Scandinavian Airlines outperform as FMI confirm interest in Spanair
Indices 11-Dec-08
European share markets traded quietly yesterday. The FTSE gained +21.41 (+0.49%) closing at 4388.69, the DAX 30 fell -37.68 (-0.78%) to 4767.2, and the CAC 40 also lost ground closing at 3306.13, losing -14.18 (-0.43%).
After hovering around even most of the day, US shares fell late in the day, as prospects appeared to weaken for the approval of a USD15 billion rescue plan for the troubled US car industry after a key Republican senator opposed the measure. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 196.33 (-2.24%) to 8565.09 points. The Nasdaq decreased 38.12 (-3.12%) to 1183.47 and the Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 10.93 (-2.52%) to 422.32.
Asia Pacific share markets also performed modestly on thurday. The Hong Kong Hang Seng rose 36.16 points (+0.23%) to 15613.9, the Tokyo Nikkei rose 60.31 (+0.70%) to 8720.55, while the Australian ASX200 fell 42.7 (-1.17%) to 3598.
STOP PRESS Asia Pacific 12-Dec-08
Australia's ASX200 index fell 87.6 points (-2.43%) to 3510.4 by close of business.
Asian stocks were generally down, as the shrinking financial sector, uncertainty over a U.S. carmaker bailout and economic malaise doused the bargain hunting that had helped to drive up shares in the last week.
Japan's Nikkei (-5.9%) fell -484.68 points to 8,235.87.
In afternoon trading the Hang Seng (-5.9%) was down 1076.69 at 14537.21.
Oil prices slipped for the first time in three days to trade around $47 a barrel after surging on Thursday on calls for "severe" production cuts by OPEC's president, while the U.S. dollar tried to recover from an overnight rout that knocked it to a seven-week low against the euro.
Oil Prices
Oil prices rallied on 11-Dec-08 gaining USD4.46 a barrel (+10.25%) closing at USD47.98 a barrel, as the International Energy Agency predicted global growth in oil demand would resume in 2009 and the Saudi oil minister said it pumped less oil than expected last month.
Airline share prices
Scandinavian Airlines (+7.2%) outperformed yesterday, as a UK private equity group, First Mile Investments, confirmed it was considering buying into SAS' subsidiary, Spanair.
At the other end of the scale, British airlines suffered from negative sentiment coming out of the UK.
European selected airlines daily share price movements (% change): 11-Dec-08
