European Markets Extend Gains

Chicago, IL 9/16/2011 (PennyPayDay) – The European markets are extending the previous session's gains in afternoon trading Friday, as a meeting of European finance officials to discuss the sovereign crisis is underway in Wroclaw, Poland. Asian markets ended higher, while U.S. index futures are lower.

The European Central Bank on Thursday said it has decided in co-ordination with the Federal Reserve, the Bank of England, the Bank of Japan and the Swiss National Bank, to conduct three U.S. dollar liquidity-providing operations with a maturity of approximately three months covering the end of the year.

According to ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet, the three-month US dollar liquidity-providing operations is a sign of close co-operation at the global level and of the "unity in purpose." In a speech at Wroclaw, Trichet stressed on the need for strict implementation of the planned measures. "A lot remains to be done. No complacency should be tolerated in any field," he said.

The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks is adding 1.34 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, is gaining 1.27 percent.

The German DAX is adding 1.42 percent and the French CAC 40 is gaining 0.64 percent. The UK's FTSE 100 is rising 0.74 percent and Switzerland's SMI is advancing 0.65 percent.

Among the DAX components, Deutsche Bank is gaining 3.3 percent and Commerzbank is rising 1.7 percent.

RWE and EON are advancing 2.6 percent each. JPMorgan raised E.ON to "Overweight" from "Neutral."

Allianz is gaining 2.15 percent. Cheuvreux cut its price target on the stock.

SAP is losing 0.4 percent and Adidas is down 0.55 percent. Those making moderate losses include Siemens, Linde and Bayer.

Ouside the main index, Stroeer is up 1 percent. Goldman Sachs lowered its price target on the stock.

Sky Deutscheland is gaining 1.2 percent, despite the stock's price target being reduced at Goldman Sachs.

Aixtron is falling about 2 percent. JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank reduced their price targets on the stock.

Axel Springer is falling 1.8 percent. Goldman Sachs cut its price target on the stock to 30 euros from 36.86 euros.

ProSiebenSat.1 Media is adding 1.2 percent, although several analysts cut their price targets on the stock.

Research in Motion is falling over 20 percent after reporting unimpressive results. ARM Holdings is losing 1.5 percent in London on the news.

Manz is falling 1.8 percent. The company reached a mutual agreement with its COO Volker Renz to sever his contract with effect from September 30 owing to differences of opinion regarding the future strategic orientation of the company and how that should be implemented.

In Paris, Publicis Groupe is climbing 3.6 percent. Retailer Carrefour is adding 2.4 percent.

Electric utility EDF is advancing 3.4 percent. Veolia Environnement and Suez Environnement are adding 2 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively.

Barring BNP Paribas, which is losing 1.7 percent, lenders are in positive territory, led by Societe Generale, which is gaining 2.5 percent.

Peugeot and Renault are gaining 2.4 percent and 1.4 percent, respectively. Air France-KLM is adding 1.5 percent. The company's board has approved an order of 110 long-haul aircraft from Boeing Co. (BA) and Airbus SAS. EADS, the parent of Airbus, is falling 1 percent.

Hermes International is falling 7.6 percent. The company's founding family won a court ruling, which allows it to establish a holding company to guard against takeovers.

In London, mining stocks Anglo American and Antofagasta are adding over 1 percent each, while BHP Billiton is gaining 2 percent and Rio Tinto is climbing 2.4 percent.

Among lenders, Barclays is surging 5.6 percent, Lloyds is adding 3.1 percent and Royal Bank of Scotland is gaining 3.9 percent.

Marks & Spencer and Kingfisher are notably higher. ITV is surging 4.6 percent reportedly on an analyst upgrade. Essar Energy is adding 3.4 percent, Inmarsat is climbing 5.8 percent and Peason is adding 2.5 percent.

IPSO Ventures is falling 8.3 percent. Buccolam, a product developed by the firm, was granted European Commission approval to treat prolonged, acute, convulsive seizures in infants, children, and adolescents aged 3 months to less than 18 years.

UBS is up 3 percent in Zurich. JPMorgan cut its price taregt on the stock In Stockholm, Hennes & Mauritz AB is flat, after the company reportedly received a broker downgrade. Wolford is up 5 percent in Vienna after reporting a narrower loss for the first quarter.

In a day of light economic news, Eurostat said the euro area trade surplus increased to 4.3 billion euros in July from 0.1 billion euros in June. The consensus forecast called for a surplus of 2 billion euros.

In the commodity space, crude for October delivery is sliding $0.20 to $89.20 per barrel, while December gold is gaining $7.7 to $1789.1 a troy ounce.

PennyPayDay Disclaimer

Distributed by Viestly