Stocks: Friday’s review

European (SXXP) stocks closed little changed, with the Stoxx Europe 600 Index completing a weekly drop, as data showed the U.S. economy expanded more than forecast in the third quarter, offsetting concern company earnings are deteriorating.

Straumann Holding AG (STMN) jumped 7.9 percent after Bank of America Corp. recommended buying the shares. Belgacom SA (BELG) surged by a record 7.8 percent after raising its 2012 forecasts. Ericsson AB (ERICB) tumbled 3.9 percent after missing its third-quarter gross-margin target.

The Stoxx 600 rose 0.1 percent to 270.51 in London.  The Stoxx 600 still lost 1.3 percent this week as euro-area manufacturing shrank and corporate earnings weakened.

Gross domestic product rose at a 2 percent annual rate after climbing 1.3 percent in the prior quarter. The median forecast of 86 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for a 1.8 percent gain.

In Europe, reports showed that French consumer sentiment dropped in October, while Spain’s unemployment rate climbed to a record in the third quarter as a deepening recession left one in four workers jobless.

National benchmark indexes advanced in ten of the 17 western-European markets that were open today. The Vienna market was closed.

FTSE 100 5,813.01 +7.96 +0.14% CAC 40 3,434.8 +23.27 +0.68% DAX 7,229.75 +29.52 +0.41%

Straumann jumped 7.9 percent to 118.1 Swiss francs, the biggest gain in more than five months, after Bank of America raised the world’s biggest maker of dental implants to buy from underperform.

Belgacom, the largest phone company in Belgium, advanced 7.8 percent to 23.14 euros, the strongest rally since it sold shares to the public in March 2004, as the company raised its 2012 forecasts and announced a special dividend.

Anglo American Plc (AAL) gained 4.1 percent to 1,933.50 pence after saying Chief Executive Officer Cynthia Carroll will quit.

Ericsson dropped 3.9 percent to 58.15 kronor, the sharpest decrease since May 4. The world’s largest maker of mobile-phone networks reported a third-quarter gross margin, or the percentage of sales remaining after production costs, that slid to 30.4 percent from 35 percent, missing the average estimate of 32.2 percent.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NOVOB), the world’s biggest insulin maker, fell 3.3 percent to 930 kroner after U.S. regulators disclosed that a scheduled advisory-panel meeting on the diabetes treatment Tresiba will focus on cardiovascular risks.

Randstad Holding NV (RAND) slid 4.7 percent to 25.32 euros after Goldman Sachs Group Inc. downgraded the company’s shares to neutral from buy.

Mediaset SpA (MS) declined 3.1 percent to 1.34 euros. Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was found guilty of tax fraud and sentenced to four years in prison in a film-rights case involving the television company.

Renault SA (RNO) fell 1.8 percent to 34.74 euros, retreating for the sixth straight day, after third-quarter revenue plunged 13 percent to 8.45 billion euros, the carmaker said yesterday after the market close. The figure missed the 8.97 billion-euro average of analyst.

Major U.S. stock indexes significantly retreated from two-month lows and will use the positive territory and ended the session with a slight advantage. For the week the index DOW fell 1,77%, Nasdaq fell 0,59%, S & P500 lost 1.48%.

Indexes started the session due to the strong growth of the U.S. GDP data for the third quarter. However, later published the final data on consumer sentiment from Reuters / Michigan in October. The preliminary value of the index was revised up to 82.6 points against 83.1 and 82.7 of the forecast.

Thus today's statistics have been mixed, as investors again focused on the negative messages that came from Europe.

GDP data are important to investors, but the overall situation continues to deteriorate. Many companies report worse than expected and lower their expectations for the coming quarters, remains unresolved problems in Europe.

Investor is not in a hurry to open positions ahead of the U.S. presidential election. The upcoming election adds uncertainty to the markets, as long as the chances of winning Obama and Romney are approximately equal. There is a high probability that before the election, the markets will be consolidated in the band, and only after the elections we will see strong movements. Recall that the U.S. presidential election will be held on November 6.

Most of the components of the index DOW reduced in price. More than the others fell in the share price Bank of America Corporation (BAC, -1.30%). Shares have risen above the rest Microsoft Corporation (MSFT, +1.33%).

Almost all sectors are in the red zone. More than the others dropped the financial sector (-0.6%). Growth shows only service sector (+0.3%) and sector conglomerates (0.5%).

At the close:

Dow +3.61 13,107.29 +0.03%

Nasdaq +1.83 2,987.95 +0.06%

S & P -1.03 1,411.94 -0.07