Analytics, News, and Forecasts for CFD Markets: stock news — 11-03-2013.

European stocks fell from a 4 1/2- year high as Fitch Ratings downgraded Italy and China’s retail sales and industrial output missed forecasts.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index slipped 0.1 percent to 295.26 at 4:33 p.m. in London. The gauge has still surged 5.6 percent this year as U.S. lawmakers agreed on a compromise budget and optimism grew that central banks around the world will continue stimulus measures to support the economic recovery.

National benchmark indexes fell in 11 of the 18 western European markets.

FTSE 100 6,503.63 +20.05 +0.31% CAC 40 3,836.27 -3.88 -0.10% DAX 7,984.29 -2.18 -0.03%

Fitch cut Italy’s credit rating by one level after the close of equity markets on March 8, as last month’s election produced political paralysis that threatens the country’s ability to respond to a recession and the European debt crisis. The rating company lowered Italy’s government bond rating to BBB+ from A- with a negative outlook. That’s three levels above junk and one higher than Spain.

Storebrand (STB) slid 1.78 kroner to 25.23 kroner as stricter pension rules will require the insurer to set aside as much as 11.5 billion kroner ($2 billion). Life insurance providers in Norway must boost premiums and reserves to meet an increase in life expectancy, the Financial Supervisory Authority said on March 8.

OMV, central Europe’s biggest oil company, declined 1.7 percent to 34.50 euros in Vienna as SocGen downgraded the stock to hold from buy.

Sage Group Plc slipped 2.5 percent to 340.8 pence as Bank of America Corp. downgraded the shares to underperform, the equivalent of a sell rating, from neutral and added the software maker to its least preferred technology stocks.

Atlantia SpA (ATL) fell 3.7 percent to 12.27 euros and Gemina SpA tumbled 6.4 percent to 1.29 euros. Italy’s largest toll-highway operator will pay one share for every nine shares of Gemina, which runs Rome’s airports, in a takeover deal that involves no cash, according to a statement released after the close of trading on March 8.

Ladbrokes surged 6.7 percent to 240.2 pence, the biggest jump since April 2011, after the U.K. operator of more than 2,000 betting shops said Playtech will help develop and expand its digital business. Playtech rose 3.5 percent to 571 pence.

Nordex SE soared 15 percent to 4.44 euros, it’s biggest rally in almost two years. The German wind-turbine maker reported earnings before interest and taxes of 14 million euros ($18.2 million), compared with the 10.5 million-euro average analyst estimate.

Downgrade:
Apple (AAPL) was downgraded to Buy form Outperform at Credit Agricole

Other:
Google (GOOG) target was rised to $980 from $820 at Pacific Crest  

European stocks fell from a 4 1/2- year high as Fitch Ratings downgraded Italy and China’s retail sales and industrial output missed forecasts. U.S. index futures were little changed, while Asian shares climbed.

Fitch cut Italy’s credit rating by one level after the close of equity markets on March 8, as last month’s election produced political paralysis that threatens the country’s ability to respond to a recession and the European debt crisis.

In China, retail sales increased 12.3 percent in the first two months of 2013 from a year earlier and industrial production rose 9.9 percent, the National Bureau of Statistics said. Both numbers trailed economists’ estimates.

French industrial production fell in January as Europe’s second-largest economy teetered on the brink of its third recession in four years. Output dropped 1.2 percent from December, more than the 0.2 percent decline forecast by economists in a survey.

Storebrand slid 8.6 percent to 24.68 kroner as stricter pension rules will require the insurer to set aside as much as 11.5 billion kroner ($2 billion).

OMV, central Europe’s biggest oil company, declined 2.8 percent to 34.09 euros in Vienna as SocGen downgraded as the stock to hold from buy.

ICAP, the world’s largest broker of transactions between banks, lost 3.5 percent to 330.5 pence as UBS AG downgraded the shares to sell from neutral.

Nordex SE soared 13 percent to 4.35 euros, an 11-month high. The German wind-turbine maker reported earnings before interest and taxes of 14 million euros ($18.2 million), compared with the 10.5 million-euro average analyst estimate in a Bloomberg survey, and raised its sales outlook.

FTSE 100 6,483.04 -0.54 -0.01%

CAC 40 3,821.7 -18.45 -0.48%

DAX 7,956.52 -29.95 -0.38%

Asian stocks rose, with the regional benchmark index heading for the highest close since August 2011, after U.S. jobs data beat estimates and Japanese exporters gained on a weaker yen.

Nikkei 225 12,349.05 +65.43 +0.53%

Hang Seng 23,090.82 -1.13 0.00%

S&P/ASX 200 5,146.9 +23.46 +0.46%

Shanghai Composite 2,310.59 -8.02 -0.35%

Techtronic Industries Co., a maker of power tools that gets most of its sales in North America, gained 1.4 percent in Hong Kong.

Resona Holdings Inc. and Shinsei Bank Ltd. led gains among Japanese lenders on speculation they may follow Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. with plans to repay public funds.

Agile Property Holdings Ltd., a Chinese developer, slid 2.2 percent in Hong Kong after Chinese economic reports missed estimates.

Asian stocks gained, with the regional benchmark index poised for to rise for a third week. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average erased losses from before the 2008 collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. as the country’s economy returned to growth, jobless claims in the U.S. dropped and China’s exports beat estimates.

Nikkei 225 12,283.62 +315.54 +2.64%

Hang Seng 23,091.95 +320.51 +1.41%

S&P/ASX 200 5,123.44 +14.24 +0.28%

Shanghai Composite 2,318.61 -5.68 -0.24%

Honda Motor Co., which gets 44 percent of its car sales from North America, climbed 2.5 percent in Tokyo.

Sekisui House Ltd. jumped 16 percent after the Japanese homebuilder’s operating profit forecast beat estimates.

Rio Tinto Group gained 1.8 percent in Sydney after the world’s second-biggest mining company reopened its coal mine in Mozambique and metal prices rose.

European stocks climbed to the highest level in more than 4 1/2 years as U.S. payrolls rose more than forecast, sending the jobless rate in the world’s biggest economy to a four-year low.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index (SXXP) added 0.8 percent to 295.38, the highest level since June 2008.

U.S. payrolls increased more than forecast in February, a Labor Department report showed. An additional 236,000 workers were hired last month, exceeding the 165,000 median forecast of economists. The jobless rate unexpectedly fell to 7.7 percent, the lowest since December 2008.

National benchmark indexes climbed in all 18 western European markets.

FTSE 100 6,483.58 +44.42 +0.69% CAC 40 3,840.15 +46.37 +1.22% DAX 7,986.47 +46.70 +0.59%

Fugro (FUR) jumped 15 percent to 43.03 euros, the most since March 2009, after reporting full-year net income of 292 million euros ($382 million), beating the average analyst estimate of 282 million euros.

Lagardere added 5 percent to 28.86 euros after France’s largest publisher posted 2012 net income of 89 million euros, compared with a loss of 707 million euros a year earlier.

Credit Suisse Group AG (CSGN) advanced 3.9 percent to 25.98 Swiss francs after UBS AG raised its recommendation on Switzerland’s second-biggest bank shares to buy from neutral, citing its “solid” capital ratios and dividend outlook.

DNB ASA climbed 4.5 percent to 92.50 kroner, its highest price since at least 1992, after Norway’s largest bank said it will raise lending rates by as much as 0.3 percent because of stricter government regulation.