The Europeans were working today while the US volume is expected to be light with the A-Team traders off either trying to recover from a tryptophan induced coma from turkey consumption or out getting Holiday shopping started. The Euro reaching 1.308, the highest level in about 18 months, caused a slide in European shares today. Â
(Germany) DAX…….6,395.52 (6:18AM ET); Down 79.73 (1.23%)Â Â
(France) CAC 40…..5,363.92 (6:33AM ET); Down 60.94 (1.12%)
(England) FTSE 100..6,084.10 (6:35AM ET); Down 55.90 (0.91%)
The biggest sector loser was the DJ Stoxx auto sector index falling 2 percent as DaimlerChrysler (DCX-NYSE/ADR), BMW, and Peugeot all took a hit.
European aerospace group EADS shares fell 1.3 percent on reports that it had cancelled a Friday board meeting due to disagreements over the financing of the Airbus A350 XWB plane; when will they get their act together.
Siemens (SI-NYSE/ADR) fell 2 percent after its labor union said a deal to support employees of its former mobile phone unit would cost 140 million euros following the insolvency of BenQ’s German mobile business.
French energy services company Technip rose 8 percent after French newspapers reported that Saipem, a unit of Italian energy firm Eni, could launch a 6 billion euro acquisition bid for it. Technip reportedly said it had not been contacted by Saipem or Eni.
In London, HBOS and Lloyds both fell as mixed economic data confused the chances of another interest rate hike in early 2007. BP (BP-NYSE/ADR) and Royal Dutch Shell (RDS-NYSE/ADR) both were up 0.2 percent as oil stabilized around $59/barrel. Retailer Kingfisher (KGF-London) fell 2 percent after a downgrade by Deutsche Bank.
There was more news in world steel: Steelmaker Corus (CS-London) was steady after the boss of suitor Companhia Siderurgica Nacional told the Financial Times that the Brazilian steelmaker would like to be in a position to make a formal bid for Corus before Dec. 4, countering a bid already tabled by India’s Tata Steel.
US digital tech giants were in the news in Europe: (GOOG) Google began defending its content case in Belgium. (MSFT) Microsoft met the EU deadline for filing data on Windows.
Jon C. Ogg
November 24, 2006
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