Madrid shares close slightly lower on mixed Wall St.; Acciona down UPDATE

Madrid shares close slightly lower on mixed Wall St.; Acciona down UPDATE

	Published : Wed, 04 Apr 2007 17:16 By : Agencies Print this Story

(Updates with full report)

MADRID (AFX) - Share prices closed slightly lower in moderate trade after a mixed open on Wall Street, with Acciona seeing profit-taking while Antena 3 led gains, dealers said.

The IBEX-35 index closed down 10.1 points at 14,943.1 after trading in a range of 14,891-14,988, on turnover of 5.4 bln eur.

The April future on the IBEX-35 closed at 14,927, down from 14,942.0 on Tuesday, on turnover of around 14,692 contracts.

Equities opened higher following strong overnight gains on Wall Street and in Asia, but turned neutral during the morning as profit taking after yesterday's record close weighed.

The IBEX-35 moved in to negative territory with little support from a mixed start on Wall Street and in thin trade ahead of the Easter break.

Acciona fell 1.45 eur to 171.15, amid profit taking after yesterday's stellar gains.

Endesa added 0.19 to 40.19, though was no longer trading within the Ibex-35 index due to a temporary suspension imposed ahead of the outcome of E.ON's now defunct bid.

Other utilities were mixed, with Union Fenosa dropping 0.36 to 42.42 and Iberdrola off 0.02 at 36.98, while Gas Natural added 0.03 to 37.17.

Antena 3 led gains, rising 0.22 to 17.36, amid stake building by core shareholder Planeta de Agostini.

Other media shares were weak, with Telecinco dropping 0.11 to 22.10 and Sogecable slipping 0.02 to 32.02.

Leading heavyweights were mixed, with SCH adding 0.12 to 13.74, Telefonica flat at 16.89, BBVA rose 0.02 to 18.85, while Repsol YPF slipped 0.16 to 25.34 amid easing global oil prices.

Iberia climbed 0.01 to 4.05 as speculation mounted regarding a possible bid after reports Texas Pacific is seeking to form a consortium with British Airways and unnamed Spanish players to launch a bid.

Ferrovial was also higher, up 0.35 to 77.85 after JP Morgan increased its estimate of the value accretion from BAA to 20 eur per share from 4 eur.

Domestic banks were on offer, as Banco Sabadell shed 0.26 to 35.40 after it was downgraded to 'equal weight' from 'overweight' at Morgan Stanley, Bankinter was down 0.55 at 62.45, Popular 0.04 lower at 15.78 and Banesto slipping 0.09 to 18.35.

The session's main losers included Mapfre, off 0.08 or 2.01 pct at 3.91 and Agbar, down 0.48 at 26.70.

tfn.europemadrid@thomson.com

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