Thursday 5 January, 1:00 PM GMT (Thomson Financial): European markets have
posted some mixed results ahead of the opening session on Wall Street,
although chip stocks continue to benefit from news that U.S. peer Xilinx
has raised its guidance for the second time in a month. Meanwhile HBOS
says its chief executive James Crosby will be succeeded by Andy Hornby in
July while ABB has secured a US$95 million contract with India's Oil &
Natural Gas Corporation. Finally, in the healthcare sector, shares in
Qiagen remain higher in the wake of a strategic alliance and licensing
agreement, while Nobel Biocare has refuted allegations concerning its
dental implant product NobelDirect.
London's FTSE-100 Index has crept up by 4.30 points or 0.08% to 5718.90,
while Paris's CAC-40 Index has inched up by 1.99 points or 0.04% to
4840.51. Frankfurt's DAX Index is lower by 7.24 points or 0.13% to 5516.38
and Milan's S&P MIB Index is weaker by 72 points or 0.20% to 36,264. The
pan-European blue chip Dow Jones Stoxx 50 Index is only slightly lower, by
1.70 points or 0.05% to 3413.48.
* European chip stocks continue to be supported by news that U.S. rival
Xilinx had raised its guidance for the second time in a month, thanks to
broad-based strength in North America, Asia Pacific, and Europe. The
company expects its third-quarter revenue to be 11-12% higher than in the
prior quarter ending in October versus a prior guidance of 4-8%.
* HBOS says Chief Executive James Crosby will be succeeded by Andy Hornby,
the group's chief operating officer with effect from, July 31. Meanwhile,
Benny Higgins, head of retail banking at Royal Bank of Scotland, will join
the board as soon as possible to lead the HBOS retail businesses.
* Power and automation technology group ABB has secured a US$95 million
contract for an enterprise wide Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition
(SCADA) system from India's largest integrated oil and gas company, Oil &
Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC).
* Life sciences group Qiagen has formed a strategic alliance with
Eppendorf that includes co-development and co-marketing of complementary
and optimized products. Meanwhile Qiagen and Applied Biosystems have
entered into a license agreement, under the terms of which Applied
Biosystems has granted a license to Qiagen under their expanded Applied
Biosystems PCR (polymerase chain reaction) licensing program.
* Nobel Biocare says data used in serious allegations concerning its
dental implant product NobelDirect contains no scientifically or
statistically relevant evidence supporting the allegations. It said that
documents and data received from Goteborg University only cover 27
patients instead of the much larger number initially referred to.
* According to the local stock market regulator CBFA, Belgacom is the only
company to file a bid for Telindus. The possibility of a potential
counter-bid ended with Wednesday's deadline and with France Telecom's
withdrawal of its offer for Telindus.
Simon.Tse@Thomson.com; Thomson Financial
This is Thomson Financial Corporate Services Europe Market Commentary.
The information herein is believed to be true and accurate. If you have
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SOURCE Thomson Financial Corporate Group
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