>>> What to look at today - 19th of March 2015

Dow+1.27% S&P +1.22% Nasdaq+0.92% Russell +0.80% Vix @13.97 -10.79%
US Market closed Higher on FOMC Meeting. Fed chair Yellen wrongfooted investors positioned for a hawkish removal of the "patient" language from today's policy statement with a substantially more dovish tilt, reduction of GDP forecasts, tempered projections for the pace of policy normalization, and more vocal worries over stronger USD. Macro positions of higher USD and treasury yields, lower precious metals, and volatile equity markets building for the past few weeks saw a violent reversal - Dow Industrials spiked up over 200pts to hit a 1-week high of 18,100, EUR/USD zoomed nearly 4 big figures as high as 1.10 handle, USD/JPY fell over 150pips below 119.50, yield on the 10-yr bench mark slid nearly 15bps toward 1.90%, and gold spiked up over $25 above $1,175 all in the immediate aftermath of the Fed surprise. the Fed removed the "patient" component in the third paragraph of its statement pertaining to its intentions for normalizing policy. But it inserted a vague precondition of "reasonable confidence" for inflation to return to 2% objective, while also adding economic activity has moderated (from solid), export growth has weakened (from growing), and deemed market-based inflation indicators remaining low. All other components of the statement - improved labor market, moderately rising household spending, slow property market recovery, and balanced risks for activity and labor - were left unchanged. FOMC staff projections lowered 2015 and 2016 GDP midpoint to 2.5% from 2.8% and 2.75% respectively, and the median call for 2015-end fed funds rate was scaled back all the way to 0.625% from 1.175%. 2016 median was set lower by 62.5bps at 1.875% and that of 2017 lower by 50bps at 3.125%. At the accompanying press conference, Yellen added the removal of "patient" language does not mean Fed will be impatient, falling prices have restrained inflation, and that strong dollar is among the reasons for weaker export growth and low inflation expectations.Outside the post-Fed volatility, sentiment in the Asia session has been largely consolidative. EUR/USD retreated below $1.08 and AUD/USD below $0.7750, while lower USD/JPY weighed on Tokyo and traded in a 60pip band around ¥121 level.China property space retaining key economic risks and limited scope of policy response from Beijing, intent on continued deleveraging.In Europe, Greece was in the headlines yet again, as local press reported the outflows from the banking system on Wednesday spiked up to €350-400M - 5x higher than previous days' average. Greek Deputy PM said liquidity is becoming a problem just three days after PM Tsipras said the exact opposite, and Athens request for ELA increase of €900M this week was only met with about €400M allotment.

Nikkei-0.35% Hang Seng +1.04% Shanghai +0.2%

RUB $59.5043 (Lowest levels since rebound in mid Jan.) WTI $43.48 Brent $55.32 EURCHF 1.0689 CHF 0.9911

EUR$ 1.0786 S&P +0.24% EuroStoxx-0.06% Dax-0.25% SMI+0.1%


Macro :
- Greek Bank Deposits Outflow Spikes: Ekathimerini
- ECB Said to Increase ELA Ceiling for Greek Banks by EU400m
- Asset Prices ‘Becoming Bubbly,’ Certainly in EU Bonds: Gross


Keep an eye on :
- A3M SM : Citigroup sold 3.2% stake in the Co @€13.35 (vs €13.90 -3.96% discount)
- AIR FP : Airbus Insider Trading Trial Blocked by French Court: FT
- AIR FP : Philippines Took Delivery of First of 3 Transport Planes: Airbus
- AIR FP : Airbus Said to Seek $700m From Skymark for A380 Cancellations
- BEN IM : Benetton Family May Delay Search for New ADR Shareholder: MF
- BMW GY : BMW 3-Series Hybrid Models to Use Samsung SDI Batteries: Yonhap
- BOSS GY : Hugo Boss attracts attention of major private equity firms (Kering Mentionned)- Carlo Festa Blog
- FRA GY : Fraport Forecasts 2015 Ebit EU500m-EU520m vs EU483m in 2014
- ENEL IM : Enel 2014 Adj. Net Income Beats; Dividend Above BDVD Forecast, Enel Boosts Div. Policy to 65% Payout in 2018 From Current 50%
- HEI GY : HeidelbergCement 2014 Profit Drops, Sees Significant 2015 Rise
- INM ID : *INDEPENDENT NEWS & MEDIA SELLS 180M SHRS IN APN: AFR (APN AU)
- ITP FP : Interparfums Buys Rochas From Procter & Gamble for $108M: Figaro
- KGX GY : Kion 2014 Net Income Rises 29%; Dividend Proposal Beats Forecast
- KRN GY : Krones 2014 Profit Rises, Dividend Matches BDVD Projection
- LG FP : Holcim-Lafarge Talks Said to Progress on Terms of Merger
- LXS GY : Lanxess Sees 2015 Ebitda Pre-Items at About Same Level as 2014
- LHA GY : Lufthansa Germany Strike Extended to Friday, Union Says
- PC IM : Pirelli May Be Taken Over by New Investors, Corriere Says
- SAN FP : Sanofi’s Lyxumia No Worse Than Placebo for Heart Safety: Study
- SOP FP : Sopra Steria Posts 2014 Profit of EU92.8m, Plans Div. EU1.90
- SYNN VX : Syngenta Made Progress on 2020 Targets Across All 6 Commitments
- UHR VX : Swatch’s Longines Sales Reached CHF1.5b Last Year, AWP Says
- VOLVB SS : Volvo CEO Persson May Leave Job Soon, Dagens Industri Reports

>>> Brokers Upgrades & Downgrades - 18th of March 2015

>>> Up
*HEIDELBERGER DRUCK RAISED TO BUY AT BAADER-HELVEA
*ITALCEMENTI RAISED TO OUTPERFORM VS NEUTRAL AT MEDIOBANCA
*OTP BANK PLC RAISED TO OVERWEIGHT AT JPMORGAN
*UPM RAISED TO BUY VS HOLD AT JEFFERIES
*XCHANGING RAISED TO BUY AT CITI

>>> Down
*APR ENERGY CUT TO SELL AT CITI
*BIOMERIEUX CUT TO UNDERWEIGHT VS EQUALWEIGHT AT MORGAN STANLEY
*FIAT CHRYSLER CUT TO NEUTRAL VS BUY AT UBS

>>> PT Change


>>> Initiation
*ELTEL RATED NEW OVERWEIGHT AT MORGAN STANLEY, PT SEK95
*GREGGS RATED NEW SELL AT BERENBERG, PT 820P
*INCHCAPE RATED NEW BUY AT BERENBERG, PT 915P
*PETS AT HOME RATED NEW BUY AT BERENBERG, PT 290P
*PERNOD-RICARD NEW OUTPEERFORM AT EXANE E65 PT
*REMY COINTREAU NEW NEUTRAL AT EXANE E119 PT
*SUNRISE COMMUNICATIONS RATED NEW BUY AT BERENBERG, PT CHF100


>>> Call
>> Stock
*DRAGON OIL EXITS GOLDMAN CONVICTION BUY LIST, STAYS BUY
>> Sector
*EU AUTOS CUT TO NEUTRAL FROM OVERWEIGHT AT EXANE

>>> Hugo Boss attracts attention of major private equity firms

Hugo Boss attracts attention of major private equity firms – report 

Hugo Boss, the listed German fashion group, has attracted the attention of major private equity and sovereign wealth groups, the Italian language Carlo Festa blog reported. Qatar Holding in particular is likely to be interested, but that Blackstone and KKR could also be mulling bids, the unsourced report noted.

Leading luxury groups such as Kering could also consider an offer, the report added.

Hugo Boss is open to takeover following the complete exit of private equity fund Permira, the report also added.

Hugo Boss has a market cap of EUR 8.18bn.

Source Carlo Festa Blog

>>> Pirelli may sell stake to Asian buyer

Pirelli may sell stake to Asian buyer 

Pirelli, the listed Italian tyre company, could sell a stake to an Asian investor, Italian language daily Il Corriere della Sera reported. The unsourced article said the aim would be to ensure an Asian partner for the group.

The bidders could included South Korean group Hankook, Japanese peer The Yokohama Rubber, the China-based Chemical Corporation and Zhongce Rubber Company. The report noted all these companies have been rumoured to have an interest in Pirelli before.

The new ally would unite with Pirelli chairman Marco Tronchetti Provera, Provera's shareholder allies grouped in Nuove Partecipazioni, Intesa Sanpaol and Unicredit in launching a public offer to delist Pirelli.

The report said that the public offer itself would be undertaken by a specially constituted vehicle registered in Luxembourg. Under the proposals Provera would remain as chairman until 2021, the article added.

Pirelli has a market cap of EUR 7.07bn.

Source Il Corriere della Sera

>>> Swiss SECO Mar Economic Forecasts: Cuts 2015 and 2016 growth and inflation o

Swiss SECO Mar Economic Forecasts: Cuts 2015 and 2016 growth and inflation outlook citing the strength of the CHF currency (Swiss) 


Growth Outlook:
- Cuts 2015 GDP growth forecast from 2.1% to 0.9%
- Cuts 2016 GDP growth forecast from 2.4% to 1.8%

Inflation:
- Cuts 2015 inflation from +0.2% to -1.0%
- Cuts 2016 inflation from +0.4% to +0.3%


Employment:
- Raises 2015 Unemployment Rate from 3.0% to 3.3%
- Raises 2016 Unemployment Rate from 2.8% to 3.4%

(BFW) Asset Prices ‘Becoming Bubbly,’ Certainly in EU Bonds: Gross

Asset Prices ‘Becoming Bubbly,’ Certainly in EU Bonds: Gross
2015-03-18 20:39:33.515 GMT


By Greg Chang
(Bloomberg) -- Janus Capital’s Bill Gross says on Twitter:
“Fed joins the world in acknowledging deflationary pressures.
Asset prices becoming bubbly, certainly in EU bonds.”


For Related News and Information:
First Word scrolling panel: FIRST<GO>
First Word newswire: NH BFW<GO>

To contact the reporter on this story:
Greg Chang in San Francisco at +1-415-617-7076 or
gchang1@bloomberg.net

>>> US Close Dow +1,27% S&P+1,22% Nasdaq+0,92% Russell

Closing Market Summary: Stocks Jump As Fed Loses Patience

The stock market spent the first half of the Wednesday session in the red, but surged into the green following the latest policy statement from the Federal Open Market Committee. The S&P 500 settled higher by 1.2% with all ten sectors ending in the green.

Over the past few days, much of the discussion centered around today's FOMC Statement with participants speculating whether the central bank was going to remove its call for patience. Although the Fed took out "patient," the statement remained quite dovish as the Fed lowered its 2015 GDP forecast range to 2.3%-2.7% from 2.6%-3.0% that was expected in December. Furthermore, the central bank lowered its inflation forecast range to 0.6%-0.8% from 1.0%-1.6%.

Staying on the inflation theme, the committee noted that it needs to be "reasonably confident" that inflation will move back towards the 2.0% objective before hiking rates.

The S&P 500 spiked about 20 points immediately following the statement and continued its advance as the afternoon progressed. Similarly, Treasuries surged in reaction to the diminished likelihood of June rate hike with the 10-yr yield falling 10 basis points to 1.95%. The benchmark note continued its advance during electronic trading, pressuring its yield to the lowest level since early February (1.92%).  

Conversely, the dovish tone weighed on the greenback, sending the Dollar Index (97.48, -2.11) lower by 2.2% to last week's levels. Notably, the euro jumped nearly 3.0% to 1.0900, and the pullback in the dollar gave a boost to commodities. Gold futures spiked 1.7% to $1168.20/ozt while crude oil rallied 3.0% to $44.77/bbl. In turn, the energy sector (+2.9%) finished the day in the lead while the utilities sector (+2.7%) led the countercyclical side.

The utilities sector solidified its spot atop this week's leaderboard (+4.3% week-to-date) while the top-weighted countercyclical group—health care (+1.3%)—settled in-line with the market. Interestingly, biotechnology struggled to keep pace with the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 358.14, +1.89) climbing 0.6%. To be fair, the biotech ETF still managed to register its fifth consecutive gain while setting a fresh record high.

Switching back to the cyclical side, the top-weighted technology sector (+1.3%) finished just ahead of the broader market with Oracle (ORCL 44.13, +1.26) providing support. The sector heavyweight spiked 2.9% after reporting in-line earnings on below-consensus revenue; however, the company boosted its quarterly dividend by 25.0% to $0.15/share. In other sector earnings, Adobe (ADBE 76.89, -2.77) lost 3.5% after its cautious guidance for Q2 overshadowed a bottom-line beat.

Elsewhere, transport stocks underperformed after FedEx (FDX 173.30, -2.41) beat bottom-line estimates and guided below consensus estimates. Shares of FDX fell 1.4% while the broader Dow Jones Transportation Average added 0.4%. For its part, the industrial sector (+1.2%) settled in-line with the broader market.

Today's participation was ahead of average with more than 860 million shares changing hands at the NYSE floor.

Economic data was limited to the weekly MBA Mortgage Index, which fell 3.9% to follow last week's 1.3% decline.

Tomorrow, weekly Initial Claims (consensus 293K) and Q4 Current Account Balance (consensus -$105.00 billion) will be reported at 8:30 ET while February Leading Indicators (expected 0.2%) and March Philadelphia Fed Survey (consensus 6.9) will both be released at 10:00 ET.
  • Nasdaq Composite +5.2% YTD 
  • Russell 2000 +3.9% YTD 
  • S&P 500 +2.0% YTD 
  • Dow Jones Industrial Average +1.4% YTD

>>> US After Hours : GES +12.3%, SFS +10.1%, SCVL +9.4%, JUNO -

After Hours Summary: GES +12.3%, SFS +10.1%, SCVL +9.4%, JUNO -3.8%, GOMO -3.2%, WSM -3.2% following earnings/guidance

After Hours Gainers:

Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to earnings: GES +12.3%, SFS +10.1%, SCVL +9.4%, NQ +8.9%, HIIQ +4.3%, TLYS +1.3%, CTAS +1.3%

Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to news: RAD +2.2% (announced intention to offer $1.8 billion aggregate principal amount of senior unsecured notes due 2023 in connection with acquisition of EnvisionRx), CELG +0.6% (announced that results from a phase 2 trial of three doses of GED-0301 in patients with active Crohn's disease were published in the March 19 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine), SBUX +0.5% (signed an agreement with Tingyi Holding to expand in China's $6 bln ready-to-drink coffee & energy category), AMAG +0.5% (announced it is updating the current U.S. label of Feraheme (ferumoxytol) Injection following discussions with the FDA)

After Hours Losers:

Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to earnings: JUNO -3.8%, GOMO -3.2%, WSM -3.2%, JBL -1.8%, NVRO -1.7%, SLW -1.1%, AVA -0.1%

Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to news: SIGA -9.3% (announced it received a NASDAQ delisting notification), HK -5.5% (disclosed that on March 18, 2015, it entered into an Equity Distribution Agreement with various 'Managers' under which it may sell up to $150 mln of common stock), CNCE -4.8% (announced proposed public offering of common stock, size not disclosed), TKMR -2.8% (announced that it is offering to sell 6 mln common shares in an underwritten public offering), CCG -2.5% (announced that it will be delayed in filing its Annual Report for 2014 due to management's work to 'enhance its disclosure practices and internal controls'), HUN -2.4% (announced intention to privately offer EU 300 mln in aggregate principal amount of senior notes due 2025), EQY -2.2% (announced offering of 3.9 mln shares of common stock), DGX -1.8% (announced pricing of $250 mln of 6.950% senior notes due 2037), GARS -1.6% (announced public offering of 809,990 shares of common stock by selling stockholders), MNST -1.2% (disclosed that on March 12, 2015, it entered into a letter agreement with Mark J. Hall, confirming his position change from Chief Brand Officer to Chief Marketing Officer effective as of January 1, 2015) 

(BN) Holcim-Lafarge Said to Progress on Last-Ditch Talks to Save Deal


Holcim-Lafarge Said to Progress on Last-Ditch Talks to Save Deal
2015-03-18 19:25:03.663 GMT


By Aaron Kirchfeld, Jacqueline Simmons and Francois de Beaupuy
(Bloomberg) -- Holcim Ltd. and Lafarge SA are progressing
in last-ditch talks to salvage their $40 billion cement merger,
said people familiar with the matter.
A preliminary agreement on adjusted financial terms and
leadership changes could be reached as early as tonight,
according to the people, who cautioned that talks may drag on
into Thursday or yet fall apart.
The two companies are discussing a revised exchange ratio
where Holcim would give about 0.90 of a share in return for one
Lafarge share, instead of the original one-to-one ratio, said
the people, who asked not to be identified because talks are
private.
The companies have reached a preliminary understanding to
make Lafarge CEO Bruno Lafont co-chairman of the new entity amid
growing resistance to him taking the top job, they said. Another
Lafarge executive is likely to be chosen as the new CEO of the
combined entity instead, they said. Lafont would be co-chairman
with Holcim Chairman Wolfgang Reitzle, they said.
Holcim has been questioning Lafont’s ability to reach
savings targets after it outperformed its French partner on
everything from sales to profit since the deal was announced in
April last year. Lafont and Holcim managers have also clashed
over issues including leadership style and strategy, according
to the people.

Board Meetings

The boards of both companies are meeting tonight to discuss
the compromise, they said. There is pressure to reach an accord
before investors of Ireland’s CRH Plc, which agreed to buy 6.5
billion euros ($6.9 billion) in assets that Holcim and Lafarge
need to sell for regulatory approval, meet tomorrow to approve
the purchase, people familiar with the matter have said.
Lafarge rose 5.5 percent in Paris, giving it a value of 18
billion euros, while Holcim gained 2.7 percent in Zurich,
lifting the market value to 25 billion Swiss francs ($25
billion). CRH added 4.4 percent in Dublin.
The dispute over leadership by the 58-year-old Frenchman
Lafont shows how a clash of personalities can become the biggest
liability in mergers. The gum-chewing, cigar smoking Lafont and
the soft-spoken Holcim CEO Bernard Fontana, who was due to
remain in his post until the merger completion, have disagreed
on key issues from the start, a person familiar with the matter
said earlier this week.
Holcim and Lafarge have predicted the merger will lead to
cost savings of 1.4 billion euros annually, giving them an
advantage over rivals as a global recession eroded demand for
building materials and forced some kilns to run at a loss.
If the terms of the deal change to a 0.90 to 1 ratio, it
would turn the deal value positive in 2014 and 6.8 percent more
earnings accretive in 2015, according to Bloomberg Intelligence.

For Related News and Information:
Lafarge-Holcim Said to Mull Lafont as Co-Chairman for Merger
Lafarge Forecasts 2015 Profit Gains as Cement Markets Revive
CRH Buys Cement Assets From Holcim-Lafarge for $7.3 Billion
Holcim earnings graph: HOLN VX <Equity> FA ISBAR <GO>
Holcim enterprise value: HOLN VX <Equity> EV <GO>
Top Swiss stories: TOPS <GO>
Bloomberg Intelligence building-materials: BI BMATG <GO>
Top deal news: DTOP <GO>
Real M&A columns: NI REALMNA <GO>

--With assistance from Matthew Campbell and Sonia Baldeira in
London and Jan-Henrik Förster in Zurich.

To contact the reporters on this story:
Aaron Kirchfeld in London at +44-20-3525-8830 or
akirchfeld@bloomberg.net;
Jacqueline Simmons in Paris at +33-1-5365-5055 or
jackiem@bloomberg.net;
Francois de Beaupuy in Paris at +33-1-5365-5051 or
fdebeaupuy@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Simon Thiel at +44-20-3525-2814 or
sthiel1@bloomberg.net
Andrew Noël

>>> Asian Update

Asian Mid-session Update: Yellen replaces "patience" for policy normalization with worries over impact of rising USD on exports and inflation


***Economic Data***
- (NZ) NEW ZEALAND Q4 GDP Q/Q: 0.8% V 0.8%E; Y/Y: 3.5% (highest since Q3 of 2007) V 3.4%E
- (KR) South Korea Feb PPI Y/Y: -3.6% v -3.6% prior; 7th month of decline

***Index Snapshot (as of 02:30 GMT)***
- Nikkei225 -0.6%, S&P/ASX +1.8%, Kospi +0.5%, Shanghai Composite -0.2%, Hang Seng +0.9%, Jun S&P500 +0.1% at 2,095

***Commodities/Fixed Income***
- Apr gold +0.6% at $1,173, May crude oil -0.9% at $46.20/brl
- GLD: SPDR Gold Trust ETF daily holdings rise 1.8 tonnes to 749.8 tonnes; First rise since Feb 21st
- (CN) PBoC to inject CNY15B in 7-day reverse repos (7th consecutive injection); Drains net CNY25B this week v drained CNY53B prior (4th week of drain)
- (JP) Japan investors bought net ¥551.1B in foreign bonds v bought ¥268.2B in prior week; Foreign investors bought net ¥244.3B in Japan stocks v bought ¥291.8B in prior week
- USD/CNY: PBoC sets yuan mid point at 6.1460 v 6.1556 prior setting (strongest yuan setting since Feb 26th)
- (JP) BOJ offers to buy ¥400B in 5-10yr JGBs, ¥240B in 10-25yr JGBs and ¥140B in JGBs with maturity over 25-yr

***Market Focal Points/FX***
- Fed chair Yellen wrongfooted investors positioned for a hawkish removal of the "patient" language from today's policy statement with a substantially more dovish tilt, reduction of GDP forecasts, tempered projections for the pace of policy normalization (dots chart), and more vocal worries over stronger USD. Macro positions of higher USD and treasury yields, lower precious metals, and volatile equity markets building for the past few weeks saw a violent reversal - Dow Industrials spiked up over 200pts to hit a 1-week high of 18,100, EUR/USD zoomed nearly 4 big figures as high as 1.10 handle, USD/JPY fell over 150pips below 119.50, yield on the 10-yr bench mark slid nearly 15bps toward 1.90%, and gold spiked up over $25 above $1,175 all in the immediate aftermath of the Fed surprise.

- Yes, the Fed removed the "patient" component in the third paragraph of its statement pertaining to its intentions for normalizing policy. But it inserted a vague precondition of "reasonable confidence" for inflation to return to 2% objective, while also adding economic activity has moderated (from solid), export growth has weakened (from growing), and deemed market-based inflation indicators remaining low. All other components of the statement - improved labor market, moderately rising household spending, slow property market recovery, and balanced risks for activity and labor - were left unchanged. FOMC staff projections lowered 2015 and 2016 GDP midpoint to 2.5% from 2.8% and 2.75% respectively, and the median call for 2015-end fed funds rate was scaled back all the way to 0.625% from 1.175%. 2016 median was set lower by 62.5bps at 1.875% and that of 2017 lower by 50bps at 3.125%. At the accompanying press conference, Yellen added the removal of "patient" language does not mean Fed will be impatient, falling prices have restrained inflation, and that strong dollar is among the reasons for weaker export growth and low inflation expectations.

- Outside the post-Fed volatility, sentiment in the Asia session has been largely consolidative. EUR/USD retreated below $1.08 and AUD/USD below $0.7750, while lower USD/JPY weighed on Tokyo and traded in a 60pip band around ¥121 level. NZD saw little reaction to Q4 GDP data, even though y/y growth was the highest since 2007. In Australia, the most remarkable component of the RBA quarterly bulletin was its view of China property space retaining key economic risks and limited scope of policy response from Beijing, intent on continued deleveraging.

- In Europe, Greece was in the headlines yet again, as local press reported the outflows from the banking system on Wednesday spiked up to €350-400M - 5x higher than previous days' average. Greek Deputy PM said liquidity is becoming a problem just three days after PM Tsipras said the exact opposite, and Athens request for ELA increase of €900M this week was only met with about €400M allotment.

***Equities***
US markets:
- GES: Reports Q4 $0.63 v $0.58e, R$696.7M v $702Me; +12.0% afterhours
- NQ: Reports Q4 $0.03 v $0.04 y/y, R$89.7M v $67.9M y/y; +8.9% afterhours
- SFS: Reports Q4 $0.16 v $0.14 y/y, R$839.3M v $742.8M y/y; +8.4% afterhours
- CTAS: Reports Q3 $0.85 v $0.79e, R$1.11B v $1.11Be; +2.3% afterhours
- JBL: Reports Q2 $0.50 v $0.45e, R$4.31B v $4.27Be; -1.8% afterhours
- WSM: Reports Q4 $1.52 v $1.51e, R$1.54B v $1.57Be; Raises quarterly divdend by 6% to $0.35 (implied yield 1.7%); Guides Q1 $0.40-0.45 v $0.54e, R$990M-1.01B v $1.03Be; -3.2% afterhours

Notable movers by sector:
- Consumer Discretionary: Beijing Orient Landscape 002310.CN +4.3% (awarded major order); Tingyi Cayman Islands Holding 322.HK +2.8% (to produce Starbucks ready to drink products in China); Myer Holdings MYR.AU -9.3% (H1 results); Tsuruha Holdings 3391.JP +4.8% (9-month results)
- Technology: Gree Electric Appliances 000651.CN +2.8% (plans to launch mobile phones); Tencent Holdings 700.HK +1.4% (Q4 results); Nintendo 7974.JP +11.7% (momentum continues after partnership with DeNA); Sharp Corp 6753.JP +1.7% (speculation on job cut)
- Healthcare: Sigma Pharmaceuticals SIP.AU +3.8% (FY14/15 results)
- Utilities: Sinohydro Group 601669.CN +7.1% (Jan-Feb op results)