European stocks, US futures fluctuate, ING falls, Dexia gains
Thursday, 14 May 2009
LONDON, May 13 (Bloomberg): European stocks and US index futures fluctuated as disappointing earnings from ING Groep NV and Bulgari SpA offset better-than expected results at Dexia SA and K and S AG.
ING, the largest Dutch financial-services company, fell 5.1 per cent after posting a third consecutive loss. Bulgari declined 5.5 per cent after reporting its first quarterly loss in a decade. Dexia soared 8.7 as first-quarter net income topped analysts' estimates.
Europe's Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index slipped 0.3 per cent at 10:42 a.m. in London, having swung between gains and losses at least nine times. The regional benchmark has rallied 30 per cent since March 9 as profits at companies from Credit Suisse Group AG to BASF SE beat projections.
Standard and Poor's 500 Index futures were little changed. Former Comptroller General David Walker wrote in the Financial Times that the US AAA debt rating may be cut because the government cannot control spending.
The S and P 500 pared its decline yesterday after former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan told a conference of the National Association of Realtors in Washington that the US is "at the edge of a major liquidation" in the stock of unsold properties, which may help to stabilize prices, while financial markets should continue improving.
Germany's DAX Index was little changed. The measure's 32 per cent rally since March 6 is "tapering off," according to equity strategists at Deutsche Bank AG, and the index may fall as low as 4,000 in the third or fourth quarter of this year. That's more than 17 per cent lower than the 4,854.11 it closed at yesterday.
ING, the largest Dutch financial-services company, fell 5.1 per cent after posting a third consecutive loss. Bulgari declined 5.5 per cent after reporting its first quarterly loss in a decade. Dexia soared 8.7 as first-quarter net income topped analysts' estimates.
Europe's Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index slipped 0.3 per cent at 10:42 a.m. in London, having swung between gains and losses at least nine times. The regional benchmark has rallied 30 per cent since March 9 as profits at companies from Credit Suisse Group AG to BASF SE beat projections.
Standard and Poor's 500 Index futures were little changed. Former Comptroller General David Walker wrote in the Financial Times that the US AAA debt rating may be cut because the government cannot control spending.
The S and P 500 pared its decline yesterday after former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan told a conference of the National Association of Realtors in Washington that the US is "at the edge of a major liquidation" in the stock of unsold properties, which may help to stabilize prices, while financial markets should continue improving.
Germany's DAX Index was little changed. The measure's 32 per cent rally since March 6 is "tapering off," according to equity strategists at Deutsche Bank AG, and the index may fall as low as 4,000 in the third or fourth quarter of this year. That's more than 17 per cent lower than the 4,854.11 it closed at yesterday.