By James Langton
(November 3 – 09:00 EST) – There’s not much to give markets direction on the economic front. If nothing else, traders will be digesting the surplus report presented yesterday by Finance Minister Paul Martin. Many will have their eyes on the possibility of interest rate hikes in the Europe tomorrow, where both the European Central Bank and the Bank of England are expected to make moves. Last night the Australian central bank hiked its rates 25 basis points.
Yet until those rate moves are released, traders are sticking with the news on individual stocks to move markets. London’s FTSE 100 is up about 28 points so far. The German DAX is down about 4 points, and the French CAC 40 has traded up about 12 points. European markets all opened lower and traded up through the morning.
There are no concrete merger announcements yet today, but plenty of rumours are driving interest in drug stocks, financials and tobacco. The Wall Street Journal is reporting a possible merger of drug giants, American Home Products Corp. and Warner-Lambert Co. According to the WSJ a US$65 billion deal in is the works.
Speculation of boosted bids for National Westminster Bank in the UK, as well as a takeover struggle for French tobacco firm, Seita SA is heating up after it received a new bid from a UK firm, topping a previous bid by a Spanish competitor.
In Asia, the major Tokyo markets were closed for a holiday. They will reopen tomorrow. Over in Hong Kong some profit-taking in China Telecom was the only market factor, knocking stocks back. The Hang Seng index closed down 78 points on the day.
In other business news the Air Canada – Canadian merger struggle is back in the headlines. AC upped its offer to $16 per share for 36% of itself. AC has invited Onex to up its bid once again, ahead of Monday’s decision by shareholders. Onex would like to see the decision delayed if it does indeed up its bid again.
The Competition Bureau has approved the merger of Imperial Oil and Mobil.