International Business News

Oil prices had closed up on Friday for the third consecutive session on the New York market, as investors were reassured by statements by Fed Chairman on possible new measures to support the economy if necessary.

The October contract on the U.S. light crude closed up 1.81 dollars, or 2.47%, to 75.17 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

At the time of closing in New York, a barrel of Brent crude advanced $ 1.70, or 2.27%, to 76.72 dollars.

On the whole week, the contract on crude grew by $ 1.71, or 2.33%, signing up after two consecutive weeks of declines.

The Federal Reserve Chairman United States, Ben Bernanke said Friday that the economic recovery had slowed more than expected and the Fed was prepared, if necessary, to adopt additional measures to support the activity.

Prices were also supported by redemptions of short positions against the threat of tropical storm "Earl", which moves in the Atlantic and could become a hurricane by Sunday.

Concerns over Hurricane Danielle "were however attenuated as it swirls currently above the Atlantic, far from shore, according to the U.S. weather service.

The Paris Bourse rebounded on Monday tentatively early trade, after closing Friday at its lowest in about a month and while several indicators of activity in Europe in August are expected.

Around 9:15 am, the CAC 40 rose 0.27% to 3535.80 points.

STMicroelectronics is the head increases and takes 1.43%, followed by France Telecom gained 1.27%. Brussels will dismiss the complaint of the operator and its competitors SFR and Bouygues Telecom against the state in the allocation of the fourth 3G license to Free, The Tribune wrote Monday.

Carrefour lost 0.28%. S & P cut its rating to "sell-off.

Ahead of London and Frankfurt 0.18% 0.12%.As for the European indices, the EuroStoxx 50 wins and 0.16% Eurofirst 300 rose 0.3%.

The euro has halted its decline against the dollar after losing more than a penny Friday and is trading around 1.2711.

U.S. light crude oil remains below $ 74 after rising briefly crossed. The barrel is trading at around 73.85 dollars.

The president and CEO of Hewlett-Packard Co., Mark Hurd resigned Friday after being accused of falsifying expense reports to conceal a "close personal relationship" with a woman working for a subcontractor.

The announcement was made during the dip the world's largest maker of personal computers by 10%, Mark Hurd is credited with having brought HP to the highest level in five years at the helm of the U.S. group.

Mark Hurd will be replaced by Chief Financial Officer Cathie Lesjak who is acting as interim executive director.A committee was responsible for appointing a new CEO.

A colleague outside the group, who had worked on the marketing of HP between late 2007 and fall 2009, contacted the Board in June and accused of sexual harassment Mark Hurd, the group said.

An investigation ensued and concluded that Hurd had not breached the code within the company for sexual harassment.

But the CEO of 53 years, married, kept "a close personal relationship" with the woman without the knowledge of the board of directors, said HP.

"The investigation board has concluded that Mark had demonstrated a profound lack of discernment that has seriously damaged his credibility and was highly prejudicial to his ability to lead HP, and Mark agreed," said Mike Holston, director of corporate legal department.

The departure of the CEO was unanimous, he added.

The group says Hurd submitted "number of expense reports inaccurate" to conceal the relationship with the offending subcontractor, which has itself received compensation and refunds without a legitimate reason.

The sum of her falsified expense would reach 20,000 dollars for travel, accommodation and meals shared with the woman according to a source close to the Hurd's statements on the case, who spoke of a "working relationship".

Another source with knowledge of the case made it clear that this woman was not a major subcontractor.

ANTICIPATED RESULTS

Mark Hurd, known for its rigor in cost reduction, said in a statement that the decision to resign was "painful".

"I realized that on some occasions I have not met the standards and principles of trust, respect and integrity that I adopted at HP," he said.

The shock is brutal for investors, who saw Mark Hurd as the chief of the success of the Informatics Group.Since his arrival at the helm of the group five years ago, the stock price has more than doubled.

"Mark Hurd has a large responsibility in the revival of the group," said analyst Jeffrey Fidacaro.

"His departure will leave a big void at the head of the group."

The now former CEO of HP scored his mark, combining the rigor of external growth strategy, which took shape with major acquisitions as the pioneer of the smartphone or Palm, in 2008, EDS Corp., a leading software houses U.S. 13.9 billion.

Analysts said the place of Mark Hurd will be coveted both externally as internally, where the manager's PC division Todd Bradley and chief strategy Shane Robinson figure are potential candidates.

Hurd's departure, they added, should not affect either the strategic direction of the company or its performance.

The announcement was however immediately reflected on the price of HP has lost up to 10% in after-hours transactions, dropping to 41.50 dollars after the meeting ended at 46.30 dollars.

To cushion the shock, the group decided to bring forward the publication of its quarterly results.

He announced on Friday earnings per share to $ 1.08 in non-GAAP standards for the third fiscal quarter offbeat performance slightly higher than that anticipated in the consensus among analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I / B / E / S consensus forecast of $ 1.07.

The company raised its earnings per share over the year to a range of 4.49 to 4.51 against $ 4.45 to 4.50 dollars previously. The consensus is at 4.49 dollars.

HP also said it expects an annual turnover of between 125.3 and 125.5 billion dollars, while analysts are predicting a figure lower than this range to 124.515 billion dollars.

The vagaries of the economic recovery and the prospect of new banking regulations temper the optimism of investors after quarterly results exceeded expectations published this week by several major European banks.

Reversals of impairment greater than expected second quarter have offset the slowdown in investment banking, penalized by the threats of contagion of the crisis of the Greek sovereign debt investors who scalded.

Societe Generale has reported a profit of nearly one and half times higher than expected, and Standard Chartered, which operates mainly in Asia, has released a record result.

Lloyds has returned to the green to the first half thanks to a halving of asset impairments.

However, European banks have not divested of their caution, particularly when faced with the consequences of coming prudential reforms.Although the deadlines for application of solvency ratios so-called "Basel III have been repulsed, concerns remain about them.

"There is fragility in the global economy and nervousness in financial markets," said John Peace, Chairman of StanChart, adding that British banks were particularly disadvantaged by the rules on pay, taxation and financial regulation.

Most European banks which have published their results on Wednesday have followed the trend shown Monday by BNP Paribas and HSBC with a lower level of bad debts.

However, even if SocGen gained 0.6% at the Paris Stock Exchange in the afternoon, StanChart lost 6.3% to the London Stock Exchange.

The quarterly results and the prudence of banks are an excuse for profit taking while the lure investors to the sector had been increased by the publication, July 23, heartening results of resistance tests suffered by banks in the European Union.

The European banking stocks index yielded 1.2% on Wednesday afternoon, after having won over 20% since early July against 10% for pan-European Stoxx 600 index – and nearly 9% since the release of stress tests .

"The results show that emerging markets like China, India and Brazil are areas where we can go to generate meaningful activities," said Ted Huang, a fund manager Pinebridge Asia High Yield in the results of StanChart.

Against the trend, the German Postbank increased its provisions for impairment related to risky real estate loans and has revised downwards its objectives.

Allied Irish Banks The Irish, partly nationalized, has also reported a doubling of losses in the first half while making clear progress towards its recapitalization.

These two facilities join the Italian UniCredit, the first credit agency in Central and Eastern Europe, which was published on Tuesday a quarterly profit well below consensus, hit by a dramatic drop in trading revenue.

PSA Peugeot Citroen, after a first half marked by continued strong sales, think back to a positive operating profit this year despite the difficult months ahead in Europe.

The second European car maker said Wednesday it expected 2010 profit from recurring operations of about 1.5 billion euros after a loss of 689 million in 2009 due wholly to the crisis that hit the area the first half of last year.

"The economic environment has had a significant positive impact in the first half (…) Clearly, this will be less favorable economic environment and will have a negative impact in the second half," warned Philippe Varin, CEO of PSA during a press conference.

PSA Action opened up 1.3% at 25.20 euros on the Paris Bourse, before turning around. At 10:10, the title abandoned 3.32% to 24.05 euros.

"The results are solid and forecasts may reassure, but we wonder if the stock market will not suffer in the second half of the relapse of volumes expected in the automotive business in Europe," wrote analysts at Barclays Capital in a Note."We remain very cautious on the outlook for next 18 months."

PSA has resumed on the first six months of the year with profit from operations, stood at 1.137 million euros after a loss of 826 million a year earlier, with a net profit of 680 million against a loss of 962 million a year earlier.

The first half was also supported by the performance plan unveiled by the group last fall.This plan, which includes cost reductions and income gains, has contributed 854 million euros in operating profit.

Philippe Varin has not ruled out that the goal of contributing 1.1 billion euros to the result of the plan is passed this year.

FOCUS ON INTERNATIONAL

The group's turnover rose by 20.8% to 28.39 billion in the first half, still supported by subsidies still in force and by the success of several new models like the Peugeot 3008 and the crossover sedan DS3 Citroen, which allow PSA to increase its market share in Europe to 14.5% against 13.7% a year earlier.

Registrations of new cars by the first French sales rose 5.5% in the first six months of the year but fell 5.6% on the month of June with the shortness of the effect "scrappage".This was further reduced to 1 July, 500 euros against 700 euros in the first half and 1,000 euros for the whole of 2009.

The loss of aid will be added to the fact that the second half is usually less active than the first for the automotive sector sales, and that the surge in demand in late 2009 with the bonus of 1,000 euros a comparison very unfavorable product from one year to another.

Despite this, the division should be close to self-balance for the second part of the year.

SAP anticipates a decline of 7% of car market in Europe in 2010, slightly less than what he foresaw far.He put forward the emerging countries to find new sources of growth, as China is now its second largest market after France and that it provides a double-digit growth in 2010, and as Latin America where it sees growth significant figure.

To expand its presence in the Chinese market, the group relies on its new joint venture with Chang'An second PSA JV in China, which it expects to receive regulatory approval in early 2011.

The manufacturer hopes to make half of its vehicle sales in markets outside Europe by 2015, against 34% in 2009. The 508 is as such a symbol of the internationalization of PSA.New large sedan planned for 2011, it will be produced in Rennes (Ille-et-Vilaine), but also in China six months later. For the first time, a model for European motorists since its conception has incorporated expectations of Chinese customers.

Major European stock markets finished higher Wednesday for the first time in over a week, boosted by banks and U.S. companies quarterly results.

The Paris Bourse closed up 0.75% to 3493.92 points.

While the results of their strength tests will be published Friday, banking stocks were among the most requested on Wednesday.The Stoxx index of European banking core values thus gained 1.01%.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that resistance tests conducted with European banks to help restore confidence in the financial sector.

The maker of Durex condoms and Scholl sandals SSL International has jumped from his side of 33.45% after the announcement of its takeover by the British household products and health Reckitt Benckiser for 2.5 billion pounds ( 2.97 billion euros).

EADS submitted a bid under a contract for refueling tankers for the U.S. Air Force, according to a source familiar with the matter.

EADS North America and Boeing are competing in this market of 179 aircraft, which could reach 50 billion dollars (39.5 billion euros).

Boeing is expected to submit an offer by Friday, the deadline for submission of tenders.

EADS had no comment.