Latest News In Stock Market Investment Research – May 29, 2009

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29 May 2009 at 3:16am

LONDON (MarketWatch) — Yellow pages and commercial search provider R.H. Donnelley Corp. said Friday that it has filed voluntary petitions for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. The company said it has reached an agreement in principle with key creditors on the terms of a reorganization that would reduce debt by around $6.4 billion, eliminate roughly $500 million in annual interest expense and extend the company’s bank maturities out to 2014. The company said it will continue with business as usual and added that it has more than $300 million of cash on hand which, combined with projected positive cash flow, will be sufficient to funds its operations during the restructuring.

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Gold futures rise to 3-month high

29 May 2009 at 2:31am

LONDON (MarketWatch) — Gold futures jumped to their highest level in three months Friday. The Comex June futures contract traded at $972.90 an ounce in recent action, a gain of $11.40. Gold has found support as a hedge against fears of higher inflation and a broad rise in commodity prices, said strategists at Jyske Bank.

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Tata Motors profit halves as vehicle sales slump

29 May 2009 at 2:05am

HONG KONG (MarketWatch) — India’s Tata Motors Friday said its profit for the year ended March 31 halved because of a “severe demand contraction” in the automobile industry. Net income for the year ended March 31 fell to 10.01 billion rupees (212 million) from 20.29 billion rupees, as high interest rates and lack of financing options hurt demand for its trucks, cars and utility vehicles. Net sales fell 10.7% to 256.61 billion rupees. Tata shares were up 3.4% in Mumbai afternoon trading.

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Euro-zone consumer inflation flat in May

29 May 2009 at 2:05am

LONDON (MarketWatch) — Consumer prices across the 16-nation euro zone were flat in May compared to the same month last year, the statistics agency Eurostat said Friday in a preliminary estimate, marking the lowest annual inflation rate since records began. Economists had forecast an annual rate of 0.2% after a 0.6% annual rise in April.

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Euro-zone private loan growth slows in April

29 May 2009 at 1:21am

LONDON (MarketWatch) — Loans to the euro-zone’s private sector rose at an annual rate of 2.4% in April, down from 3.2% in March, the European Central Bank reported Friday. M3, a broad measure of money supply, grew at an annual rate of 4.9%, slowing from revised growth of 5% in March. Economists had forecast slower M3 growth of 4.4%.

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Fiat won’t attend government meeting on Opel

29 May 2009 at 12:43am

LONDON (MarketWatch) — Italian car maker Fiat on Friday said it won’t attend a meeting arranged by the German government over the emergency funding of General Motors Corp.’s Opel unit, but added it is still interested in a merger with Opel. In a statement to the Italian stock exchange, CEO Sergio Marchionne said the issues which emerged from meetings earlier in the week “have left us perplexed, as we had not been advised until then of certain key financial factors and data which we consider to be essential to the formulation of a proper merger offer.” Marchionne said the latest round of requests would require Fiat to fund Opel on an emergency basis while the government determined the details of its financing arrangements. He added this would expose Fiat to “unnecessary and unwarranted risks.” Fiat said it remains open to continuing discussions with all parties over a deal.

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Goldman H&M, Hermes, Halford, Fielmann cut to sell

29 May 2009 at 12:13am

MADRID (MarketWatch) — Goldman Sachs on Friday made several changes to its coverage of European retailers, cutting Hennes & Mauritz , Halfords and Fielmann to sell from neutral. The investment bank said H&M shares are “priced to perfection” and foreign exchange headwinds means the stock is at risk of a miss when it reports second-quarter results on June 25. The investment bank also cut Hermes to sell from neutral, upgraded Geox , Folli Follie and Debenhams to buy from neutral and Sports Direct to neutral from sell. Goldman also cut Hermes to sell from neutral.

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European shares higher in early trading

29 May 2009 at 12:10am

LONDON (MarketWatch) — European shares climbed in early trading on Friday, gaining for the fourth time this week, with financials, oil producers and mineral extractors fronting the advance. Of lenders, shares of Deutsche Bank rose 1.7%, while shares of French oil producer Total climbed 1.4% as light sweet crude prices rose over $65 a barrel in electronic trading. Broadly the U.K. FTSE 100 index climbed 0.9% to 4,426.56, the German DAX 30 index rose 1.1% to 4,988.37 and the French CAC-40 index rose 1.3% to 3,304.75.

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Credit Suisse plans London property sale: report

28 May 2009 at 11:55pm

LONDON (MarketWatch) — Swiss banking group Credit Suisse has begun a sale of its London property that could raise as much as 500 million pounds ($798 million), according to a report in the Financial Times newspaper Friday. The newspaper said Credit Suisse has instructed CB Richard Ellis to begin marketing the smaller of its two buildings in London’s Canary Wharf financial district, with indications that its larger office — 1 Cabot Square — could be put on the market before the end of the year. The sale is part of the group’s strategy to focus on core banking operations, the report said, citing people close to the bank.

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Citigroup upgrades Sanofi-Aventis to buy

28 May 2009 at 11:44pm

LONDON (MarketWatch) — Citigroup upgraded French drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis to buy from hold on Friday. “Near term catalysts could drive the shares higher relative to the sector although pharma may underperform a rising market,” the broker said. They noted that data at the upcoming ASCO meeting could be significant and that patent challenges are not insurmountable. “The emerging markets seminar on 2 July and the Transformation program update at the first half results on 29 July will serve to push sentiment into more positive territory” they said.

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Severn Trent swings to loss after tax charge

28 May 2009 at 11:43pm

LONDON (MarketWatch) — U.K. water utility Severn Trent said Friday that it swung to a net loss of 57.8 million pounds ($92.2 million) for the fiscal year ended March 31, from a profit of 209.5 million pounds a year earlier. Revenue for the period rose 5.8% to 1.64 billion pounds. Excluding the impact of a deferred tax charges, the changing value of financial instruments and other one-off items, Severn Trent said adjusted pretax profit fell 6.4% to 273.5 million pounds. The group said it has delivered its planned operating cost savings for the year and is on track to deliver higher than targeted operating cost savings for fiscal 2010.

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German retail sales down 0.8% in April

28 May 2009 at 11:30pm

LONDON (MarketWatch) — German retail sales fell 0.9% in nominal terms and 0.8% in real terms in April, according to provisional data from the Federal Statistics Office. The timing of Easter meant that the number of days open for sale was 24 in April 2009, compared to 27 in April 2008. When adjusted for calendar and seasonal variations, April turnover rose 0.5% in real terms, month-on-month. Economists had been expecting a 0.1% decline in the month, according to data compiled by Dow Jones Newswires. Year-to-date, retail sales fell 2.4% in the first four months 2009, compared to last year.

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U.K. house prices rise 1.2%

28 May 2009 at 11:25pm

LONDON (MarketWatch) — U.K. house prices rose 1.2% in May, providing further evidence of some improvement in housing market conditions over the last few months, according to the Nationwide building society. The annual rate of decline slowed to 11.3% from 15% in April, Nationwide added. “Although the short-term trend in house prices has clearly improved from where it was at the beginning of the year, it is still too early to say that the market is turning definitively,” said Martin Gahbauer, the group’s chief economist. “In the current downturn, the combination of rapidly rising unemployment and tight access to credit implies that the last of the price declines has probably not been seen yet,” he added.

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National Grid seeks leave to appeal judgment

28 May 2009 at 11:20pm

LONDON (MarketWatch) — National Grid said Friday that it is seeking leave to appeal a Competition Appeal Tribunal judgment of 29 April 2009. The judgment upholds in part regulator Ofgem’s 2008 decision that National Grid infringed the Competition Act 1998 by entering into a number of metering contracts with U.K. gas suppliers in 2004.

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AstraZeneca: Netherlands rejects drug application

28 May 2009 at 11:18pm

LONDON (MarketWatch) — Drugmaker AstraZeneca said Friday that the Netherlands Health Authority, acting as the reference member state for a mutual recognition process, has refused the company’s application to use Seroquel XR extended release tablets to treat depressive episodes in adult patients with major depressive disorder. AstraZeneca has referred its application for Seroquel XR to the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use, a scientific committee of the European Medicines Agency. AstraZeneca said that it believes Seroquel XR has potential as a valuable treatment option for patients with MDD.

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May 29 2009 02:39 am | Stock Market News

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