Latest News In Stock Market Investment Research – July 24, 2009

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Syngenta shares drop after group cuts targets

24 Jul 2009 at 1:36am

LONDON (MarketWatch) — Shares in Swiss agrichemicals firm Syngenta fell 3.6% Friday after the company said its first-half net profit fell 9% to $1.39 billion, missing market expectations. The group also said achieving earnings growth for the year has “become more challenging” and it’s now targeting earnings close to the level achieved in 2008. It had previously been targeting earnings growth. Sales for the period were down 9% on a reported basis at $6.66 billion, but were up 2% at constant exchange rates.

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U.K. second-quarter GDP contracts 0.8%

24 Jul 2009 at 1:33am

LONDON (MarketWatch) — British gross domestic product shrank by 0.8% on a quarterly basis in the second quarter, for a 5.6% year-on-year decline, the Office for National Statistics reported Friday. Economists had forecast a quarterly fall of 0.3%.

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Euro-zone July PMI rises more than expected

24 Jul 2009 at 1:04am

LONDON (MarketWatch) — The Markit euro-zone composite purchasing managers index rose to a 10-month high of 46.8 in July, up form 44.6 in June, according to data released Friday. Economists had expected a more modest rise to 45.3. A reading of less than 50 means a majority of managers saw a contraction in activity, while a reading of more than 50 signals expansion.

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German business climate tops forecast

24 Jul 2009 at 1:01am

LONDON (MarketWatch) — The Ifo Institute’s German business climate index rose to 87.3 in July, up from 85.9 in June. That was better than the 86.5 reading that economists had forecast.

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CSCEC prices world’s largest IPO of 2009

24 Jul 2009 at 12:38am

LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) — China State Construction Engineering Corp. priced its Shanghai initial public offering at 4.18 yuan (61 U.S. cents) a share Friday, the top of its indicative range, raising 50.16 billion yuan ($7.3 billion), reports said. The IPO, reportedly more than 35 times oversubscribed, was the world’s largest so far this year. The state-owned construction contractor, known for building the Water Cube indoor-swimming center for last year’s Beijing Olympics, made the offering through both retail and institutional tranches. The company has said it plans to use the IPO proceeds for housing and infrastructure projects and for working capital.

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UPDATE:European shares edge lower in early trading

24 Jul 2009 at 12:07am

LONDON (MarketWatch) — European shares edged lower in early trading on Friday, after gaining for the last nine sessions. Mineral extractors weakened, with BHP Billiton down 1.1% and Vedanta Resources down 1.6%, and Merck shares dropped 12.4%. Still, there were gains for Vodafone Group , up 2.4%, and Danone , up 0.6%, after both firms updated investors. The U.K. FTSE 100 index declined 0.3% to 4,546.44, the German DAX index declined 0.4% to 5,226.28 and the French CAC-40 index fell 0.6% to 3,354.71. (Updates to add Merck price.)

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Investec profit drops as loan losses climb

23 Jul 2009 at 11:37pm

lONDON (MarketWatch) — Banking group Investec said Friday that attributable earnings in the quarter ended June 30 fell 26% as loan defaults continued to rise. The group said the credit loss ratio on core loans increased to 0.8% from 0.3%. Over the course of the quarter, core loans and advances grew by 1% to 16.3 billion pounds ($26.9 billion) and third-party assets under management increased 9.7% to 53.6 billion pounds. The firm said it’s kept tight control of expenses, which have fallen 7%.

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United Utilities sees lower demand

23 Jul 2009 at 11:27pm

LONDON (MarketWatch) — Water utility United Utilities said Friday that current trading is in line with expectations, with economic pressures continuing. The group said its regulated business is allowed a 6% price increase for 2009/2010, but that revenue growth is expected to be lower because of lower demand. The group said its board is proposing a final dividend of 22.03 pence (36.4 cents) a share, making a total of 32.67 pence a share for the fiscal year. It expects to grow dividends for the coming year by 5%.

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TeliaSonera quarterly net income rise

23 Jul 2009 at 11:27pm

LONDON (MarketWatch) — Nordic telecom TeliaSonera said Friday that second-quarter net income rose to 4.7 billion Swedish kronor, from 4.1 billion kronor a year ago. Sales rose 8.7% to 27.5 billion kronor. Adjusted EBITDA increased 13.3% to 9.0 billion kronor and TeliaSonera upped its fiscal-year EBITDA margin forecast. It’s now expected to be higher in 2009 than in 2008. Fiscal-year sales are expected to be in line with, or slightly below, 2008 levels. “We expect that our efforts to lower addressable costs and capital expenditure will offset the negative impact from declining GDP and rising unemployment in our markets,” said CEO Lars Nyberg.

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.


Vodafone Group first-quarter revenue up 9.3%

23 Jul 2009 at 11:20pm

LONDON (MarketWatch) — Wireless telecom giant Vodafone Group said that first-quarter revenue rose 9.3% to 10.7 billion pounds, boosted by exchange rate movements and merger and acquisition activity. Organic service revenue declined by 2.1% due to weakness across most of Europe and Central Europe resulting from recessionary factors, although good growth continued in India, South Africa and Italy. The group reaffirmed its guidance for the full year. Vodafone Group’s proportionate mobile customer base is now 315.3 million after the firm added 8.0 million net customers in the quarter.

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Danone net up 6% on improving margins

23 Jul 2009 at 11:14pm

LONDON (MarketWatch) — Danone said its first-half profit rose 6% to 932 million euros ($1.32 billion) on improving margins in baby nutrition and dairy, while sales fell 2% to 7.52 billion euros on swings in the value of the Polish zloty, Russian ruble, British pound and Mexican peso. It’s expecting underlying EPS growth of 10% for the year after 6.7% growth by that measure in the first half.

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.


Ericsson profit drops 56% on venture losses

23 Jul 2009 at 10:55pm

LONDON (MarketWatch) — Ericsson , the Swedish telecommunications equipment giant, said second-quarter net income fell 56% to 831 million Swedish krona ($111 million), or 0.26 krona a share, while revenue rose 7% to 52.1 billion krona. Losses at its two jointly held units, phone maker Sony Ericsson and chipmaker ST-Ericsson, hurt the firm. Network sales rose 4%, helped by currency swings, and services sales rose 28%. Analysts polled by Capital IQ expected a profit of 0.58 krona on sales of 53.14 billion krona.

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.


Merck KGaA net down 48% on R&D, Serono hit

23 Jul 2009 at 10:34pm

LONDON (MarketWatch) — Merck KGaA , the German drug and chemicals firm, said it second-quarter net income dropped 48% to 108.5 million euros, or 0.50 euros a share, as revenue was down 0.1% to 1.9 billion euros. The firm, which isn’t related to the U.S. drugmaker of the same name, said it booked a charge of 146 million euros for amortization of intangible assets from the 2007 acquisition of Serono and also saw R&D expenses climb 23% on late-stage trials and new indications for existing drugs. Excluding Serono-related amortization and integration costs, its earnings would have fallen by 28.5% to 1.10 euros a share, compared to Capital IQ-compiled analyst estimates of 1.17 euros a share. The firm still sees annual adjusted operating margin between 15% and 20% and sales up 0% to 5%. Merck KgAA separately said late Thursday it was considering appealing a negative decision from the European Medicines Agency’s scientific committee on Erbitux in combination with platinum-based chemotherapy for the treatment of patients with epidermal growth factor receptor-expressing, advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer.

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.


USG People reports loss and withholds forecast

23 Jul 2009 at 10:20pm

LONDON (MarketWatch) — USG People swung to a 5.9 million euro ($8.4 million) loss, as revenue fell 31% to 722 million euros, and specialist and professional staffing revenue falling in particular. Excluding restructuring costs and an interest-rate derivative, it would have earned 1 million euro, or 0.01 euro a shre, down 97% from the year-earlier quarter. Analysts polled by Capital IQ had expected earnings of a 0.05 euros a share. The Almere, Holland firm doesn’t expect any significant improvement in the second half and declined to issue a profit forecast.

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.


Hang Seng rises at open, briefly reclaims 20,000

23 Jul 2009 at 7:13pm

HONG KONG (MarketWatch) — Hong Kong shares climbed Friday, sending the benchmark Hang Seng Index briefly above the psychologically-important 20,000-point level for the first time since September 2008. The advance came on the back of strong overnight gains on Wall Street and a higher opening in Shanghai. The Hang Seng Index rose as high as 20,063.93 at the opening, before coming off the highs to trade up 0.9% at 19,997.26 in early action. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index was up 1.1% at 11,957.08. Chinese banks led the advance, with shares of Bank of China Ltd. up 1.9%, China Construction Bank Corp. 0.8% higher, and Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. up 1.3%.

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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July 24 2009 12:50 am | Stock Market News

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