Business News & Financial News

European stock markets closed sharply higher Friday, praising the employment figures significantly better than expected in the U.S. in January and other U.S. statistics considered encouraging for e global economy.

The CAC 40 index ended for the first time above 3,400 points since early August, with a gain of 1.52% to 3427.92 points. For the week, the benchmark index of the Paris took 3.29%.

The London Stock Exchange has sold for 1.81%, 1.67% that of Frankfurt and Milan up 1%. The pan-European STOXX index rose 1.49% 50a.

Concerns about the apparent lack of progress on the Greek case, however, have plunged the Athens Stock Exchange.

"After a month of January for significant investors, European stock markets continued their advance (…) the announcement of a fall in unemployment in the United States to its lowest level in three years (8.3%) and an imminent agreement on Greece maintain the euphoria on global indices, "said Fabrice Cousté, CEO of CMC Markets France. 

The upturn in the U.S. employment continued in January, with the highest rate of job creation observed in nine months, and the unemployment rate fell to , its lowest level in nearly three years, reflecting the impact of growth in the fourth quarter of 2011 at the beginning of new year.

The growth rate of services sector in the U.S. has in turn greatly accelerated in January, while economists had estimated that it would evolve in the ME I beat that in December, according to figures released by the Institute of Supply Management (ISM). 

In addition, orders to U.S. industry rose for the second consecutive month in December, driven by increased business investment, and the rate of growth of the sector services has increased significantly in January.

Wall Street closed up on Monday.

The Dow Jones gained 291.23 points (2.59%) to 11,523.01. The S & P 500 is 33.90 points (2.93%) to 1192.57. The Nasdaq Composite rose 85.83 points (3.52%) to 2527.34.

This data is likely to vary even slightly.

The party of the presidential majority proposes the opening of branch agreements on legal working hours. For the head of the UMP, Jean-Francois Cope, the output of 35 hours is "inevitable." The national secretary of the UMP Jean-Francois Cope

The UMP will propose at its convention, which opens Tuesday, the opening of branch agreements in areas where the 35-hour "lasting problems arise," said Tuesday the Minister for Ecology Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet on LCI. "Our position, which will be presented tonight is to give the possibility to open branch agreements. There are branches in which lasting 35 hours pose problems despite the flexibility that we have done," said Ms Kosciusko-Morizet.

Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet did not specify which areas were specifically concerned, however, saying that all branches should be able to open negotiations."But there are areas where it is more complicated than others, where the division of labor is much less homogeneous than in others," she said.

In an interview published Tuesday in La Voix du Nord, the Secretary General of the UMP Jean-Francois Cope said that "the crisis, the output of 35h is inevitable, since it secures the purchasing power" .

General Motors announced Monday the retirement of Nick Reilly, current head of the European activities of the group and its replacement next year by Karl-Friedrich Stracke.

The latter will take office as president of GM Europe on 1 January while retaining his current position as CEO of Opel.

General Motors had appointed in March the former head of engineering at the head of the European manufacturer Opel.

List of values ​​to follow on Wednesday at the Paris Bourse.

* BANKS. The International Monetary Fund is considering taking part in a special investment vehicle that would be created by the European Financial Stability (EFSF) but has not yet taken any decision, officials said Tuesday the euro area.

* PSA Peugeot Citroën has revised down its forecast Wednesday after the third quarter of 2011 marked by lower volumes and increased competition on prices in Europe.

* AIR LIQUIDE confirmed target improvement in net profit in 2011 "in a normal environment," despite a slowdown in sales growth in the third quarter, still worn by the emerging markets.

* Bouygues.Morgan Stanley initiated coverage of the value with a board underweight and a target price of 32 euros.

* Saint-Gobain confirmed its 2011 objectives despite the deterioration in economic conditions which could lead to slower growth in the fourth quarter of the group.

* STMicroelectronics.Kepler Capital Markets lowered its recommendation on the way to reduce, retain cons.

* Ingenico found that the turbulence in the economy does not question its forecast for 2011, thanks to particularly strong sales growth in emerging countries and Europe, but the manufacturer of payment terminals has remained silent of 2012.

* MERSEN confirmed its 2011 objectives, supported by strong solar activities and Asia, but expressed cautious for 2012 due to economic climate remains uncertain.

* LAFUMA confirmed its performance targets for 2010-2011 following a growth of 1.7% of its turnover in respect of the fiscal year.

The Director General of Swedish Automotive, which owns the Swedish automaker Saab, said Friday it had rejected a takeover offer of 100% of capital from Chinese groups Zhejiang Youngman Lotus Pang Da Automobile and Automobile Trade.

"(…) The offer was unacceptable because it would have resulted in the modification of all control clauses, which would have wanted to cause the end of Saab, "he told Reuters at Victor Muller of a telephone interview.

Thursday, Swedish Automotive received a lifeline from North Capital, an investment fund and U.S. hedge fund manager, who made $ 10 million in capital and a loan of 60 million to fund activities Saab.

After opening down more than 10%, the Swedish Automobile action, very volatile, losing to 8:50 GMT, 2.35% to 0.83 euro. Since the beginning of the year, it fell some 75% due to severe cash flow problems of the group.

Victor Muller did not disclose the amount of the offer of two Chinese manufacturers, adding that they were still interested in Saab, they must abide by the terms of the agreement signed in July, stating that they all take 53.9% stake in Swedish Automobile.

Saab went from crisis to crisis this year. It closed in April, unable to pay its suppliers to whom he owes more than 150 million euros.In August, it was no longer able to pay salaries.

Saab was bought by the Dutch Spyker, now Swedish Automobile, General Motors in early 2010.

Since 21 September, Saab has been under the protection of its creditors pending bailout Youngman and Pang Da, who had committed 245 million euros in July.

SAAB can be profitable

A Swedish court has said that he had received a request for release of Saab's system of protection for creditors.

This prospect does not frighten Mascioli Alex, an avid race car, which confirmed to Reuters that his company North Street Capital LP was well invest $ 70 million for Saab to continue operating.

"I expect that the transaction is done. I am ready to do what I can with my resources for Saab," he said by telephone.

The Swedish court said it did not decide on Saab on Friday, adding that he would decide on the reorganization of the manufacturer at the end of next week, at least before a meeting of creditors scheduled October 31 .

Victor Muller said that the Swedish government was not interested in buying Saab.

"There's always a plan B," he said when he was asked what would happen if Chinese automakers abandoned their project.Asked about the plan, Victor Muller said he would reveal "only if we use them."

"It was Victor decide. He struggled a lot to try to save the company. For now, there is an agreement with the Chinese," said Alex Mascioli for his part in response to the question of whether he was willing to invest in the place of Youngman and Pang Da.

Saab is an undervalued asset that will survive and which could generate profits, Mascioli Alex continued, adding that North Street could afford to take Saab if the manufacturer wanted.

After the leak on the proposed closure of two blast furnaces in Liege, Belgium, Lorraine ArcelorMittal employees are concerned about their future. Employees of ArcelorMittal at the entrance of the site of Florange, September 9, 2011.

Article first published on LExpress.fr

In shock. Back Thursday night in Lorraine, Edward Martin, the CFDT delegate of ArcelorMittal Florange, found the words to shout his anger. "At noon, I was unable to speak," he admits. Hours earlier, he was still in Luxembourg, following a meeting of the EWC's No. 1 global steel industry. Meeting at which management claimed to have nothing to say to the union representatives, while in Belgium, the Walloon region have learned announced the closure of two blast furnaces in Liege. "The Belgian colleagues were crying," said Edouard Martin.Both blast furnaces were arrested temporarily. Florange such as: one ceased operations on July 6, the other on October 4. "How to extend credit to the word of Mittal who say one day it will not close and decide the opposite the next day? Edward Martin gets carried away. Eric Besson does not doubt the word of Mittal? It is more naivety is complicity! "

A Florange, fear is escalated after the announcement that hit the site of Liege. The area has already seen the closure of the steelworks in Gandhinagar in 2009. Teams know that ArcelorMittal wants to improve the productivity of blast furnaces and focus activity on large-capacity facilities, located by the sea, more profitable (Fos and Dunkerque in France, Ghent, Belgium, Bremen, Germany , Gijon, Spain).Seven sites in Europe are now involved in the activity stops, France, Belgium, Germany and Spain. On September 23, at the investor day in London, the management of Mittal announced an "optimization plan assets of € 1 billion" in the old continent.

"We wondered where it would find one billion, one begins to understand, but this is not enough, loose Edward Martin, furious. We always used the same refrain, the temporary closure. Until punch in the stomach the final decision. It is sure that with the presidential election, it would make a bad impression to announce closure of Florange. But what will happen there in June 2012? ". Segolene Royal after a fortnight ago, François Holland a week ago, Jean-Luc Mélenchon which is Florange this Friday, October 14. "But we are disgusted by the silence of French and European authorities, denounced Martin.Libya is saved, we save the banks, and we? We will not let them kill Florange. For thirty-three years I worked here. This plant is ours. In 1992, there had been 1.5% of payroll to pay for a new galvanizing line. They killed Gandhinagar, they will not kill Florange. Angry? Today, it is not anger, it's disgust. "

European shares closed Friday up and recorded a third straight session of gains, as Wall Street made by U.S. jobs figures better than expected in September.

"The employment report for this month is also surprisingly good as last month was surprisingly bad. The labor market remains weak and the Fed should not be impressed by this report, which suggests an EQ3 (a third cycle of purchasing government bonds) at the FOMC meeting of November 2, "said Rob Carnell, economist at ING Financial Markets.

The CAC 40 index gained 0.66% to 3095.56 points but under the highest of the day (3126.0) after nearly 8% over the previous two sessions.For the week, the index rose by 3.81%.

London has been 0.23%, 0.54% Frankfurt and Milan 1.29%. The pan-European Euro Stoxx 50 index rose 0.81%.

"The European stock markets appear to initiate a phase of stabilization, as the actions of several sectors (banking, insurance, oil, utilities, telecommunications). This reflects the extremely low valuations of these securities," said Vincent Guenzi, strategist at Cholet Dupont.

Axa (5.10%) finished at the top of increases in the CAC 40, followed by Total (2.85%) and Peugeot (2.56%).

Carrefour (-3.66%) registered the largest decline of the CAC on profit taking.EADS lost 3.32%, hit by the rise of the euro, which fell from 1.3190 dollars late Monday at 1.3485 late Friday afternoon, the day after the announcement of new measures support to banks by the ECB.

In the bond market, the performance of the German government bond (Bund) and 10 years has reached 2%.

Hermes currently finds no sign of spending restraint to its customers despite a darkening economic outlook, said Sunday the manager of the French luxury group on the fringes of Paris Fashion Week.

"At the moment, there is no impact on our sales," said Patrick Thomas told Reuters, adding that think the purchasing power of customers in the luxury had not yet been assigned.

"The fact that it does not see today does not mean it will not happen", he warned, however.

"When there are moments of macroeconomic concerns, it always results in our businesses."

The values ​​of luxury was heckled last week in the markets, amid concerns about the evolution of the Chinese market and the strength of demand for luxury goods in slowing global economy.

Patrick Thomas, however, has sought reassurance about the level of sales of Hermes in September. "September went well," he said.

In addition, the manager of the saddle on the Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honore said Hermes would soon create the family holding to sanctuaries a majority stake in the group face to the appetites of LVMH.

"It'll be soon. There are many administrative procedures," he said.

European shares opened slightly lower Tuesday, extending the trend of the previous day, while Standard & Poor's lowered its credit ratings on Italy, where the market nervous, fearing a lack of Greece.

Banks are again in the first line, after a report in the Financial Times that the German group Siemens withdrew 500 million euros in a major French bank to transfer them to the European Central Bank (ECB) two weeks ago .

At 9:07, the CAC 40 index down 0.33% to 2930.23 points.

The London Stock Exchange lost 0.47%, 0.22% Frankfurt and Milan 1.05%.

The Euro Stoxx 50 was down 0.27%.