Stocks Stall in Sluggish Trading
April 26, 2011
The 25-share AEX index rose just 0.17 to 549.45. Food retailer Royal Ahold climbed 90 Dutch cents to 87 guilders. On Tuesday, the company announced plans for a supermarket venture in Thailand with the privately-held Central Group. The share also benefited from rumors that Goldman Sachs & Co. plans to exercise the remaining options that it holds on Royal Ahold's recent share offering to finance the acquisition of Stop & Shop of the U.S. ABN Amro Bank dropped 50 Dutch cents to 93.30 guilders ahead of the release Thursday of its interim earnings report. Analysts expect the bank to post six-month net profit of 1.5 billion guilders, up from 1.24 billion guilders in the first half of 2010. Other financial shares were flat, however, with insurer Aegon unchanged at 79 guilders and bank-insurer ING Group stalled at 53 guilders.
