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Bourses becalmed
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November 13, 1998: 5:18 a.m. ET
European markets await news of expected U.S. military strike in the Gulf
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LONDON (CNNfn) - European bourses were on hold early Friday, becalmed by the prospect of U.S. military strikes against Iraq.
Asian markets moved modestly higher overnight, while Wall Street ended Thursday just barely in the plus column.
In London the FTSE 100 eased 3 points to 5,446.3 in early trade.
Frankfurt's Xetra DAX moved up 1 percent to 4,697.08.
Zurich's SMI was 2 points higher at 6,755.5, while in Paris the CAC 40 slipped 4 points to 3,556.03.
In London the early gainers included oil stocks BP and Shell, both about 1.5 percent higher on expectations that oil prices will open higher.
Retailer Marks & Spencer continued its recent wobbles, dropping a rapid 3 percent. Leisure giant Ladbroke jumped about 3 percent following bullish comments from the company.
Chemicals group ICI said it might be interested in the specialty chemicals unit that drug group Zeneca is selling, although some analysts questioned whether ICI could afford the business. Zeneca was spun off from ICI in 1993.
In Frankfurt some bargain hunters returned to the chemicals sector despite a spate of unimpressive earnings reports this week. Shares in major producers BASF, Bayer and Hoechst were all up around 2 percent.
Most attention was on retailer Metro, however. Late Thursday the group announced a radical restructuring. In Friday trading the shares jumped 5 marks to 114.5 marks.
Oil stocks moved ahead in Paris, too. Elf Aquitaine and Total both moved up more than 1 percent.
Elf released third-quarter sales figures that were down 16 percent. A near one-third slide in the price of crude was the culprit.
The rest of the Paris market moved in a very tight band, with little impetus to move it one way or the other.
Norway's Fokus Bank was in demand once more. The shares jumped 3.5 crowns to 76 after the group's board said it would recommend the 80 crown-per-share takeover offer from Denmark's Den Danske. Rival bidder Handelsbanken has offered the same amount.
Muted action in Switzerland was concentrated on the banks, with both CS Group and UBS rising more than 1 percent.
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