The Tokyo Stock Exchange ended almost unchanged Monday after slight correction suffered last week, investors focusing on actions related to metals and blue chips that have underperformed ; the market lately.
The Nikkei gained 0.07% or 6.77 points, to 10,018.24. In contrast, the Topix broader, yielded 0.71 points (-0.08%) to 851.82.
This evolution of the Nikkei, helped by the decline of the yen against the dollar, was recorded in a few exchanges expanded.
"Even if the Nikkei falls below 10,000 points, Japanese institutional investors are not going to take profits because they have more net sellers in the rally (in recent months)," said Kenichi Hirano , a director at Tachibana Securities.
Technical analysts believe that the decline of last week could lead investors who missed the bull cycle in action since the beginning of the year to enter the market.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange was down 1.1% Friday, accusing its largest percentage decline in two months. But it is still up over 18% since the beginning of the year.
Coface, which last year refocused its activities on credit insurance, reiterated Tuesday his intention to return when the stock market but market conditions have improved.
Jean-Marc Pillu, the CEO of a subsidiary of Natixis, declined to say how soon the Coface, deregistration in 2002, envisioned a new IPO nor how much capital will be offered to investors.
"The track is always the same, this is the IPO as soon as conditions permit," he said at a news conference.
"The internal conditions are met to be placed on the market," he added. "After the second condition, it is the markets (financial, Ed). We will wait quietly, serenely they allow us to do this. "
Asked about refocusing on the Coface credit insurance ; said, he explained that the company had isolated a structure apart and owned by its parent non-core businesses it intends to transfer …
…… "These activities were in a separate structure, as Natixis, well insulated (…) but remain under the responsibility of the Directorate General of Coface at the operational level, "said Jean-Marc Pillu.
He also said that except for the German and Polish markets, factoring activities were managed for their extinction ("run off"), that is to say, they are intended to be phased out.
Due to the reorganization of its business, Coface has subsequently passed in its 2011 accounts for 49 million euros in restructuring charges after taxes.
Its CEO also said the company had raised 1.1 billion euros of financing for factoring after signing a contract with four banks of securitization.
"We are most indebted of all, we paid all our debts in the long run. I speak of parent company debt, "said Jean-Marc Pillu
. Returning to the proposed creation of a rating agency Europé ; enemies, envisaged a time before finally being abandoned in early 2011, the CEO of Coface said that the business of insurance credit scoring and no pre ; felt no synergies between them
. "It's not all the same job," he insisted .. …….
Since the beginning of the year, the U.S. equity markets have confounded the pessimists, and employment figures of February in the U.S., expected in late week, could well justify a continued rise.
The 'rally' stock in recent months has been built on a series of economic indicators improving, which suggest that growth in U.S. corporate earnings remain intact, analysts said.
But some strategists warn against a downward trend, while the main New York indexes have reached key thresholds and that the publication of results for the fourth quarter draws to a close.
The Standard & Poor's 500 rose in eight of nine weeks past. During the past week, the Dow finished above 13,000 points for the first time since May 2008, and the S & P 500 closed twice over resistance threshold of 1,370 points.
The Nasdaq composite crossed the threshold of its side of the 3,000 points and is trading around its highest level since 2000.
Some believe that Wall Street could continue to rise thanks to new macroeconomic indicators considered solid.
"The question is: 'Are we witnessing a sustained improvement in the economy?' I think the answer is yes, and that the rally will continue somewhat, "says Bryant Evans, portfolio manager and advisor for Cozad Asset Management, Illinois.
Detailed figures for February employment in the United States must be published Friday. Economists polled by Reuters expect 210,000 new jobs outside agriculture, against 243,000 the previous month.
This would mark the third consecutive month of job creation. The unemployment rate is meanwhile expected unchanged at 8.3%, its lowest level in three years. To investors, such figures would bring additional proof of a recovery in the U.S. economy.
Growth of gross domestic product (GDP) U.S. has already been revised up to 3.0% annualized in the fourth quarter of 2011, its highest rate , since the second quarter 2010, according to the second estimate published Wednesday by the Commerce Department.
TAKING PROFITS tempting
Now that the second bailout of Greece seems on track and that the earnings season draws to a close, investors are more focused on macroeconomic data.
Rising oil prices, bolstered by the tensions around Iran, however, could darken the horizon. Brent crude is trading above $ 120, an ominous trend when Europe seems to be sliding into recession.
Also in Europe, the first funds of the new aid package to Greece could be paid immediately after the debt swap between Athens and its private creditors s, to be concluded by 9 March.
In any event, investors had gains high enough since the beginning of the year to consider taking profits.
The S & P 500, who finished almost unchanged in 2011, increased by 9% since the beginning of the year.
U.S. ECONOMY, THE ENGINE RALLY
Health of the U.S. economy now looks up the engine for stock markets, investors wanting to believe that a recovering economy will spur creation of jobs and profits up.
Regarding the fourth quarter, the share of companies exceeding expectations is declining.
A 9.4% quarterly earnings growth is also lower than in previous quarters, but analysts want to believe that the recovery of the U.S. economy will help to avoid settling too brutal.
"From our perspective, as the employment situation continues to improve, we are on track," said Thomas Villalta, portfolio manager at Austin.
Monday, the ISM services will provide an overview of the activity of tertiary service last month.
The ADP survey on job creation in the private sector in the United States, released Wednesday, will precede the official statistics on Friday.
The Federal Reserve estimates that the U.S. economy grew at a moderate pace from January to mid February, the hiring is being légé ; LY accelerated in many parts of the United States.
In the beige book of the U.S. central bank, released Wednesday, the Fed also notes some improvements in the property sector although, overall, the tone is as careful as in the pre ; cédente edition of this document.
"The conditions in the housing market have improved somewhat in most districts," we read in the paper.
Manufacturing is one who is doing best, with most of the 12 Fed districts with a rise in new orders.
If the benefits of U.S. distributors to appear this week are as unimpressive as the results published so far companies, keeping Wall Street at the height of nine months will probably be difficult to justify.
Specialists believe that stock market investing in the U.S. market may resist a further increase, even with an agreement in the Greek case Monday and indicators confirming that the recovery is underway to United States.
Trading will resume on Tuesday, the markets are closed Monday for President's Day.
For the year 2012 was less than two months and the benchmark fund managers, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up over 8%. It is already higher than what many analysts were predicting the end of the year.
The index ended Friday at 1,361 points, its highest level since May 2011. In December, analysts polled by Reuters estimated that the index would end from 2012 to 1340 points.
If the index passed beyond 1370, it would be at its highest since June 2008, to its level before the collapse of Lehman Brothers, which took place in September 2008.
As for Dow Jones, he approaches the psychological level of 13,000 points and the Nasdaq Composite, that of 3000 points.
OPPORTUNITY TO PURCHASE
At the NYSE, 85% to 90% of the shares are treated above their 50-day moving average, said Bruce Zaro at Delta Global Asset Management in Boston. This is normally a sign that the market is overbought.
Bruce Zaro does not exclude a decrease of the S & P in the region of 1260-1270 in the short term.
Some experts, however, a passage above 1370 would be a buying opportunity.
"I'm kind of on the sidelines waiting to see it, but I'm down from there if it snaps," said Stephen Massocca, at Wedbush Morgan in San Francisco.
The percentage of companies that have published better than expected quarterly results is 64%, according to Thomson Reuters data, 404 companies have already published their accounts . This percentage has certainly improved since the beginning of the period of publication of accounts, but it is lower than 70% the last four quarters.
Among the major retailers will announce their quarterly profits this week include Wal-Mart and Home Depot.
Apart from the results and the Greek case, which should find a solution Monday, few indicators will be published this week: home sales new and old, consumer confidence according to the University of Michigan and registrations Weekly jobless.
To be continued as the general assembly of Apple Thursday and accounts of the first fiscal quarter of Hewkett-Packard on Wednesday.
The CBOE volatility index, also called fear index, fell 7.5% Friday, to 17.78. It is below the level of 25 for over two months, suggesting that investors are less worried about stock market prospects.
The committee of independent directors to investigate the controversial takeover of UraMin by Areva is expected to conclude Tuesday with a "weak governance", says the Sunday newspaper, citing a "source close "group.
Rene Ricol, charged in 2010 by Nicolas Sarkozy to audit the accounts of French nuclear giant, looking for the same argument, although it acknowledges not Lauvergeon, the former President of the Executive.
The latter said he had no knowledge of mining reports dated from 2008 and 2009 from the geology department of Areva, according to Rene Ricol who put labels on mine reserves and opportunities for exploitation.
"If Anne Lauvergeon has not been informed, the least we can say is that this is a concern in terms of governance," he said, adding that he has had not itself access to these documents during the audit.
"This lack of transparency is unacceptable," he adds.
The purchase of Uramin in 2007 to 1.7 billion euros has forced the giant French nuclear to include in its accounts in 2010 and 2011 provisions totaling close to 1, 9 billion euros to reflect the depreciation of its assets following a drop in uranium prices.
The Industry Minister, Eric Besson, said Sunday he expected the committee's report Tuesday to decide.
"I think we should let those whose work is now shed light on this apparent overvaluation, almost coarse, this mine," he said in the e The Great Mission Visit Europe 1 / i> TELE / Le Parisien.
"This is precisely what the committee of independent directors must say and enlighten. Is it simply a gross error of assessment or do it more? It is for this committee on the one hand and justice, as it has received various complaints now, to say it. "
.. …… "unacceptable practices"
Rene Ricol also condemned the investigations by the husband of pharmacies Anne Lauvergeon
. "These practices are completely unacceptable," he said, calling however "paranoid" reaction of the former president of nuclear group
. He called the protagonists of the record-Anne Lauvergeon, the current leader of the group and Luc Oursel Director of Mining activity Sebastian Montessus to keep their cool. "If they do not subside, it will all end badly."
Lauvergeon Wednesday asked the court to appoint an expert to examine the conditions under which the group commissioned a survey in 2010 related to the acquisition of Uramin.
The Tribunal de Grande Instance of Paris (TGI) announced that it would make its decision on February 29.
Lauvergeon and his lawyers believe that the recipients of the report, ordered society Apic, did not respect the internal rules of Areva.
They say that they include not having alerted the supervisory bodies of the group while the report concluded Apic a possible "fraud" in connection with the redemption.
Lawyers for Anne Lauvergeon protest against an investigation that would have resulted in an alleged espionage husband of the former president of Areva, Olivier Fric, to determine if the had illegally benefited from the acquisition of Uramin.
The former president and CEO of Areva has defended the purchase of Uramin and considered normal for this type of operation can lead to impairment.
The price of a liter of unleaded 95 euro climbed to 1.5640, while that of 98 unleaded rose to 1.6022 euro. This surge is due to tensions in Iran and the decline of the euro.
The price of gasoline at the pump hit new highs Friday in France, according to data released Tuesday by the Ministry of Sustainable Development, those of diesel playing in contrast to the decline. The price of a liter of unleaded 95 euro climbed to 1.5640, while that of unleaded 98 (whose sales are much lower in SP95) rose to 1.6022 euro, surpassing both levels records they had met in January, according to figures compiled by the Directorate General for Energy and Climate (EDCM).
However, diesel is still trending down, to 1.3960 euro per liter last week against a peak of 1.4240 in mid-January, and well below its spring 2008 record (1.4541 euro ). These are national averages calculated by the DGEC from data provided by service stations.
This surge is linked to two phenomena, geopolitical tensions (Iran, Nigeria …) that keep crude oil prices at very high levels, and weakening of the euro against the dollar, which increases the cost of black gold imported into France, once its price converted into the single currency. Diesel sales represent about 80% of French consumption of motor fuels, the unleaded 95 just under 15% and unleaded approximately 98% 5.
Democrats and Republicans are unable to agree on a plan to reduce U.S. debt, which has just reached 15,000 billion. The reasons and consequences of this blockage. The President of the United States Barack Obama
The debt crisis in Europe has almost been forgotten that the U.S. also face their great difficulties on their debt. European stock markets closed sharply lower on Thursday. Paris (-3.4%, below 2900 points), Frankfurt (-3.5%) and London (-2.6%) fell sharply in the wake of Wall Street lost more than 2% at the end of the afternoon. Democrats and Republicans should agree on a plan to save 1,200 billion over ten years to hold their huge debt. But after two months of negotiations, they were still far from an agreement a few hours from the end of negotiations scheduled for Monday evening.
Congress had in effect established a commission to decide on a plan to reduce debt. Composed of twelve members of Congress – six Republicans and six Democrats – the "super-committee" was intended to relieve an abysmal debt that comes to exceed 15,000 billion (you can see it evolve in real time on the www . usdebtclock.org). The six Democrats proposed a plan for 2900 includes 1,300 billion billion tax increase, the six Republicans on the other hand opted for a plan of 2,200 billion euros, with "only" 200 billion of tax increases. Without ever reaching a consensus.
Why the lock?
This blockage occurs less than a year of presidential elections scheduled for November 2012.
Former European Commissioner Mario Monti was the favorite Thursday to succeed Silvio Berlusconi as head of the Italian government and try to counter the surge in borrowing costs in the country, another who briefly relieved the European stock exchanges.
The Economist, 68, former European Commissioner and now president of Bocconi University in Milan, is seen for weeks by the markets as the best candidate to lead a government of national unity and implementation of emergency austerity measures needed to redress the accounts of the country.The Paris Bourse was almost in equilibrium, Frankfurt advanced 0.5% and London gave up 0.45%.
Discussions in the PDL
Italian President Giorgio Napolitano has appointed Mario Monti senator for life Wednesday. Investors saw this as a sign that he would ask him to try to form a government from the start of Silvio Berlusconi, expected in the coming days.
And as the cost of borrowing to ten years in Italy continue to grow beyond 7%, a level deemed unsustainable by many, the assumption of a unity government seems to be gaining ground in the PDL.
"The LDP can not simply follow the call to the polls that emanates from the core," said Foreign Minister Franco Frattini in an interview with Corriere della Sera.
The European Union has every confidence in Greece with regard to compliance with its commitments made at the EU summit last week, when a new aid package of € 130 billion was reached, said Tuesday the two main leaders of the euro area.
"We note the intention of the Greek authorities to hold a referendum," write the European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso in a joint statement.
"We believe that this agreement is the best for Greece.We have every confidence in Greece to honor the commitments made to the euro area and the international community. "
José Manuel Barroso and Herman Van Rompuy added that they spoke with Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou and said that the referendum question would be discussed on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Cannes, which runs from November 3 to 5.
