The Hang Seng slipped 0.1% being drug down by a 4.2% slide from Want Want China, a foodmaker. Although Want Want posted a better than expected first half profit of 38%, its revenue was still below expectations. The big trade to day comes from Permira, a European private equity firm, who sold a 750M dollar stake in Macau Casino. Evergrande, a Chinese developer, lost 3.1% due to falling margins as they cut prices to sell homes. China Life insurance was 2% after its chairman told reporters there were not promising prospects for increasing investment yields this year, it seems they appreciate the honesty.
The FTSE 300 is down 0.4% at the moment on weak results from French luxury goods companies L’Oreal and Bouygues. Bouygues slid 8% and was downgraded by Citigroup to sell. L’Oreal lost 4.2% and suffered a UBS bank downgrade to neutral from buy. Italian Bank Banca Monte deiPaschi di Siena lost 6% in an already troubled area. Around Europe France’s CAC is down 0.7%, the DAX 0.6% and the Madrid General 0.5%.
In commodities today energies are all currently starting down. Gold is also down, while silver is up 1.65%.
Contributer Chris Rygh is currently pursuing his MBA in Wisconsin and has a passion for the Market. Comments can be directed to ryghcw19@uww.edu