TheChek News Flow

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BFW 03/13 07:37 *BOUYGUES CONFIRMS IMPROVED BID FOR SFR BN 03/13 07:37 *BOUYGUES SAYS STATEMENT ON SFR COMING BEFORE MARKET OPEN BN 03/13 07:36 *BOUYGUES CONFIRMS IMPROVED BID FOR SFR

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Bouygues Confirms It’s Making an Improved Bid for SFR 2014-03-13 07:38:38.325 GMT

By David Whitehouse March 13 (Bloomberg) -- A spokesman for Bouygues declined to give details of the new bid, saying that the company will publish a statment before market open.

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To contact the editor responsible for this story: David Whitehouse at +33-1-5365-5059 or dwhitehouse1@bloomberg.net

Asian Market Update: RBNZ commences tightening cycle with a hawkish 25bp hike; Strong Australia jobs figures quiet speculation over more RBA cuts

***Economic Data*** - (NZ) NEW ZEALAND CENTRAL BANK (RBNZ) RAISES OFFICIAL CASH RATE BY 25BPS TO 2.75%, AS EXPECTED - (NZ) NEW ZEALAND FEB FOOD PRICES M/M: -1.0% V +1.2% PRIOR (first decline in 4 months) - (AU) AUSTRALIA FEB EMPLOYMENT CHANGE: 47.3K V 15.0KE (10-month high); UNEMPLOYMENT RATE: 6.0% V 6.0%E - (AU) AUSTRALIA MAR CONSUMER INFLATION EXPECTATION: 2.1% V 2.3% PRIOR (3-month low) - (JP) JAPAN JAN MACHINE ORDERS M/M: 13.4% V 7.1%E (10-month high); Y/Y: 23.6% V 18.9%E - (JP) Japan investors sold ¥618.5B (2nd consecutive week of net sales) in foreign bonds last week vs sold net ¥759.0B in prior week; Foreign Investors bought net ¥383.8B in Japan stocks v sold net ¥4.1B in prior week - (KR) BANK OF KOREA (BOK) LEAVES 7-DAY REPO RATE UNCHANGED AT 2.50% (AS EXPECTED; 10TH STRAIGHT PAUSE) - (UK) UK JAN RICS HOUSE PRICE BALANCE: 45% V 52%E (6-month low)

Market Snapshot (as of 04:30 GMT): - Nikkei225 +0.5%, S&P/ASX +0.7%, Kospi +0.6%, Shanghai Composite +1.2%, Hang Seng +0.5%, Mar S&P500 +0.3% at 1,873, Apr gold +0.1% at $1,371, Apr crude oil +0.3% at $98.32/brl

***Highlights/Observations/Insights*** - Reserve Bank of New Zealand became the first central bank of a developed economy to embark on a tightening campaign. And while the 25bp rate hike was largely priced in by the fixed income markets, NZD rose about 100pips after the initial tip to as high as $0.8560. Specifically RBNZ justified the hike by warning that inflationary pressures are expected to continue to rise over the next 2 years, that LVR lending limits policies are having a faster than expected impact, and domestic expansion is becoming more broad based amid very high consumer and business confidence. A research note from Westpac said the decision was more hawkish than expected, with an increase in 90-day bill interest rate projections implying 3.75% OCR by year-end as well as extension of rate forecast to 2017 with an eye on at least 5.00% key rate.

- Australia employment surprised to the upside with a much higher than expected 47K net new jobs, sparking a debate on whether the figure is due to sampling adjustment (recall last year's Feb employment was also much, much stronger) or truly a sign of healing down under, reflecting the leading indicators of stronger AiG Services and ANZ job ads. According to local press, UBS and NAB economists are on the side of "sampling error", noting RBA will either stay on hold or even cut policy before the end of 2014. CBA economist said the improvement is legitimate, forecasting a rate hike as early as November and some 20-30K in jobs gains on a monthly basis over the near term. JPMorgan said unemployment rate would have to rise further to 6.5% for the RBA to consider more easing. Note that despite the rise in employment, jobless rate remained unchanged at 6.0% due to a sound increase in the participation rate, which hit a 5-month high. AUD/USD was up about 80pips above $0.9070 after the jobs data.

- Bank of Korea was on hold for the 10th consecutive month, in line with unanimous analyst forecasts. In his last rate decision before stepping down, BOK Gov Kim reiterated the negative production gap is seen sustained going forward but will narrow gradually, and also noted inflation would rise in the medium term but remain low for now. USD/KRW was little changed after the decision just below KRW1,068.

- China premier Li addressed the delegates as the National Peoples Congress drew to a close, most notably promising the govt will not allow systemic risks to arise from debt defaults even though defaults were unavoidable in some cases. Li also said 2014 would be more challenging, but the State Council would seek to raise the quality and efficiency of growth. Li further noted the govt is more concerned with employment and living standards than GDP - a veiled reference to the "elastic" nature of the 7.5% GDP target set for 2014 at the start of the conference. Shanghai Composite is leading the regional indices to the upside, with most pronounced gains made during the premier Li remarks.

***Fixed Income/Commodities/Currencies*** - (AU) Australian 3-yr yield rises to 3.07%, highest since Dec 11th - (JP) BOJ offers to buy ¥400B in 5-10yr JGB and ¥170B in JGB with maturity over 10-yr - (CN) PBoC to drain CNY100B in 28-day repos (8th consecutive drain); Drains CNY40B this week v drained CNY70B prior (5th week of drain) - (CN) China Qinhuangdao coal price falls to CNY530-540/t (9th consecutive decline; lowest since late Oct) - GLD: SPDR Gold Trust ETF daily holdings fall 1.5 tonnes to 811.2 tonnes (first decline since Feb 19th)

***Equities*** US markets: - CALL: Reports Q4 $0.69 v $0.50e, R$38.2M v $36.0Me (only 1 est.); +19.6% afterhours - KKD: Reports Q4 $0.12 v $0.13e, R$112.7M v $119Me; increases buyback program to $80M (1.4% of market cap); +10.2% afterhours - WSM: Reports Q4 $1.38 v $1.35e, R$1.466B v $1.43Be; raises dividend 6% to $0.33 from $0.31; +6.7% afterhours - VOCS: Said to be considering sale process after hiring Stifel as advisor - press; +2.4% afterhours

Notable movers by sector: - Consumer Discretionary: Tan Chong International 693.HK +3.4% (positive profit alert); Zhejiang Aokang Shoes 603001.CN +10.0% (cooperation with Alibaba) - Financials: Beijing North Star 601588.CN -0.8% (FY13 results); Powerlong Real Estate Holdings 1238.HK -6.9% (FY13 results); China CITIC Bank 998.HK +2.1% (speculation on online credit card with Alibaba and Tencent) - Industrials: Leighton LEI.AU -0.9% (revised offer from Hochtief); Teijin 3401.JP +2.3% (Airbus order) - Technology: NCsoft Corp 036570.KR +7.3% (to release game); Shenzhen Zowee Tech 002369.CN +0.4% (confirmed as Xiaomi's supplier) - Healthcare: Guizhou Bailing Group Pharmaceutical 002424.CN +7.8% (FY13 results)

Closing Market Summary: Stocks End Little Changed Despite Cautious Start

The major averages ended the Wednesday session on a mixed note. The Nasda (+0.4%) and Russell 2000 (+0.3%) posted modest gains while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (-0.1%) finished in the red. For its part, the S&P 500 (+0.03%) settled just above its flat line.

Stocks began the day in the red, but spent the first two hours of action in a steady climb off their lows. The cautious start took place amid broad-based weakness across major European markets where Germany's DAX,Great Britain's FTSE, and France's CAC all posted losses close to 1.0% apiece.

In addition to the weakness in Europe, losses among major Asian indices also weighed on the early sentiment. On that note, markets in Japan, South Korea, and Hong Kong fell 2.6%, 1.7%, and 1.7%, respectively, while China's Shanghai Composite (-0.2%) outperformed.

Even though China was an area of relative strength, jitters regarding the health of the country's financial system remained palpable. Copper futures continued yesterday's tumble overnight, but were able to regain those losses in the morning. The red metal added one cent, ending at $2.961/lb.

Although copper did not send the same warning signal as yesterday, gold futures and Treasuries reflected a measure of caution. Gold jumped 1.8% to $1370.60/ozt while Treasuries climbed steadily, ending on their highs.

Bolstered by a solid 10-yr reopening, the benchmark note added 14 ticks, sending its yield lower by five basis points to 2.72%. The retreat in Treasury yields, gave a boost to the rate-sensitive utilities sector (+1.3%), which was the top performer among the 10 sectors.

Six of ten groups ended in the red while technology (+0.2%), energy (+0.04%), and consumer staples (+0.1%) fared a bit better than the broader market.

Technology drew strength from chipmakers (PHLX Semiconductor Index +0.9%) while the energy sector was underpinned by Chevron (CVX 115.65, +1.14). The stock rallied 1.0% after being added to the US Focus List at Credit Suisse. The staples sector benefitted from gains among food producers.

While the broader market did not move much during afternoon action, the same could not be said for shares of Herbalife (HLF 60.57, -4.82), which fell 7.4% after the company received a Civil Investigative Demand from the Federal Trade Commission. Herbalife responded to the notice, saying they welcome the inquiry due to ‘tremendous amount of msinformation in the marketplace.'

Also of note, the daylong underperformance of three influential sectors—consumer discretionary (-0.1%), financials (-0.1%), and industrials (-0.2%)—kept the S&P 500 from pulling away from its flat line.

Notably, the discretionary sector was pressured by apparel retailers after Express (EXPR 16.05, -2.19) missed on earnings and lowered its guidance well below analyst estimates. The stock plunged 12.0%.

Participation was on the light side with 646 million shares changing hands at the NYSE floor.

Another item of note that remained on the backburner, but has the potential to make a quick return to the forefront is the situation in Crimea.

This morning, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and German Chancellor Angela Merkel held a joint press conference, announcing the European Union will sign parts of an association deal with Ukraine next week. In addition, Chancellor Merkel said the EU is set to impose additional sanctions on Moscow after Russian officials chose not to take part in adiplomatic contact group. This comes ahead of Sunday's referendum on Crimea joining the Russian Federation. With the referendum nearing, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will be in London tomorrow in hopes of meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. 

As the session drew to its close, President Obama, who met with Ukraine's'acting Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk in Washington, said 'We will stand with Ukraine and consider Russian incursion into Crimea against the law'

Economic data was limited to the weekly MBA Mortgage Index, which fell 2.1% to follow last week's increase of 9.4%.

Tomorrow, weekly initial claims, February retail sales, and February import/export prices will be released at 8:30 ET while January business inventories will cross the wires at 10:00 ET. The day's data will be topped off with the 14:00 ET release of the February Treasury budget, which was originally scheduled for today.

* Nasdaq Composite +3.5% YTD  * Russell 2000 +2.7% YTD  * S&P 500 +1.1% YTD  * Dow Jones Industrial Average -1.4% YTD