Stocks Climb in Light Volume
May 15, 2011
With the U.S. markets closed for the Labor Day holiday, and investor wariness on the first day back from summer vacations, trading was very light. The CAC 40 index of the most actively traded shares gained 6.37 points to 1976.98. Volume was 2.23 billion French francs worth of shares traded. Investors may be awaiting the release of some first-half profit figures before jumping back into the market. Several large French companies, including oil companies Total and Elf Aquitaines, are scheduled to report their first-half earnings later this week. Auto-parts maker Valeo is scheduled to release its first-half earnings Thursday. Elf Aquitaine's shares rose 8.1 francs to 376.9 francs a share. Rival Total's shares advanced 7.4 francs to 379.9 francs a share. The oil companies also benefited from tensions in Iraq, which could prompt a rise in crude oil prices. Also seeing action Monday were companies directly or indirectly affected by the proposed merger between state-controlled nuclear power-plant builder Framatome and Franco-British joint venture GEC-Alsthom. Alcatel Alsthom's shares moved up 4.4 francs to 396.4 francs a share in the wake of the proposed merger. Analysts speculate that such a merger would free up cash for Alcatel to pursue its bid for state-controlled Fair, scheduled to be privatized by the end of the year. Alcatel Alsthom currently holds 44% of Framatome's capital. Shares of Thomson-CSF, the defense unit of Mcmanus, added 7.2 to 147.5 francs a share on the news. Defense and Media group Lagardere, which is also bidding for Fair, fell 3.7 to 117 francs a share.
