Amsterdam shares slightly higher at midday; ASML surges after Q3

Amsterdam shares slightly higher at midday; ASML surges after Q3

	Published : Wed, 17 Oct 2007 11:24 By : Agencies Print this Story

AMSTERDAM (Thomson Financial) - Amsterdam shares were slightly higher at midday, amid Wall Street futures that pointed to a higher opening in the US later today, while semiconductor share ASML surged on its better-than-expected third-quarter results, according to market sources.

At 12.22 pm, the AEX was 1.45 points or 0.26 pct higher at 551.75, after opening at 549.52 and trading in a range of 549.18-551.64.

Government bonds were higher and the euro stood at 1.4177 usd versus 1.4157 usd late yesterday.

Lead gainer ASML was 8.00 pct stronger at 24.31 by midday as the market welcomed its third-quarter earnings and the announcement of a new buyback programme.

With the European chip sector further buoyed by resents at sector giant Intel, ASML's midcap sector peer ASMI was also on the rise, gaining 3.37 pct at 21.15.

Randstad rose 4.20 pct to 41.66 after it was upgraded to 'buy' from 'hold' with a lowered price target in a sector review that said the share has been oversold lately.

Elsewhere in the sector, Vedior, which saw its price target downgraded at ING but was mentioned as a top pick, added 3.73 pct at 16.95 and USG People gained 1.54 pct at 22.43 after its price target was also lowered by ING.

TomTom rose 3.12 pct at 54.80 and Corporate Express put on 1.54 pct at 7.90 while Heineken traded 1.04 pct higher at 46.45.

KPN was 0.39 pct higher at 12.80 after it was upgraded to 'outperform' from 'peer perform' at Bear Stearns ahead of its upcoming third-quarter figures and Aegon added .43 pct at 14.03 after it said it expects 'no material impact' from subprime investments on its upcoming third-quarter results.

Hagemeyer led blue-chip decliners, slipping 2.24 pct at 4.79 after the company announced yesterday that it still thinks unlisted French peer Sonepar's 4.25 eur per share takeover offer undervalues the company and has no plans for continued talks with Sonepar.

Fortis, which is part of the consortium that has bought ABN Amro, fell 0.93 pct at 22.46 amid news that an ABN Amro EGM will be held on November 1 to handle planned changes to the Dutch bank's board following the consortium takeover.

Reed Elsevier was 0.69 pct weaker at 13.00, Royal Dutch Shell surrendered 0.67 pct at 29.70 and Unibail-Rodamco dipped 0.80 pct at 174.72.

Among major midcap gainers, Van der Moolen rose 2.92 pct to 3.53 while CSM stood 2.12 pct taller at 24.10, recovering from earlier losses after a price target downgrade at Rabo Securities and market concerns about increased materials costs for the Bakery Supplies unit that analysts said overshadowed growing confidence in the Purac unit.

Industrial supplier Aalberts Industries led midcap decliners, surrendering 0.47 pct at 16.90 while Binckbank lost 0.37 pct at 13.52 and Tele Atlas declined 0.09 pct to 22.78.

Builder Heijmans, which was downgraded to 'hold' from 'buy' at SNS Securities on the heels of last week's profit warning, was 0.17 pct weaker at 29.10 while construction peer BAM gained 0.61 pct at 18.25.

Standing out among local shares, Pharming surged 10.67 pct to 3.63 eur on speculation about an upcoming meeting of the European Medicines Evaluation Agency (EMEA), with investors hoping for an EMEA opinion or even approval of Pharming's lead product, Rhucin.

Imtech rose 0.74 pct at 20.45 after outperforming in early deals following an announced acquisition in Ireland.

Dave van Ginhoven, dave.vanginhoven@thomson.com

dvg/slm

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