Latest News In Stock Market Investment Research – April 16, 2010

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Richemont upped, Swatch cut at J.P. Morgan

16 Apr 2010 at 12:57am

LONDON (MarketWatch) — Richemont was upped to overweight from neutral while Swatch Group was cut to neutral from overweight by J.P. Morgan Cazenove. Richemont may have a top-line rebound on strong product innovation, emerging markes exposure and recovery of high-end jewellery and watches, while Swatch’s very bullish management statements leave little scope for positive surprise.

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European shares lower in early trading

16 Apr 2010 at 12:08am

LONDON (MarketWatch) – European shares started in the red on Friday, as recent enthusiasm over earnings reversed course following results out late the previous day from Google and AMD. Technology stocks trading lower in Europe included ASM , down 1.8%. Still, shares of French retail giant Carrefour rose 2.4% after it said that it will buy back shares and that first-quarter sales advanced. The French CAC-40 index declined 0.7% to 4,039.36, the German DAX index lost 0.6% to 6,256.43 and the U.K. FTSE 100 index declined 0.5% to 5,798.44.

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Sony Ericsson swings to quarterly profit

15 Apr 2010 at 11:44pm

LONDON (MarketWatch) — Handset maker Sony Ericsson said Friday that it swung to a first-quarter profit of 21 million euros ($28.5 million). Last year, the firm posted a loss of 293 million euros. Sales declined to 1.4 billion euros, from 1.7 billion euros, after the number of units shipped fell to 10.5 million, from 14.5 million at the same point a year ago. Average selling prices rose to 134 euros, from 120 euros, as the firm’s Xperia and Vivaz products started shipping. The firm, which is a joint venture between Ericsson and Sony reported an operating margin of 1%, compared to negative 21% last year, with the improvement due to a better cost structure. The firm’s sticking to its forecast for slight growth in units in the global handset market in 2010.

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Aggreko lifts capex forecast, says trading in line

15 Apr 2010 at 11:40pm

LONDON (MarketWatch) — Aggreko said Friday that trading in the first three months of the year was in line with expectations, with revenue up 5%, or 8% excluding the impact of exchange rate fluctuations and pass-through fuel. The supplier of temporary power equipment said net debt was reduced by 12 million pounds over the course of the quarter to 163 million pounds ($253 million). It added that, due to strong order intake in its international power projects business, it now expects fleet capital expenditure to be around 220 million pounds, or 20 million pounds higher than its previous guidance. However, as the additional fleet is unlikely to begin earning revenue until well into the second half of the year, its expectations for trading for the year remain broadly unchanged.

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Bank of Ireland close to agreeing E.U. restructure

15 Apr 2010 at 11:28pm

LONDON (MarketWatch) — Bank of Ireland said Friday that it expects to sell several businesses and to impose limits on payouts to shareholders and other investors in order to gain European approval for its state aid and restructuring plans. The bank said a final decision by the European Commission is expected by mid-2010, but that it expects to dispose of assets including New Ireland Assurance Co., Bank of Ireland Asset Management and ICS Building Society. The divisions likely to be sold generated underlying operating profit of around 90 million euros ($122 million) in the nine months to Dec. 31. The bank said it will attempt to accelerate the wind-down of its U.K. intermediary-sourced mortgage portfolio. Among the other requirements, the bank won’t make discretionary payments of coupons on hybrid capital securities through Jan. 31, 2011, will accept restrictions on paying dividends on common stock and won’t make any material acquisitions.

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E.U. new car registrations up 10.8% in March

15 Apr 2010 at 11:27pm

FRANKFURT (MarketWatch) — Registrations of new passenger cars in the European Union rose 10.8% to 1.64 million vehicles in March from the same month a year ago, the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association said Friday. In the first quarter of 2010, registrations increased by 9.2% compared to the first three months of last year. In March, German registrations dropped 26.6% to 294,375 units, while the U.K. accounted for almost 400,000 new cars, or 26.6% more than in 2009, thereby becoming the largest E.U. market for the month. Registrations of cars produced by Volkswagen AG rose 8.5%. Registrations at Italy’s Fiat Spa fell 2.9%, while those at Ford Motor Co. surged 19.3%. GM Group registrations increased 4.9%. Renault SA registrations rose 33.3% and those at PSA Peugeot Citroen increased 20.2%.

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British Land buys Baker Street property

15 Apr 2010 at 11:22pm

LONDON (MarketWatch) — Property firm British Land said Friday that it has agreed to purchase land at 2 to 14 Baker Street in London for 29 million pounds ($45 million). Planning consent was granted in 2009 for a new 139,000 square foot office with retail units at ground floor level and redevelopment is due to start this year, with completion in 2013. The total cost of development including land is expected to be around 100 million pounds.

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OFT fines U.K. tobacco manufacturers, retailers

15 Apr 2010 at 11:15pm

LONDON (MarketWatch) — The Office of Fair Trading said Friday that two tobacco manufacturers and ten retailers engaged in unlawful practices in relation to retail prices for tobacco products in the U.K., and has imposed fines totalling 225 million pounds ($348.8 million). The tobacco manufacturers involved are Imperial Tobacco and Gallaher, and the retailers are Wal-Mart Stores’ Asda unit, The Co-operative Group, First Quench, Morrisons , One Stop Stores, Safeway, Sainsbury’s [s; uk:sbry], Shell Somerfield and TM Retail. The 225 million pound fine represents the largest total fine imposed by the OFT to date in a case under the Competition Act 1998.

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Many European airports remain closed

15 Apr 2010 at 11:01pm

LONDON (MarketWatch) — U.K., Belgian and several German and French airports remained shut Friday due to volcanic ash that has blown from Iceland. The U.K. closure is until at least 7 p.m.

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China’s new stock-index future rises on debut

15 Apr 2010 at 7:56pm

LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) — China’s much-anticipated launch of stock-index futures Friday saw the front-month contract gain on its debut despite a broad fall in the Chinese stock market, according to a report. May futures for the CSI 300 index rose 1.4% in morning trading, even as the index itself fell 1.2%, according to CNBC. The CSI 300 tracks 300 large-cap yuan-denominated shares listed in Shanghai and Shenzhen, China’s two largest bourses. Several analysts have said the introduction of the index futures will help curb stock bubbles by allowing investors to short, or bet against, the broader market.

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Hong Kong declines as China property stocks slide

15 Apr 2010 at 7:18pm

HONG KONG (MarketWatch) — Hong Kong shares declined early Friday, tracking Shanghai stocks lower, as Chinese property and banking stocks fell after Beijing tightened policies toward the residential property market the previous day. The Hang Seng Index lost 0.5% to 22,043.82 and the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index gave up 0.9%, while the Shanghai Composite index slid 1.2% to 3,128.17. In Hong Kong trading, Agile Property Holdings Ltd. skidded 3.8% and Shimao Property Holdings Ltd. sank 5.1%, while Poly Real Estate Group Co. shed 1.7% in Shanghai. Among banks, China Construction Bank Corp. slid 1.5% in Hong Kong and 0.4% in Shanghai.

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Mazda shares fall after recall news

15 Apr 2010 at 6:32pm

TOKYO (MarketWatch) — Shares of Mazda Motor Corp. were down 0.8% Friday morning in Tokyo, a day after the company said it would recall about 35,181 of its Mazda 3 passenger cars in Japan and 54,000 in China to repair an oil-hose defect. Mazda is part-owned by U.S. auto maker Ford Motor Co. . The Nikkei 225 Average was down 1.1%.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

Australian shares slip, with miners mixed

15 Apr 2010 at 5:49pm

LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) — Australian shares edged lower in early Friday trading in spite of overnight gains on Wall Street. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.1% at 4,999.6 in early action, with the heavily weighted resource sectors mixed. Newcrest Mining Ltd. rose 0.9% and Lihir Gold Ltd. added 1.3% on strength in gold, as Lihir considered alternatives after rejecting Newcrest’s takeover bid earlier. However, Alumina Ltd. extended losses from previous sessions to fall 1.7%, having been hit earlier in the week by an RBS downgrade to its stock. Consumer plays were also lower, with Wesfarmers Ltd. down 0.5%, and Woolworths Ltd. losing 0.2%.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

Japan shares broadly lower as chip makers weaken

15 Apr 2010 at 5:39pm

TOKYO (MarketWatch) — Japanese shares traded broadly lower Friday morning in Tokyo as traders took in profits from gains seen earlier this week in chip maker stocks. The Nikkei 225 Average was down 0.7% at 11,193.91, trading slightly lower from last Friday’s closing level, while the broader Topix shed 0.5% to 993.50. Shares of Advantest Corp. lost 1.3% and Tokyo Electron Ltd. fell 2.1% after U.S. counterpart Advanced Micro Devices saw its shares fall in U.S. trading even after it said it swung to a first-quarter profit. Elsewhere, South Ko
rea’s Kospi fell 0.2% in early trading.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

Japan’s big banks reported in sharp recovery

15 Apr 2010 at 5:15pm

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Japan’s six major banking groups are expected to report a sharply improved aggregate net profit of more than 1 trillion yen ($10.7 billion) for the year ended March 31, according to a report Friday. The Nikkei business daily reported that Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. , Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. , Mizuho Financial Group Inc. , Resona Holdings Inc. , Sumitomo Trust & Banking Co. and Chuo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. are all seen posting improved profit thanks mainly to “a decline in bad-debt disposal costs.” However, the profit would still be far short of the 3.12 trillion yen profit posted by the banks in fiscal 2005, the report said.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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April 16 2010 12:13 am | Stock Market News

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