Amsterdam shares slightly lower at midday; Ahold leads gainers

Amsterdam shares slightly lower at midday; Ahold leads gainers

	Published : Fri, 07 Sep 2007 11:54 By : Agencies Print this Story

AMSTERDAM (Thomson Financial) - Shares traded slightly lower in Amsterdam at midday in line with market trends across Europe amid Wall Street futures that point to a lower opening in the US later today, while Ahold outperformed on positive sentiment and a price target upgrade, according to market sources.

At 12.30 pm, the AEX was down 0.70 points or 0.13 pct at 526.51 after opening at 526.17 and trading in a range of 525.51-529.25.

Government bonds were mostly higher and the euro stood at 1.3688 usd versus 1.3707 usd late yesterday.

Randstad led decliners, slipping 2.21 pct to 39.36 eur while staffing peer Vedior gave up 0.79 pct at 16.42 and midcap staffer USG People shed 0.31 pct at 22.56.

Real estate group Unibail-Rodamco lost 1.48 pct at 176.60 while among financials, Fortis fell 1.11 pct at 26.61, Aegon gave up 1.20 pct at 13.18, ING was off by 0.60 pct at 29.60 and ABN Amro dipped 1.07 pct at 34.09.

Reed Elsevier was down 1.13 pct at 13.08 while peer Wolters Kluwer was off by 0.38 pct at 21.09.

Ahold led gainers, putting on 2.25 pct at 10.44, with dealers pointing to recent positive sentiments, as well as a price target upgrade at ABN Amro.

Heineken added 1.07 pct at 46.36 and Unilever rose 0.90 pct at 22.37.

SBM Offshore, which received its own price target at Theodoor Gilissen, rose 0.85 pct at 27.30 while midcap oil services sector peer Fugro also outperformed, rising 1.87 pct at 51.71 and leading midcap gainers after it was started at 'buy' at UBS together with other companies in the sector.

Oil group Royal Dutch Shell also gained, putting on 0.61 pct at 29.57.

Arcelor Mittal was 0.63 pct firmer at 48.30 and Corporate Express climbed 0.61 pct at 11.57 after announcing a divestment that dealers said triggered renewed M&A speculation.

Among midcap decliners, Corio fell 1.56 pct at 55.51 while ASMI lost 1.46 pct at 20.21 and LogicaCMG dipped 1.24 pct to 2.38 and SNS Reaal surrendered 0.96 pct at 15.55.

Heijmans declined 0.97 pct at 35.55, surrendering early gains made amid positive broker comments about news that a major US investor has built up a 4,5 pct stake in the company.

BAM, on the other hand, gained 0.35 pct at 20.28 while analysts issued positive comments on yesterday's results.

Industrial supplier Aalberts added 1.13 pct at 17.84 while Van der Moolen put on 0.87 pct at 3.46 and Nutreco gained 0.72 pct at 49.15.

Among local listings, Wegener gained 0.68 pct at 17.82 amid news that Mecom, which has a public offer open for the Dutch publisher, has raised its stake in Wegener to 31.96 pct.

Imtech lost 0.47 pct at 63.43, coming down of earlier highs. Earlier, the company announced several small divestments that analysts at SNS Securities said were not likely to have a major impact on earnings.

Dave van Ginhoven, dave.vanginhoven@thomson.com

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