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Non-Tech : Tulipomania Blowoff Contest: Why and When will it end? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: pater tenebrarum who wrote (1858)	8/17/1999 8:33:00 AM
From: Mad2	Respond to of 3543

AFX News August 17, 1999, Tuesday - 07:49 Eastern Time SECTION: Markets; Stocks LENGTH: 656 words HEADLINE: Euroshares: Near lows ahead of U.S. July CPI data, Wall St seen opening down BODY: LONDON (AFX) - European markets were near their lows in thin trade tracking bond prices downwards ahead of the release of U.S. CPI data for July, dealers said. They added that expectations of a weak opening on Wall Street also dampened sentiment. The S&P 500 futures index was 2.40 points lower at 1,337.00. The FTSE Eurotop 100 index of Europe's leading stocks was 0.38 pct lower at 2,943.83. The FTSE Eurotop 300 index fell 0.33 pct to 1,287.02. The FTSE 100 Ebloc index of shares in euro zone countries lost 0.11 pct at 1,070.10. The benchmark Dow Jones STOXX index of European stocks was 0.34 pct lower at 304.73, while the Dow Jones STOXX 50 was 0.40 pct down at 3,656.73. The euro was at 1.0523 usd compared with 1.0583 usd at the open. The September euribor future (Liffe) was down 0.005 at 97.225. Investors were also cautious ahead of the ECB's monthly report for August which is now expected to present a more upbeat overview of the euro zone economy than was originally thought following upbeat comments from ECB officials yesterday. The U.S. July consumer price report is due at 1:30 PM, while the ECB monthly report will be published at 6:00 PM. The U.S. consumer price index in July is seen rising 0.3 pct, or 0.2 pct excluding food and energy prices. Of the sectors that make up the Dow Jones STOXX index the weakest performer was energy down 3.86 points at 336.55, after crude prices were weaker overnight. However Lasmo was slightly higher on positive noises from Warburgs. The brokerage also raised its average Brent crude price target for end-1999 to 20.10 usd from 18.60 usd and for 2000 to 17.00 usd a barrel from 16.00, in a global review of the industry. The technology sector gave back early gains, down 0.75 points at 493.05, as Hewlett-Packard Co was indicated to open 2 pct lower after it announced third-quarter results last night. EPS was ahead of analysts' expectations but below whispers in the market of 87 cents. Investors are looking to switch into Dell which reports results after the close on Wall Street, dealers said. In the media sector, 2.87 weaker at 317.70, VNU continued to rise after Deutsche Bank reiterated its "buy" stance on the stock and its price target of 43 eur and said it was its favourite play in the sector. Goldman Sachs added that the bid for Nielson Media Research of the U.S. was earnings enhancing over the next five years. The consumer non-cyclicals, 0.51 points lower at 291.44, was supported by Tesco as Goldman Sachs reiterated the stock's inclusion in its "recommended list". The move was prompted by press speculation that Tesco has been in talks with suppliers to divert promotional spending into more consistently lower prices. Amongst industrials, 0.41 points weaker at 312.52, Linde fell sharply after Morgan Stanley downgraded the share to "neutral" from "outperform". But Warburg Dillon Read and Deutsche Bank reiterated their "buy" ratings on Linde following the company's 3.5 bln eur cash bid for AGA AB. Ciba weighed heavily on the chemicals sector, down 3.45 at 296.04, after it reported second half results below expectations. Insurers were higher, up 1.01 points at 329.84, supported by Aegon. Dealers said the share price was supported by news that Vereniging Aegon has been allowed to buy back shares in the market. It previously owned 40 pct, which it reduced to about 29.8 pct to aid Aegon in its acquisition of Transamerica Corp of the U.S.. The market was also digesting news that HSBC moved from a "sell" position to a "reduce" on Friday. HSBC said it was positive on the uptick in the group's U.S. life operations. art/