
Essilor International (EI) 43.94 +0.91%
Vivendi (VIV) 18.58 +0.90%
Cap Gemini (CAP) 33.79 +0.84%
Air Liquide (AI) 84.71 +0.75%
Accor (AC) 36.71 +0.67%
CAC 40 - Fallers
EADS (EAD) 14.65 -2.66%
Saint Gobain (SGO) 32.65 -2.10%
Peugeot (UG) 19.38 -1.85%
Lafarge (LG) 48.27 -1.69%
Bouygues (EN) 34.23 -1.31%
PPR (PP) 81.58 -1.00%
Michelin (ML) 50.48 -0.77%
Credit Agricole (ACA) 10.39 -0.76%
LVMH (MC) 78.40 -0.76%
Vinci (DG) 38.09 -0.57%
|
|
| |
|
 |
Archived Stories |
 |
|
Front Page Stories |
|
|
