UPDATE 1-European shares buoyed by health care M&A, BSkyB plummets

UPDATE 1-European shares buoyed by health care M&A, BSkyB plummets
http://currenteconomictrendsandnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/6637e__p-89EKCgBk8MZdE.gif

Mon Nov 11, 2013 12:36pm EST

* FTSEurofirst 300 up 0.3 percent

* Grifols and Shire bounce after acquisitions

* BSkyB falls after BT nets Champions League games

* RSA drops after probe into Irish unit

By Alistair Smout and Julia Fioretti

LONDON, Nov 11 (Reuters) – Europe’s top shares rose on Monday, led by health care stocks after well-received acquisitions in the sector, with gains capped by steep drops for broadcaster BSkyB and insurer RSA.

Spanish pharmaceutical firm Grifols gained 4.5 percent after acquiring a blood transfusion testing unit from Novartis, while Shire rose 0.9 percent after strengthening its portfolio in a $ 4.2 billion deal to acquire ViroPharma.

“Usually it’s better to be the acquired than the acquirer, but the market seems to like these deals. Shire said the deal would help earnings in the first year though, which was somewhat comforting,” Mike Ingram, analyst at BGC Partners, said.

“A pick-up in M&A activity is in general good.”

The FTSEurofirst 300 closed 0.3 percent higher to 1,298.52 points, building on five straight weeks of gains, while the euro zone’s blue-chip Euro STOXX 50 firmed 0.6 percent to 3,052.83 points.

Technical analysts were bullish on the Euro STOXX 50, which rose well above its 20-day moving average at 3,036. Craig Erlam at Alpari targeted 3,106, the five-year high hit last week.

But BSkyB and RSA nursed double-digit percentage falls.

Britain’s dominant pay-TV operator shed 10.9 percent to 833.5 pence in brisk trade as investors recoiled from the group’s loss of Champions League soccer rights to BT, which rose 0.4 percent.

Analysts said the defeat also raised the likelihood that BSkyB would have to bid very aggressively to keep the English Premier League rights when they next comes up for auction.

“This may be an overreaction, but with BSkyB appearing to be losing their grip on content exclusivity and the price bar now being raised for the Barclays Premiership the only real winners here appear to be the football clubs,” Mike McCudden, head of derivatives at Interactive Investor, said.

Trading volume in BSkyB stood at 460 percent of its 90-day daily average, against the FTSEurofirst 300 on 35 percent.

Britain’s largest general insurer RSA was also down 10.5 percent, in volume 8 times its 90-day average, on news it is probing losses and premiums at its Irish unit stretching back at least two years after an internal audit triggered the group’s second profit warning in a week.

• Link this


• Share this


• Digg this


• Email


• Print


• Reprints

Reuters: Financial Services and Real Estate

Read more about UPDATE 1-European shares buoyed by health care M&A, BSkyB plummets and other interesting subjects concerning Real Estate at TheDailyNewsReport.com

Asian shares buoyed by U.S. data, accommodative central banks

1 of 3. A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, July 29, 2013.

Credit: Reuters/Shannon Stapleton

By Richard Hubbard

LONDON | Fri Aug 2, 2013 4:58am EDT

LONDON (Reuters) – Investors positioned for a strong U.S. jobs report on Friday, balancing the likelihood it will confirm the economy is recovering with wariness it might prompt the Federal Reserve to end its stimulus earlier.

Gold headed for its biggest weekly loss in a month and German bond yields rose. World stocks headed towards two-month highs and Brent oil reached above $ 110 a barrel for the first time since April.

Italian bonds meanwhile braved growing political uncertainty after Italy’s top court upheld a jail sentence against former premier Silvio Berlusconi that could throw the country’s coalition into crisis.

Italian government bond yields were down 3 basis points at 4.34 percent.

The main market focus was on July’s U.S. payrolls report, which is likely to fuel optimism that a recovery is taking hold.

But coming just after Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke tried to ease concerns about an imminent tapering of its money-printing stimulus, a strong number could reignite some market volatility.

The prospect of an end to stimulus – which has pumped billions of dollars into world markets – has already battered some assets, notably in emerging markets.

“The data in the U.S. is picking up appreciably at the moment. It’s all pointing to a better (jobs) number today and bond markets should be scared,” said William Hobbs, head of equity strategy at Barclays Wealth.

The payrolls report is forecast to show an increase of 184,000 in jobs outside the farm sector last month and the jobless rate dropping to 7.5 percent from 7.6 percent, according to a Reuters poll. ECONUS

The unemployment rate is closely monitored by the Fed as it gauges when to cut back its $ 85 billion a month bond-buying program.

STIMULUS

The prospect of an end to U.S. stimulus pushed German bond yields up by 3 basis points to 1.7 percent as they kept pace with a rise in U.S. Treasury bond yields, which are now trading near two-year highs.

The dollar extended its gains versus the yen by 0.2 percent to 99.75 yen having surged about 1.7 percent on Thursday for its biggest one-day percentage gain in about four months. The dollar index .DXY was up 0.1 percent at 82.413.

The dollar’s broad strength weighed on gold which slipped to a two-week low and below a key technical level near $ 1,300, on its way to the its worst weekly performance in a month.

In the equity markets, which have welcomed the signs of economic recovery, European shares were on course to reach highs not seen for more than two months, with the broad FTSE Eurofirst 300 index .FTEU3 up 0.15 percent in early trade.

MSCI’s world equity index .MIWD00000PUS was up 0.2 percent, closing in on its highest level since late May. U.S. stock futures pointed to further gains later in the day.

(Editing by Jeremy Gaunt)

• Link this


• Share this


• Digg this


• Email


• Reprints

Reuters: Most Read Articles

Asian shares buoyed by U.S. data, accommodative central banks