UK/Euro Financial Market Daily Evening Briefing 04-01-2008

Trade Like a Pro and Earn More than £40,000+ Tax-Free per year Trading Shares. A MUST SEE. Click Here to find out more...

London shares close lower as weak US jobs data drags Dow below 13,000

At the close, the FTSE 100 was down 130.9 points at 6,348.5 off earlier highs of 6534.7, having erased all of the week's gains. For the week, the FTSE 100 was down 128.4 points on the week. The FTSE 250 was down 237.4 points at 10,303.0.

"Any hopes of the FTSE finishing the week above the key 6,500 level have seemingly been dashed with some far worse than expected payroll data out of the US," said Jimmy Yates, a Dealer at CMC Markets.
"Once again as the week draws to a close the prospect of a global recession is going to be dominating the thoughts of many."

By the close of business, volume had picked up with 1,385.3 mln shares having traded hands in 534,989 deals. Over the Atlantic, the DJIA was dragged down below the key psychological level -- down 164.60 points at 12892.10 after US December non-farm payroll data showed the World's largest economy managed to add only 18,000 jobs in December -- the slowest growth in more than four years.

Economists polled by Thomson's IFR Markets had been looking for 70,000 new jobs to be created. The NASDAQ Composite was down 22.40 points at 1424.75.

Back in the UK, Carphone Warehouse was one of the rare bright spots -- up 8-3/4 pence at 340-3/4 pence -- amid ongoing talk of a strong market for iPhones, and amid vague rumours of a bid from Vodafone or US retailer Best Buy. Daniel Stewart analyst Mike Jeremy believes on balance the more realistic rumour is solid Christmas period iPhone sales.

He explained that the iPhone's profile and association, which gets people into Carphone Warehouse's shops and allows the company to cross-sell its range of telephony and broadband services, is probably as important as its direct impact on revenues.

On the downside, Cairn Energy was down 71 pence at 2,876, after announcing this morning that it plans to plug and abandon the Magnama-1 exploration well in block 16, offshore Bangladesh as the well's sands in the deepest section drilled were not gas charged.

British Airways fell back 7-3/4 pence to 302-3/4 after the British flag carrier said it carried 2.52 mln people in December, up 1.1 pct on the 2.49 mln who travelled on its services a year previously, but its load factor -- how full its aircraft were -- declined by 0.7 pct points to 73.5 pct.

Financials were mostly weaker as the ongoing weakness in US markets weighed on sentiment. London Stock Exchange fell 125 pence to 1,854 pence and Old Mutual fell back 8.8 to 160.5.

Use our professional platform to trade on margin and trade tax free. Speculate on Oil, Gold, Foreign Exchange, Worldwide Indices, Equities and Options. Go long or short on all our markets. Click here.

Admiral -- down 32 pence at 1,068 pence - and Prudential -- down 29 at 685-1/2 -- were further knocked by news that they have been removed from Merrill Lynch's most preferred list.

Elsewhere, retailers continued to dominate the loser board after small cap Land of Leather dropped nearly 50 pct or 54.75 pence to 59 pence after it warned its full-year profit will be significantly below expectations.

The news comes hot on the heels of disappointing updates from Next and DSG International yesterday.
Kingfisher fell 9.5 at 130.0, Next was down 88 pence at 1,464 pence and Home Retail Group down 12-3/4 pence at 288-1/2 pence amid ongoing concerns about consumer spending.

Among mid caps, Halfords was down 7-3/4 pence at 280 pence after Citigroup cut its rating to 'hold' from 'buy' and cut its target to 310 pence, from 375. Citigroup cited worries about the Sat Nav market.

You've probably heard about spread betting - but maybe the risks have put you off. The Finspreads Trading Academy, the most popular way into the world of spread betting, takes you through the whole subject from a keen amateur's point of view. So don't be startled by spread betting - get started. Click Here

DSG was another penny lower at 77 pence as a number of brokers slashed their price targets for the group after yesterday's profit warning.

While Goldman Sachs said all the bad news is now priced in and upgraded the shares to 'neutral' from 'sell', others cut their targets by around 20 pct. Investec and SG Secs repeated their 'sell' ratings and Morgan Stanley reiterated its 'underweight' stance. Other second line retailers also continued to suffer, including Signet, down 3-3/4 at 60-1/4.

UK Diary of Event:
For a diary of key financial and corporate events in the UK this week, click here

UK Small Cap Report:
For a summary of today's trading on the FTSE 250 and the AIM, click here

Open a Selftrade Dealing account, pay a flat £12.50 per trade Deal in UK and international equities, funds, bonds, covered warrants and Listed CFDs. Instant account funding via debit card. No account or inactivity fees. No dealing fee on fund purchases. Click here for more information.

Paris shares close lower as weak US jobs data raise recession fears

The CAC-40 index finished 99.29 points or 1.79 pct lower at 5,446.79, extending the blue-chip index's losing streak to a fifth day. Among CAC-40 stocks, three closed higher and 37 closed lower. On the broader indices, the SBF-80 index closed 172.40 points, or 2.77 pct, lower at 6,043.65 and the SBF-120 ended 76.98 points, or 1.92 pct, lower at 3,929.58.

The euro was quoted at 1.4780 usd compared to 1.4709 usd at midday. The automobile sector's losses accelerated for a second day after Nissan plunged by 9 pct in overnight trading in Tokyo on fears about the US market.

Renault lost 7.58 pct or 7.09 eur to 86.45 for its lowest close since last March after Nissan, in which Renault owns 44 pct, reported that December sales fell 2.4 pct. Renault itself reported worldwide sales increased by 2.2 pct in 2007 to 2,487,453 units, leaving the car maker's share of the world market at 3.6 pct, below the 3.7 pct it recorded the year before.

The rest of the French auto sector followed Renault down, with rival PSA Peugeot Citroen closing down 6.79 pct or 3.39 eur at 46.51, and tyre maker Michelin losing 6.44 pct or 4.89 to 71.01.

French construction firms were also in the spotlight after a report late Thursday that nuclear engineer Areva was pursuing an exclusive partnership with Vinci to bid for contracts to build next-generation nuclear plants, sidelining rival construction firm Bouygues.

Vinci and Areva confirmed the existence of talks but said any partnership would not be exclusive and was not aimed at sidelining Bouygues. Vinci closed down 2.3 pct or 1.07 eur at 45.43 and Bouygues lost 1.94 pct or 1.04 eur to close at 52.46. Lightly traded Areva gained 0.94 pct or 7 eur to 750 eur.

LOW-RISK, AWARD-WINNING, INVESTMENT STRATEGY
 
£2,000 to over £80,000 Tax-Free

Click Here

German shares close lower on weak US auto mkt outlook, US jobs data

The DAX closed 99.72 points or 1.26 pct lower at 7,808.69 points, having traded between 7,780.27 and 7,914.70 points today. The MDAX fell 243.78 points or 2.55 pct to 9,319.44 points, while the TecDAX was 15.40 points, or 1.60 pct, lower at 947.61.

DAX futures were down 92.00 points or 1.15 pct at 7,886.00, while bund futures were up 0.38 points or 0.33 pct at 114.91 points. The euro was trading at 1.4782 usd, against 1.4703 usd in London afternoon deals.

US December non-farm payroll data showed the world's largest economy managed to add only 18,000 jobs in December -- the slowest growth in more than four years. Economists polled by Thomson's IFR Markets had been looking for 70,000 new jobs to be created.

On the Frankfurt trading floor, automotive stocks led blue-chips lower after General Motors chief executive Rick Wagoner said he does not expect the US car market to grow this year. Additionally investors were not impressed with yesterday's monthly US unit sales figures, a local trader said.

Continental slumped 6.68 eur, or 7.90 pct, to 77.85 eur and Daimler lost 3.74 eur or 5.95 pct to 59.17 eura after yesterday reporting its Mercedes-Benz unit's December US sales fell 2.9 pct. Truckmaker MAN fell 5.23 eur or 4.93 pct to 100.94 eur, while BMW shares were down 1.19 eur or 2.83 pct at 40.90 eur, having eked out a 1 pct increase in US unit sales.

Volkswagen declined 2.65 eur or 1.75 pct to 149.16 eur. Elsewhere in Frankfurt trading, Porsche slumped 99.52 eur or 7.54 pct to 1,220.48 eur after saying its North American unit sales last month rose 2 pct year-on-year, the same growth rate it posted there in November.

Back on the DAX index, insurance giant Allianz lost 2.85 eur or 1.97 pct to 142.08 eur after Merrill Lynch added the stock to its its "Insurance Least Preferred" list considering it a "little less attractive" than the sector after it staged a modest rebound over the past month.

However, several traders said they considered the speculation to be a typical 'Friday rumour' with little substance. Deutsche Postbank rose 0.78 eur or 1.24 pct to 63.80 eur. Bayer rose 0.72 eur or 1.17 pct to 62.43 eur, and DAX heavyweight EON, considered a safe haven by investors, rose 1.67 eur or 1.14 pct to 147.85 eur.

Deutsche Telekom rose 0.10 eur or 0.67 pct to 15.00 eur after its Hungarian unit Magyar Telekom placed a binding bid for a 49 pct stake in its Slovenian peer today.

In addition, speculation of a potential bid from Telefonica SA for Dutch peer Royal KPN NV boosted telecom stocks across Europe. Analysts believe, however, that a phased tie-up between the two companies' German mobile operations is a more likely scenario.

Over on the MDAX, GEA Group declined 1.47 eur or 6.68 pct to 20.55 eur as today's weakest stock on that index. At the other end, Techem gained 0.97 eur or 1.66 pct to 59.47 eur.

K&S, which surged more than 5 pct earlier today after Unicredit raised its stance on the stock to 'buy' from 'hold' and increased the target for the group to 197 eur from 151, was down 4.69 eur or 2.75 pct at 165.75 eur. TecDAX-listed QSC fell 0.24 eur or 8.14 pct to 2.71 eur, while Adva rose 0.32 eur or 11.47 pct to 3.11 eur.

Trade Forex, Indices and Shares with zero commissions and 1% margin. Live dealing prices stream into GCI's state-of-the art trading software. Just click on a price to trade currencies, S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrials, DAX 30, Nikkei 225, IBM, Vodafone, Microsoft, and much more. To register for a free demo account Click Here

Amsterdam shares closes down on negative Wall St

The AEX closed down 8.07 points, or 1.59 pct at 500.60, after opening at 507.70, reaching a late morning high of 511.16 to then hit a very late afternoon low at 498.95. Government bonds traded higher, while the euro stood at 1.4775 usd compared to 1.4734 usd at close yesterday.

KPN still led AEX gainers, up 2.76 pct at 12.67 amid bid speculation that Telefonica could bid for the Dutch company. Analysts suggested a phased tie-up between the two companies' German mobile operations is a more likely scenario.

Publishers did well, with Wolters Kluwers lifting 0.32 pct to 21.85 amid news that subsidiary Wolters Kluwer Financial Services agreed to buy Stewart Lender Services, part of the Stewart Information Services Corp. Reed Elsevier added 1.13 pct at 13.40.

The final gainer on the AEX was Heineken, rising 0.57 pct to 44.03. The rest of the AEX was down, with Corporate Express leading the pack, dropping 9.74 pct to 4.45 eur. Among chemical related issues, DSM fell 4.10 pct to 31.14 and Akzo Nobel went down 3.76 pct to 53.75.

ArcelorMittal fell 3.50 pct at 49.94. TNT shed 2.06 pct to 27.16 amid reports Deutsche Post World Net AG had won more than 50 corporate clients from PIN Group AG and TNT Post over the past two to three months.

Among financials, ING slipped 1.61 pct lower to 25.59 amid reports ING Direct plans to add 10-20 new products in markets where it already operates. Aegon shed 1.93 pct at 11.67, and Fortis weakened 1.71 pct to 17.77 after initially rising on news Merrill Lynch rates the stock 'buy'.

SBM Offshore slid 0.60 pct to 21.58 due to a report that the board of Petrobras has approved the official negotiations on the P-57 FPSO contract with SBM. Amid other oils, midcapper Fugro put on 2.57 pct to 53.40 while Royal Dutch Shell was down 1.51 pct to 28.71 amid news it has lodged one of 49 proposals to the Indonesian government's plan to develop coal-bed methane (CBM) projects.

TomTom traded 1.29 pct lower to 47.34 after initially recovering from yesterday's losses, as the company moved to reassure investors that the personal navigation device market is set to grow in the UK, US and Europe, and that it grew in the fourth quarter, trading sources said.

On the midcap, Crucell was up 3.19 pct at 13.26 after Lehman identified 60 pct potential upside in the biotech group's stock.

Stork was the last midcap gainer, edging 0.02 higher to 48.18, after shareholders voted in favour during the company's EGM of the sale of the company's Food Services division to Marel, paving the way for sale of the entire company to Candover.

ASMI led midcap decliners, falling 5.32 pct to 14.76 amid news activist shareholder Fursa Alternative Strategies has a 10.30 pct stake in the Dutch semiconductor company. Ordina was down 4.60 pct at 11.20 after ING cut its rating to 'hold' from

'buy' and target to 12.50 eur vs 19 eur. Fellow tech related issue BAM fell 3.08 pct to 14.77, with analysts saying the company is likely to sell its 21.5 pct stake in Van Oord following the expiration of a share lock-up agreement on the company's stake, using the proceeds to fund new acquisitions, analysts said.

Closing Forex Rates -- UK
Sterling exchange rates:

ADVFN Services