Germany mildly higher as London retreats; Goldman shuffles autos
By Barbara Kollmeyer, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) — European stock markets eased off earlier lows to trade mixed Friday, with miners and pharma giant Sanofi-Aventis dragging on the downside and automotive shares providing support.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index (ST:STOXX600 282.54, -0.34, -0.12%) made back some ground but stood 0.3% lower at 282.03.
Europe followed on the heels of weakness in Asia, where Japanese stocks falling as investors there got the first opportunity to react to the downgrade of the country’s sovereign debt by Standard & Poor’s. U.S. futures were lower ahead of a heavy schedule of corporate earnings and economic data.
London’s FTSE 100 index (UK:UKX 5,921, -44.40, -0.74%) stayed weak, with markets repeating what was seen in Asia as weak metals prices weighed on related stocks. The FTSE fell off 0.6% to 5,927.758
Leading the miners south in London, shares of Fresnillo PLC (UK:FRES 1,282, -55.00, -4.11%) fell 3.2%, while Antofagasta PLC (UK:ANTO 1,400, -40.00, -2.78%) dropped 3% and BHP Billiton PLC (UK:BLT 2,388, -49.50, -2.03%) (BHP 88.25, -1.07, -1.20%) lost 2%.
Also declining in London, TUI Travel PLC (UK:TT. 262.30, -9.60, -3.53%) fell 3.2% a day after it said booking volumes were affected by harsh winter weather and an “uncertain economic and geopolitical environment.”
In Paris, the CAC 40 index (FR:PX1 4,065, +5.00, +0.12%) fell 0.1% to 4,056.03, with shares of Sanofi-Aventis (SNY 35.25, +0.06, +0.17%) (FR:SAN 49.43, -1.75, -3.41%) down 3.2%. The drug maker said a Phase III trial evaluating its breast cancer drug iniparib didn’t slow the progression of the disease or aid in survival rates.
Auto-related stocks fell in Paris, with shares of Renault SA (FR:RNO 49.40, -0.03, -0.06%) down 1.1% after being cut to sell from neutral at Goldman Sachs, which shook up its ratings on the sector.
Shares of Carrefour SA (FR:CA 34.36, +0.44, +1.30%) rose 1.6% after Nomura Securities upgraded the retailer to buy from reduce.
Financial stocks trade higher, with a 3.1% gain for Societe Generale SA (FR:GLE 48.95, +1.45, +3.04%) and a 1.6% rise for Credit Agricole SA (FR:ACA 11.22, +0.25, +2.28%) .
The German DAX 30 index (DX:DAX 7,170, +14.14, +0.20%) was in the black, though not by much — up 0.1% to 7.162.46. Support was coming from auto shares as Volkswagen AG (DE:VOW3 120.11, +1.30, +1.09%) rose 1.3%.
BMW AG (DE:BMW 58.88, +1.64, +2.87%) rose 2.3% after Goldman added the car maker to its conviction buy list, but MAN SE (DE:MAN 86.71, -1.19, -1.35%) fell 1.5% even as the investment bank upgraded it to neutral from sell.
Away from the main index, Porsche Automovil Holdings SE (DE:PAH3 69.45, +0.95, +1.39%) rose 1.6% after Goldman lifted it to buy from neutral.
