Friday 23 December, 1:00 PM GMT (Thomson Financial): European markets have
come off their early highs in quiet trade ahead of the festive holidays.
Newsflow is light, but of note, steel group Arcelor has upped its bid for
Canada's Dofasco, trumping a rival, agreed bid by ThyssenKrupp. Meanwhile,
AstraZeneca has agreed to buy KuDOS Pharmaceuticals for US$210 million.
Elsewhere, shares in ASM International are strongly higher after agreeing to
review is business organisation following shareholder pressure.
Trading in London has already closed for the day.
London's FTSE-100 Index has ended barely lower, by 1.60 points or 0.03% to
5595.40, while Paris's CAC-40 Index has inched up by 2.57 points or 0.05% to
4754.53. Frankfurt's DAX Index has risen by 16.24 points or 0.30% to 5414.52
and Milan's S&P MIB Index is weaker, by 114 points or 0.32% to 35,722. The
pan-European blue chip Dow Jones Stoxx 50 Index has added 5.56 points or 0.17%
to 3357.16.
* Steel group Arcelor has upped its offer for Canadian group Dofasco to 63
Canadian dollars per share, valuing the group at 4.88 billion dollars.
Arcelor's new offer for the company trumps a recommended 61.5 dollars
per share bid by ThyssenKrupp.
* AstraZeneca has agreed to pay US$210 million for KuDOS Pharmaceuticals,
a privately owned healthcare firm that focuses on oncology. KuDOS's
KU59436 compound is currently undergoing phase I clinical development.
* Shares in ASM International -which designs and manufactures equipment
and materials used to produce semiconductor devices- remain sharply
higher after the company said it would review its policy of combining
its wafer processing operations and its assembly and packaging
activities at a shareholder meeting to be held next May. The company's
decision comes after pressure from some shareholders.
Olivier.Masson@Thomson.com; Thomson Financial
This is Thomson Financial Corporate Services Europe Market Commentary. The
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SOURCE Thomson Financial Corporate Group
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