European Stocks Trade Flat to Lower

European stocks appear to run out of steam on Friday, with most major indices little changed by late morning amid strong hints from the ECB boss of further monetary easing.
By Laura Board ,

LONDON (The Deal) -- European stocks appeared to run out of steam on Friday, with most major indices little changed by late morning amid strong hints from the boss of the European Central Bank of further monetary easing.

In London, the FTSE 100 was down 0.01% at 6,330.22, while in Frankfurt the DAX was unchanged at 11,085.87. In Paris, the CAC 40 was down 0.50% at 4,890.74. A week after terrorists killed 129 citizens in Paris, a siege at a hotel in Mali, northern Africa, where French troops are stationed, kept the threat of attacks in France at the forefront of investors' minds. Armed hostage takers are reported Friday to be holding an estimated 170 people captive at the hotel.

Meanwhile, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi stoked widespread expectations that policymakers will expand their program of quantitative easing and possibly also cut rates by telling the European Banking Congress in Frankfurt, "We cannot say with confidence that the process of economic repair in the euro area is complete."

He added that the bank considers the asset purchase program "to be a powerful and flexible instrument, as it can be adjusted in terms of size, composition or duration to achieve a more expansionary stance. The level of the deposit facility rate can also empower the transmission of APP, not least by increasing the velocity of circulation of bank reserves."

At 4 p.m. Brussels time, the European Union's Economic and Financial Affairs Directorate General delivers the first incarnation of its November consumer confidence indicator. 

ABN Amro rose on its debut in Amsterdam after raising €3.3 billion euros ($3.6 billion) in an initial public offering,. The Dutch government, which rescued the bank during the financial crisis, priced the shares at €17.75 and sold a 20% stake. ABN Amro was recently trading at €18.35.

In Zurich, OC Oerlikon (OERLF) was up well over 6% after arranging to sell its vacuum business to Sweden's Atlas Copco (ATTLF) for Sfr525 million ($517.9 million). Atlas Copco was up close to 1%.

In London, Japan Residential Investment was down about 1.5% after disclosing that an unnamed third-party suitor had now retreated, leaving its agreed £152.6 million ($233.5 million) offer from a Blackstone Group (BX) - Get Report  affiliate the only game in town.

Rolls-RoyceHoldings (RYCEY) was up more than 2% on expectations that San Francisco activist investor ValueAct Capital will instigate a shakeup at the engineering company after revealing it has doubled its stake to 10%. Rolls-Royce has issued a string of profit warnings in recent years, most recently on Nov. 12. 

Industrial investor Melrose Industries edged down more than 1% after warning that full-year results could come in at the lower end of expectations amid "uncertain circumstances" for industrial companies world wide. It said it's optimistic it can find another suitable acquisition. 

Small-cap clean water technology company HaloSource plunged by more than 33% after warning that delays in serving key customers and "operational challenges" related to expanded manufacturing facilities in China will push down revenue from its drinking water division in the second-half.

In Madrid, Abertis Infraestructuras was down more than 4% after a CVC Capital Partners vehicle placed a 6.3% stake through an accelerated bookbuild handled Bank of America Merrill Lynch for just under €818 million in total The placing price was €13.68, and Abertis was recently trading at €13.99. 

In Paris, Alstom (ALSMY) slipped as analysts at UBS downgraded their recommendation on the stock to neutral from buy.

Asian indices were mixed on Friday though were up on the week. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 closed up 0.10% at 19,879.81 and the Topix gained 0.17% to 1,603.18.

In Hong Kong the Hang Seng rose 1.13% to close at 2,754.72. On mainland China, the Shanghai Composite rose 0.37% to close at 3,630.50 and the Shenzhen Component index gained 0.73% to 12,702.04.

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